IntroductionThe federal and state governments have laws that permit the lawful detention of sex offenders deemed to pose a risk to themselves or others. In the case of Kansas v. Hendricks (1997), the United States Supreme Court set forth the following criteria that potential offenders must meet to be civilly committed: 1) having committed sexual offenses in the past; 2) a mental disorder or deficiency; 3) some form of voluntary impairment; and 4) a significant risk of committing a sexual offense in the future. To meet the fourth criterion, governments have implemented the use of actuarial risk assessment instruments (ARAI) such as the Static-99 and the Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool-Revised (MnSOST-R) (Miller , Amenta and Conroy, 2005). ).A study by Boccaccini, Murrie, Caperton, and Hawes (2009) examines the use of the STATIC-99 and MnSOST-R during a Texas screening process for civilly committing sex offenders. The study aimed to expand on the minimal known knowledge about the predictive validity of the STATIC-99 and MsSOST-R in determining whether sex offenders will reoffend upon release from prison. First, the study focused on whether sex offenders' ARAI scores were associated with their progress through the state's sexually violent predator civil commitment process: in essence, whether High scores on the ARAI were correlated with authorities' decision to promote sex offenders to the next stage. stage of the evaluation process. Second, researchers investigated the predictive validity of the ARAIs in determining recidivism rate among non-incarcerated offenders who had at least 2.25 years to reoffend. Researchers have also explored the importance of local validity studies... middle of article......the engagement process cannot rely solely on scores from these ARAIs when taking civil commitment decisions for sex offenders. Factors such as age and criminal history should be assessed alongside these ARAIs to make a final decision. Additionally, clinicians must create and evaluate local data when interpreting ARAI results. Works Cited Boccaccini, MT, Murrie, DC, Caperton, JD and Hawes, SW (2009). Field validity of the STATIC-99 and MnSOST-R among sex offenders assessed for civil commitment as sexually violent predators. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 15(4), 278-314. doi:10.1037/a0017232Miller, HA, Amenta, AE and Conroy, MA (2005). Assessments of sexually violent predators: Empirical evidence, strategies for professionals, and directions for research. Law and Human Behavior, 29, 29–54. doi: 10.1007/s10979-005-1398-y