More will be added as state judges approve prosecutors' petitions, a time-consuming process that could take years before all the requests are resolved.

Law enforcement officials are hoping Hawai'i voters will approve a proposed constitutional amendment in the Nov. 2 general election that would pave the way for state lawmakers to eliminate next year the requirement for court hearings before listing information, at least for the most potentially dangerous offenders.

"In the perfect world, we would hope that the amendment passes, and we would hope that these people would automatically go on the (public) registration system as before," said city Deputy Prosecutor Rowena Somerville, who is handling her office's petitions.

In the meantime, prosecutors have been pumping out petitions, and judges have been granting them.

The reopening of the state Web site is the latest development here in the nationwide debate over which sex offenders should be listed publicly. Law enforcement officials, victims' advocates and concerned parents say residents are entitled to know about pedophiles and other sex offenders living in their neighborhoods.

"It would make the community safer so we can make our own decision for our own children or those who are in our care," said Monica Cobb-Adams, 45, a Kailua resident and parent who has a family member who was sexually abused as a child.

Cobb-Adams, who sits on the Sex Abuse Treatment Center advisory board, said she once believed offenders fit the stereotype of trench-coat predators lurking at street corners, but she knows anyone could be a sex offender.

"If I had a convicted sex offender living next to me or around the corner, I would like that information, because I would be very specific in warning my children about that particular individual and that particular house," she said.

But civil rights advocates say public notification will make it much more difficult for offenders to return to law-abiding lives in the community after they complete their prison terms. At the very least, they should be given a chance to explain why they are no longer dangerous, advocates say.

More than 40 states allow public access to the registry on the Internet for at least the most serious sex offenders.

Hawai'i's Web site was shut down after the state's high court ruled in November 2001 that the 1,900 sex offenders in Hawai'i should have a chance to object before being listed on the Web site for life.

Since then, state lawmakers have passed laws giving felony sex offenders and repeat misdemeanor sex offenders a chance to object. Offenders must prove to the state judge that they do not pose a threat, and that publicizing their names and addresses is not necessary.

If a judge is not convinced, he or she can order that the information be made public for 10 years to life.

On O'ahu, where an estimated 85 percent of the offenders live, about 80 petitions have been filed to publicize names. Three have been approved. On the Neighbor Islands, two petitions on Kaua'i have been granted.

Jeff Quel, 34, of Honolulu, is one sex offender who will be listed on the registry. He was sentenced last month to 6 to 20 years for raping a 14-year-old girl in March 2001, when he was on parole for robbery. His parole was revoked and he must complete the 20-year robbery term, then start serving his rape sentence.

Quel was given a chance to argue against being placed on the public registry, but in a hearing that lasted only a few minutes, his lawyer, Lane Takahashi, said his client did not object. Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto granted the prosecution's petition to place Quel on the registry for life.

Takahashi later said there was not much he could do under the law to block Quel from being listed. But he said he could see how listed offenders would have a harder time finding homes and jobs. As a father with daughters, however, "I would be concerned about who's living next door to me or who's in my neighborhood," he said.

Susan Arnett, deputy public defender, said her office isn't opposed to having the most dangerous offenders on the public registry, but is concerned about the law's blanket treatment of offenders, lumping together pedophiles and violent rapists with someone convicted in a date rape, for example.

Arnett said she's not trying to justify date rapes, but that those offenders should be treated differently from a rapist who jumps from the bushes and brutalizes the victim. "Do they want everyone to wear that scarlet letter, or are they willing to accept it's really going to be a case-by-case (situation)?" she said.

The law also makes it difficult for offenders to prove they aren't dangerous, she said. And unlike other jurisdictions, which reserve lifetime registry for the worst offenders, the state mandates 10 years to lifetime public registration for all offenders.

Kurt Spohn, Deputy Attorney General, said state lawmakers have spoken. "This is not a punishment," he said. "We believe, and the Legislature believes, the public has a right to truthful information about people convicted of sexual assault."

Quel's victim, now an 18-year-old Honolulu resident, also believes the public should know about her assailant when he is released.

"Everyone needs to be made aware," she said after Quel was sentenced. "I think it's safer for people."