Sex offender arrested for allegedly failing to register
A convicted sex offender was arrested Thursday morning on a felony warrant for allegedly failing to register after moving to Hot Springs.
Joseph Rockwell Hall, 34, who lists an address of 205 Wood St., was taken into custody at his residence shortly after 10:30 a.m. and charged with failure to comply with sex offender registration and reporting requirements, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
He remained in custody Friday in lieu of $3,500 bond and is set to appear March 21 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, on Jan. 13, Hot Springs police Detective Kenny May spoke to Hall’s wife, who came to the police department to report she had just discovered her husband was a registered sex offender who was convicted in Oregon. She said Hall had been living in Arkansas for a few years and was staying at the Wood Street residence.
May checked with the National Crime Information Center and confirmed he was a sex offender in Oregon and was required to register in or out of that state. He also confirmed Hall had been living on Wood Street since at least July 22, 2016, when police had responded to the residence to a disturbance between Hall and his wife.
May noted Hall is in violation of Arkansas Statute 12-12-906, which requires that any sex offender from another state who moves to Arkansas has to report to local law enforcement within seven days. He stated Hall had failed to comply because he had not contacted law enforcement or complied with the assessment process since moving to Hot Springs.