Jason Bratcher, 38, of Alachua County, was taken in by sheriff's deputies for failure to register as a sex offender in the month of October.

Deputies say he also didn't register in April.

"You never know what they can do," said Tyson Riggins of Northwest Gainesville, adding that he depends on an up-to-date list of sex offenders in his neighborhood.

"So that our kids know where they live when they go outside and play," he said.

Law enforcement officers in Alachua county spent this Halloween checking in on offenders, and enforcing the state's registration law.

"They are required to register four times a year, or every six months depending on the classification of their crime," said Sgt. Brandon Kutner.

Kutner says the county has a lot of procrastinators.

"What we see is an influx in registration that occurs at the first of the month, and then again at the end of the month," he said.

72 percent of the county's 365 sex offenders must register their address four times a year.

"It does become very taxing, it takes a lot of personnel to manage this program, and a lot of tax dollars to do so," he said.

Kutner is calling for a change to the system.

"What we would like to see happen, is that the state require them to register by their birthday, so that way we can more effectively direct our resources," he said.

Kutner says offenders would still be checked on every three months, but still, others wish the safety net could be tightened even further.

"We pay a lot of taxes in Alachua county, they have to do something else," said Riggins.