EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — Law enforcement in Effingham County is upping their presence in the public during the holiday weekend, and they are making sure sex offenders are not on the streets during trick-or-treating.

“We want to make sure that the kids have a stressless event for Halloween,” Brian Bailey, public information officer with the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, said.

That is why Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie requires sex offenders with serious offenses to report to the jail on Halloween between the hours of 6 to 9 p.m.

Bailey explained, “It gives the kids the opportunity to enjoy Halloween and trick-or-treating to its fullest and also takes a little ease off of the parents knowing that there aren’t any sex offenders or anything of the like in the area.”

There are 115 registered sex offenders in Effingham County, but only 26 are required to report to the jail for Halloween since they are actively being monitored by parole officers.

“I don’t know if they were repeat offenders, but from what I gather, the offense was a little bit more severe than the others that don’t have to report here,” said the PIO.

Bailey said, the offenders were notified by their parole officers.

“If anyone that is supposed to be here does not show up, then a warrant is issued for their arrest from their probation officer,” Bailey added.

ECSO deputies are also patrolling the streets more beginning Friday. Bailey warns children and parents to be aware of their surroundings when walking from door to door since there have been two pedestrian deaths in the past two months.

“One of the things we want to stress for parents is to make sure that they have some sort of reflective material on their costumes or have a flashlight with them. Just be as close as you can to your kids so that we don’t have any elevated situations during Halloween,” Baileyt old News 3.