But the agency hit more trouble, McDonald said, when a Superior Court judge, still unconvinced of the law's constitutionality, shut down the operation until June 2001.

In January 2004, convicted rapist Michael Bizanowicz, a drifter whose last known address was Lowell, raped and killed a Woburn mother and daughter, who had not realized that the level 3 offender was living with a girlfriend in their neighborhood. Woburn Police Chief Philip Mahoney had blamed the Sex Offender Registry Board, which he said didn't get around to classifying Bizanowicz as a Level 3 offender until October 2002.

Bizanowicz had registered with Woburn at that time as a sex offender, but police could not release information to the public about his whereabouts because state law allows police to notify the community only of a Level 3 offender's presence. Despite the tragedy, Nuon maintains that Massachusetts' system is one of the country's best. Other states do not offer opportunities for offenders to challenge classifications.

McDonald said the SORB caught up with the backlog of unregistered offenders by the summer of 2004. The database now includes all sex offenders convicted as of Aug. 1, 1981.

The agency hears about 25 cases a day, and each decision requires a 25- to 30-page report based on some 25 factors or criteria, McDonald said. It has a budget of roughly $3.6 million and employs 50 workers.

Nuon, who graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston with a bachelor's degree in psychology, worked as a victim's advocate for 10 years in the Middlesex district attorney's office before then Gov. Paul Cellucci appointed him to the board.

The chairman must have experience in the criminal justice field to hold that position, McDonald said. The remaining members must consist of three licensed psychologists or psychiatrists with expertise in evaluating sex offenders; two people with at least five years of training and experience in probation, parole or corrections, and one person with expertise or experience with victims of sexual abuse.

Board members are not the only ones who hear cases. Other full-time state employees, called hearing examiners, also are available to run the sessions.

"Usually, we want someone who is a fact finder and will collect data based on our regulations," McDonald said. "Conceivably, you or I could conduct a hearing."

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