More than 300 noncompliant sex offenders have been tracked down since October 2006, state officials announced Tuesday.

A total of 1,359 sex offenders have been located since Gov. Jim Doyle and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections announced the Sex Offender Apprehension Felony Enforcement Initiative in 2005.

And authorities found 36 of the noncompliant sex offenders were on the list of "Wisconsin's Most Wanted Sex Offenders."

According to the state website — which displays pictures and descriptions of the state's most wanted list — 38 sex offenders are still at large.

"From creating the list of most wanted to using retired law enforcement to track down offenders, our efforts in Wisconsin have made us one of the leading states in the nation," Doyle said in a statement.

Last year, Doyle signed a bill that allows corrections officials to monitor sex offenders with Global Positioning System satellites. Supporters of the legislation said it would allow officials to track offender location and movement.

Doyle proposed $11.5 million and 122 new positions in his state budget this year to largely finance the program.

However, Doyle also proposed repealing some of the GPS tracking bill's key provisions, including a requirement that all sex offenders must be monitored for their lifetimes.

"We're looking at putting GPS on the most dangerous offenders," said Alec Loftus, a spokesperson for the Corrections Department. "We want a cost-effective means … [the budget] targets the most appropriate offenders."

Of Wisconsin's 19,000 registered sex offenders, Loftus said nearly 1,900 are not compliant with their probation rules. However, the rate of compliance outpaces the national average at 76 percent, Loftus added, which he said is something to be proud of.

Thompson stalls race decision

Campaign aides to 2008 presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson told The Badger Herald Sunday that the former Wisconsin governor would not be announcing his official candidacy for some time.

Thompson affirmed his hesitancy in an interview with CNN Tuesday, saying he has not yet decided to officially seek the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election.

Correspondence obtained by CNN and Iowapolitics.com, from Thompson aides, reported the one-time U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush is planning to announce his candidacy soon.

Sitting in the hot seat during Wolf Blitzer's "The Situation Room" on CNN, Thompson, 66, said he would announce his decision in the coming weeks in either Wisconsin or Iowa, the base of his campaign.

Members of Thompson's campaign contacted by The Badger Herald Sunday called the reports concerning his candidacy "premature" and "inaccurate."

If Thompson — Wisconsin's longest-serving governor from 1987-2001 — chooses to enter the race for the Republican nomination, he would join other notable candidates like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., among others. In most national polls, Thompson has taken 1 percent of the national vote.