State

AUSTIN (AP) _ Texans who board evacuation buses during hurricanes or other emergencies must first submit to criminal background checks, the state's emergency management director said.

The policy is an attempt to keep sex offenders and fugitives from boarding evacuation buses with children, the elderly and the disabled, said Jack Colley, the chief of the state's Division of Emergency Management. Colley said no sex offenders or other criminals will be left behind, just evacuated on different buses.

"This will allow us to help them evacuate," Colley said. "We're not going to leave anyone."

The intent, he said, is to make sure vulnerable residents aren't victimized during the evacuation process.

He also said that state officials will be able to segregate undesirable evacuees, even in the chaos of an emergency.

"We'll be able to do it," Colley said. "We'll have procedures and we're not going to advertise what they are."

Under the plan, anyone who boards an evacuation bus must provide a name. Officials can ask for photo identification, but one is not needed to board, he said.

Officials will check names against sex offender registries and other criminal databases, Colley said. They are interested in identifying sex offenders, people with outstanding warrants and parolees.

After Hurricane Katrina, about 1,700 parolees didn't check in with authorities in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

"We're all entitled to privacy, but we're not entitled to anonymity," Colley said.