On Thursday, Massachusetts became the last state in the country to sign a bill that allows the state to monitor the movements of released convicts who come here from other states.

Republican Gov. Mitt Romney and Democratic legislators expressed support for the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, a national system that monitors the movement of convicted criminals released on parole or probation.

“Massachusetts will be a safer place with this bill signed,” Romney said. The bill allows the state to access information about offenders who relocate to Massachusetts and share information with other states to which offenders from Massachusetts relocate.

The bill will give the state the power to monitor any adult criminal on probation or parole but will focus on those who pose a threat to their communities. Romney did not specify exactly what kind of offenders the law would target.

Before joining the Compact, Massachusetts did not require notification when released criminals relocated to the state.

This bill would allow employers to know if they are hiring released criminals from other states. Through community awareness, this information will help prevent these criminals from committing crimes again, Romney said, adding that close monitoring is extremely effective.

Massachusetts is the last state in the country to enter the Compact.

“We are often the last state,” Romney said. “We deliberate for a long time on important considerations.”

Romney and state legislators were joined by Pat Tuthill, an advocate for the Compact since the murder of her daughter in 1999 in Colorado by a released felon who relocated from Maryland. The police were unaware of the relocation of the felon until after the murder.

“I hope this brings some closure to the ordeal Pat has undergone,” said Sen. Robert O’Leary (D-Barnstable), a sponsor of the bill. “I am very pleased that we were able to come to an agreement and make this legislation happen.”

In addition to convicted sex offenders, who are already tracked on a state database, this bill will supervise an estimated 250 released criminals who have moved to Massachusetts from other states.

“This bill will go a long way in being able to track these predators,” Senate President Robert Travaglini (D-Boston) said.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston) also supported the legislation.

“I’m here to say to them all: ‘We’re watching you,'” DiMasi said. Boston residents expressed mixed reactions to the bill. The bill may lower crime, they said, but at the cost of the privacy of convicted criminals who have paid the consequences of their crimes and are trying to re-integrate themselves into society.

“I support the bill because it will reduce recidivism, however, I feel that it violates the rights of non-violent offenders who pose no direct threat to society and should be given the benefit of the doubt after serving their sentences,” said Alex Chassin, a Brighton resident.

But School of Management junior Alli Lintvedt disagreed.

“I think it depends on the crime, because I think that as soon as someone hurts another person, they’ve given up their rights to privacy,” Lintvedt said. “If they hadn’t, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

Lintvedt said this bill has the potential to make the city safer.

“There have been flyers around campus about attacks near [Boston University],” Lintvedt said. “I am more uneasy walking around by myself this year because people are being attacked on Harvard Avenue and at T stops near BU.”