Lewiston remains a top destination for sex offenders in the state.

It’s not the kind of No. 1 ranking a community puts on its economic development posters.

Eighty-five registered sex offenders live in Lewiston, more than in Portland, Bangor or Augusta.

An investigation by the Sun Journal in 2002 showed similar results and prompted a great deal of concern among community leaders. Much of what made Lewiston attractive to people just out of jail three years ago remains true today. There’s affordable, available housing, counseling services and a community large enough to provide some level of anonymity.

But finally, release procedures by the Department of Corrections are starting to catch up with reality and improve the mechanism for dealing with recently released offenders. In 2002, sex offenders were released from jail with $40 for a bus ticket but not much else. They were left on their own to find food and shelter and didn’t have the supervision or support sometimes necessary to reintegrate into civil society.

Just this year, that’s starting to change. Last month, the Department of Corrections hired a transition coordinator to work with sex offenders before they are released. And a treatment program, which includes counseling, has been created inside prison for offenders who pose the greatest risk upon their release.

For a community like Lewiston that must confront a comparatively large population of sex offenders, the added resources are important for public safety. The question is, why did it take so long to put them in place after the need was identified? Three years is a long time to wait.