"The families and children of Alabama are safer today than they were before the Legislature convened," King said Wednesday.

The question is, how much safer?

A Birmingham News story Thursday shows the most celebrated piece of the legislation - the mandatory use of global positioning satellite tracking monitors for the most serious offenders - won't be put in place until the first crop of convicts under the new law is released from prison. That won't happen for at least two decades, in 2025.

The reason is simple enough. Newly convicted sex offenders will be in prison until then. But those who have already been convicted of sex crimes against children don't fall under the monitoring provisions of the new law. "You cannot retroactively change a sentence," said Chris Bence, a spokesman for the attorney general.

However, already-convicted sex offenders certainly could - and should - be required to wear the new monitors if they are paroled from prison.

To some, it was something of a shock to learn the mandatory GPS monitoring won't be in place for offenders who are already living in our midst. Their frustration in learning otherwise is understandable. Except for abusers, everyone wants to see children protected from those who would rape, sodomize, torture or exploit them.

The good news is that the new law offers better protection by setting tougher sentences for the worst offenders (at least 20 years for the worst of the worst and, at least 10 years for such offenses as possession of child pornography).

It will also strengthen the sex offender registry, by such measures as requiring offenders to verify their home addresses at least twice a year and to report not only their residences but their workplaces to authorities. These requirements will apply to prior sex offenders as well as new cases, Bence said.

This is especially good news for those who read The Birmingham News' report in June showing almost 40 percent of registered sex offenders weren't living where they claimed to be.

No law enforcement system - even one involving high-tech ankle bracelets - offers foolproof protection for children. To the extent that the new law is enforced, though, abusers will be in prison longer and be better monitored when they get out - and that should keep children from being exposed to as many dangers as they might otherwise be.

It is an improvement for which King and the Legislature deserve credit.

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