People wishing to swim at Dublin's two pools or exercise at its recreation center will have their names and photos checked against state and national sex-offender registries.
If there's a match, the person won't be allowed in and Dublin police will be called.
The city council, in approving the measure last week, said it is simply one more step toward ensuring the safety of others.
Others see it differently.
"It's just a dumb law," said David Singleton, executive director of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit group focused on criminal-justice issues.
"It's not going to solve anything."
Dublin Recreation Center employees are being trained on how to use the computer software and how to handle the situation if questions arise, said Matt Earman, the city's director of recreation services.
The screenings are to begin once that's complete.
The change shouldn't inconvenience anyone who holds a recreation membership, Earman said.
The city already has their information and will cross-check it. Visitors buying day or weekly passes, though, will see a difference.
The open areas of the recreation center, where exhibits and gatherings are sometimes held, won't be affected.
But for access to the restricted workout area, as well as to the two community pools, visitors will have to show valid photo identification and the check will be run instantly.
Earman said no particular incident prompted the change; it is just city leaders being responsible.
"With changing times come changing policies," he said.
"The technology to do this instantly is now in place, so we'll utilize it."
The Ohio attorney general's office website lists 11 registered sex offenders living in Dublin and 12 others working within a 2-mile radius of its Historic District, which is generally regarded as its center.
Earman wasn't aware of any other central Ohio cities that require such checks, and a cursory check found none.
The cities of Middleburg Heights and Cuyahoga Falls in northeastern Ohio have similar policies.
Middleburg Heights has been doing the background checks for almost a year and has caught three registered sex offenders trying to get into the
recreation center, said Carl Guarnieri, the city's director of
parks and
recreation.
Dublin's policy was specifically written to screen for sex offenders.
Guarnieri said that wasn't the case in Middleburg Heights.
There, more than a third of the average 1,500 people a day who visit the recreation center are not members.
"Our policy change was really just to better keep track of who is coming and going," he said.
"Being able to screen out sex offenders has been an added benefit."
Singleton, of the Justice & Policy Center, said a trend of local governments imposing their own sex-offender restrictions had begun to wane several years ago.
"We've gotten our message out that these laws don't solve anything and only give your community a false sense of security," he said.
He said his organization will see if what's happening in Dublin merits a legal challenge.
"There's still an awful lot of irrational fear out there that is perpetuated by these kinds of laws," he said.
"They do nothing except make local officials feel good."
hzachariah@dispatch.com
@hollyzachariah
