RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A new local law in Rensselaer County established a drug dealer registry and it has some people in the county in an uproar. NEWS10 has the latest with law enforcement and those in the community who oppose the new online list.

“A registry? Really? That’s your solution?” questioned one county resident.

Rensselaer County Sheriff, Kyle Bourgault, says the Sheriff’s Office is behind the new law that would create an online database of people convicted of selling drugs. “I think it's important that when somebody is dealing deadly Fentanyl that people are aware of who they are and where they live,” said Bourgault.

In a statement from the Rensselaer County Legislature, “It is in the best interest of the residents of Rensselaer County that an online registry be established identifying individuals convicted of illegal drug sales, as hereafter defined, in Rensselaer Couty in the hope that such registry will help to prevent these individuals from further illegal drug sales in Rensselaer County.”

Local Law One of year 2024 is just that, the first new law of the year. Bourgault tells NEWS10 Reporter James De La Fuente that there is still some work to figure out when it comes to managing the list and who will have access to it. “That is all yet to be worked out,” said the Sheriff.

As for the community, nearly two dozen residents showed up to show their displeasure with the new law. “As a resident of this County I had no idea this legislation was being passed and I would have shown up to oppose it from the beginning now that I know that it's here, I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure it doesn't stay,” said a Rensselaer County resident.

The group found issue with how the law includes a 10-year stay on the list, and how it will include offenders starting at age 16 and the $1000 a day fine for those who are required to register but fail to do so.

“Our children deserve better than to be unfairly targeted and stigmatized by a system that fails to recognize the root causes drug related offense,” said another Rensselaer County resident.

“By putting them on a registry, by using their felonies to block them from opportunities, is like a legal form of segregation,” said Lukee Forbes, Executive Director, We Are Revolutionary.

Some asking the legislators to take another look at the root problem that is drug dealing. “Start dealing with this problem because somebody's bringing that crap in and it's not the 16-year-olds,” said another County Resident.

Either way you split it; New York Civil Liberties Union Regional Director Melanie Trimble says the group is paying attention to the results of the registry. “We will be watching very closely as they put people on the registry if they can and we will decide on all of our options including litigation,” said Trimble.

The sheriff says his office is committed to keeping county residents safe. He says they intend to at the very least leave a calling card the next time they shut down a suspected drug dealer house. “We like to leave one of these signs and let the community know number one not only are we working to get rid of these dangerous drugs and guns but were also on their side and we want to make sure that they're aware that we are out there working,” said Bourgault.

NEWS10 has reached out to the District Attorney's office to get a better understanding of how the enforcement will be implemented and is awaiting that response.