By St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis residents can check thecircuit clerk's website to see a list of offenders who have been ordered to stay out of their neighborhood.
Neighborhood orders of protection are sometimes filed to keep those on probation, defendants on bond, or those who've just been released from prison from going into certain areas of the city.
Circuit Clerk Mariano Favazza announced Monday his office's website will now allow residents to search by neighborhood to see if anyone has been ordered to stay out.
"The citizens of the city of St. Louis are going to have the opportunity to know who's not supposed to be there where they live," said Favazza. "And that's something that no other citizen in the state of Missouri has and from what I've gathered, very few other places in the country, if any."
Favazza said he's been providing the information to the St. Louis Police Department for years. The website features a picture of the offender as well links to the person's court charges and their parole officer's phone number.
Police Sergeant John McLaughlin said the website will help law enforcement catch and try convicted felons faster.
"We're going to be able to hold the subject under the city ordinance violation and then immediately send an e-mail to the circuit attorney's office so that person will be held to see the judge the following day," said McLaughlin.
The city spent $11,000 to create the website.