A growing number of states are putting the names, addresses and even photographs of convicted sex offenders on the Internet in response to federal and state legislation that requires the public to be informed, officials say.

At least a dozen states, most within the last year, have launched Web sites, according to The Center For Sex Offender Management.

The states are Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

At least three other states, Delaware, Iowa and Missouri, have laws that would allow them to follow suit, says Donna Lyons of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The public has tapped into the Web sites in large numbers, officials say. In Virginia, a site listing all those convicted of violent sex crimes since July 1, 1994, has fielded more than half a million inquiries since it was launched Dec. 29.

''We've had so many people checking that many times it floods the network,'' says Lucy Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police.

State officials say the Web sites are a cheaper, more efficient way to meet the requirements of their own public notification statutes as well as the federal ''Megan's Law.'' That law, passed in 1996, requires all states to release ''relevant'' information about child molesters and violent sexual offenders to the public.

The law is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994 by a convicted sex offender who lived next door.

The postings have reignited a debate over whether the public's right to know outweighs the privacy rights of those who have paid for their crimes.

''People who've been convicted of crimes, who serve their sentences, shouldn't be the subject of continuing punishment,'' says Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the National American Civil Liberties Union.

01/26/99- Updated 08:44 PM ET