ATLANTA - Gov. Nathan Deal is asking the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take over a state board that reviews cases on the sex offender registry amid concerns about a backlog of work.

The sex offender registry review board has a 4,000-case backlog, WSB-TV reported (http://bit.ly/HzaYzC ).

The backlog deals with determining threat levels of offenders, said Brian Robinson, the governor's chief of staff. The backlog does not involve identifying the offenders, he said.

Georgia's Sex Offender Registry Review Board is run by the Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities. The board determines which offenders pose the highest risk of offending again.

Lawmakers recently approved a bill to make the change, and Deal is expected to sign it within a month.

The board determines the threat level of offenders. Level one offenders are considered to have a lower risk of offending again, authorities said. Offenders given the highest threat level are deemed "sexually dangerous predators."

The GBI's involvement in classifying Georgia sex offenders will improve the process, Robinson said.

"It will help them do their job more effectively and we hope starting July 1, when this bill takes effect, it will begin to clear out that backlog and smooth out the kinks in the system," he said.