Effingham County commissioners have approved the sheriff’s office adding a sex offender registry position.

Commissioners OK’d Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie’s request for the spot at their meeting Tuesday. McDuffie has had one of his officers, who is also a school resource officer, taking on that responsibility on a part-time basis.

“It’s an important activity,” Chairwoman Verna Phillips said.

McDuffie asked commissioners during budget talks this spring to be able to add a full-time spot because of the number of sex offenders in the county. Commissioners turned down the request, but McDuffie brought it back to them for their Aug. 7 meeting.

“He has someone working in a partial capacity, but not full-time registering sex offenders,” county human resources director Rushe Hudzinski-Sero said.

Not only will the officer note where a registered sex offender is living, that officer also has to assure that they are at least 1,000 feet away from such things as churches, schools and playgrounds. Georgia’s code section on registered sex offenders is 27 pages long.

Previously, the sheriff’s office had two part-timers, with one registering the sex offenders and the other verifying addresses. Aside from registering new sex offenders or those who move into Effingham, the sheriff’s office also has to notify the Georgia Bureau of Investigation when one moves out of the county.

Currently, there are more than 60 sex offenders in the county.

McDuffie said earlier this month there are four known registered offenders who live in Chatham County and work in Effingham.