3 Tiers of Sex Offender Registry
If you are convicted of a crime that requires sex offender registration, you are required to provide specific information to your local law enforcement and to keep all your information current for the duration of the time you are required to register. Depending on what crime you are convicted of, you will have to register anywhere from 10 to 20 years or up to a lifetime. Before SB384, an amendment to Penal Code 290, offenders were required to register on the sex offender list for their entire life. Now however, the policy has been amended to include tiers that reflect the level of the offense. The level of your offense determines how long you have to stay on the registry.
There are three tiers(levels) that determine your registry time:
- Tier 1: Minimum 10 years, this includes sexual battery, sodomy, arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes, misdemeanor child pornography, and indecent exposure.
- Tier 2: Minimum 20 years, this includes rape, incest, sodomy, sex acts with a minor under 14 years old, and acts with a foreign object against a person’s will.
- Tier 3: Most who reach tier 3 will remain on the sex offender registry for life. These include crimes of murder committed during a sex crime, felony sexual battery, aggravated sexual assault of a child, oral copulation by force, sending harmful material to seduce a child, sex acts against a child under age 10, and continued sexual assault or abuse of a minor.
Sex Offender Registration Requirements
As a convicted sex offender, there are specific duties that you must fulfill with the registry, these include:
- For your initial registration, you must personally register with your local law enforcement providing your primary address within 5 days of your sentence (if no jail time is served), release from custody, or discharge from the mental institution or hospital, if applicable.
- You must annually update your registration within 5 business days of your birthdate, at minimum, to remain current.
- If you move, you must update your registration within 5 days of moving, to each new location’s local law enforcement.
If you are a transient, are a sexually violent predator as declared by the judge, or are employed by a California educational institute, you may have further requirements. When moving out of state, you may have additional requirements in your new location. For registrants that have more than one home, you must register each home’s address with the local law enforcement in that area.
Your Best Bet: Don’t Get Convicted
Registering as a sex offender is not only embarrassing and frustrating, but also something that will greatly affect your life in a community. Many people check the registry often to see which of their neighbors are on the list. If you are one of those neighbors, you can expect to be ridiculed, shunned, and maybe even harassed by members of your community that are against your being there. The best option to not deal with this kind of treatment is to do everything you can to not be on the registry. If you are facing charges that warrant sex offender registration, you need to contact our firm and hire a lawyer you can count on. At The Law Office of Brian C. Andritch, our sex crime defense attorney will work with you to build the strongest defense possible. Our goal is to reach a not-guilty verdict or reduce your charges, limiting your penalties. You need our help—your freedom, and future, depends on it.
Contact our team today for a free consultation at (559) 484-2112.