The Connecticut Sentencing Commission unanimously endorsed a major overhaul of ten state's sex offender registry.

The new plan would shrink the size of Connecticut's convicted sex offender registry by hundreds of names.

Right now, more than 5,000 appear on the list. 

Under the plan, a Sex Offender Registry Board would decide who has to register and for how long. Low-level offenders would for the first time be able to petition to be removed or placed on a list unavailable to the public. At least seven other states have rolled back existing sex offender registries so far.

The idea of the plan is to keep low-risk offenders from not being able to get jobs and housing.

The Connecticut Sentencing Commission heard hours of testimony on the proposal Monday.

The Center for Sexual Assault Crisis in Stamford, a victims group, says the changes make sense. The overhaul would narrow the sex offender registry to the worst offenders, without punishing those who pose less of a risk.

But other civil rights groups say the changes don't go far enough.

"Their public shaming makes it hard to get jobs, to find houses," says Cindy Prizio, of the group Connecticut For One Standard of Justice. "Who would rent to somebody when the landlord's address is on a public registry?"

The recommendations now go to state lawmakers, who must hold a hearing on them when they return in February.