COLUMBUS — The federal government has ordered Ohio and 13 other states to make their sex-offender registration laws stronger or risk losing millions in grant money.

        Compliance with the federal Megan's Law is one of 17 requirements for states to receive a federal grant that pays for crime prevention and victims' assistance programs.

        The U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance notified the states in June that they would lose 10 percent of their annual grant beginning next year if they didn't change their laws by October.

        For Ohio, which receives about $19 million a year, the loss would be nearly $2 million.

        “It might not seem like a lot, but communities are counting on this money for programs that have proven to be a success,” said Domingo Herraiz, director of the Ohio Department of Criminal Justice Services.

        All 50 states and the federal government have passed some type of sex-offender registration law since 1994 when 7-year-old Megan Kanka was beaten, raped and murdered by a convicted sexual offender who lived near her family's New Jersey home.

        States had until last month to require sex offenders to register with local authorities for life no matter where they live.

        By next November, states must require sex offenders who work or attend school in a different state to register with both their home and visiting states.

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