Registered citizens must meet registration requirements in the states they visit as well the states in which they reside. State visitor requirements vary widely from 48 hours in Florida to 10 days in Hawaii. These requirements apply regardless of whether the visit is a vacation, business trip or school-related activity.
“It is essential for registered citizens to remain compliant when they visit another state,” said CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “In order to remain compliant, registered citizens must know the requirements of the state they choose to visit.”
Below is a link to a spreadsheet that provides an overview of requirements for state visitors as well as the verbatim laws from which this information was gathered (current as of May 2014). This information will be permanently linked from the main Navigation under “Legal”.
I trust that every American thinks this situation is unacceptable.
But thanks to Janice and company for such effort to put together more useful resources. I also think it is crucial that every person who is Registered follow all Registration laws but ONLY because those laws are weapons of criminal regimes that they will use to attack you. There is no other reason to follow Registration laws.
As long as these laws exist, all people who are attacked by them should use every legal means available to ensure that the laws are not just worthless, but much, much worse. All Registered people should also retaliate by all legal means available.
For nearly two decades, I have ensured that in my case, the Registries are very counterproductive. I spend time around all kinds of people all the time who do not know that I am Registered. It’s trivial to do. I do it mostly because I live a normal life but I also go out of my way to do it simply because the Registries exist. I spend a lot of time in many different types of situations and try to determine exactly how it is that supporters of the Registries dream that their Registries help prevent the situation. I am constantly trying to determine if the SORs are legitimate in any way. I have found no situation where they might be useful/needed and there are not better means.
I also spend quite a bit of time individually identifying people who are supporting the Registries and then taking actions that are legal to lower the quality of their lives. That is what they do to my family on a continuing basis so I simply return the favor. Another big thing I do is work to keep law enforcement, and government in general, broke and dysfunctional. I work to ensure that they have much bigger problems to worry about than their precious Registries.
The SORs could possible have been useful if 1) people would have simply used them as they were originally intended – to be “informed”, 2) people listed on them had no legal requirements related to the SORs, and 3) all the rest of the Registries that should exist did. But none of that has happened and the SORs are simply an illegal harassment scheme. No American should ever accept them. There is plenty that can be done to ensure that the Registries are worse-than-worthless and that appropriate retaliation is delivered. A person simply needs to be creative and work at it.
This is very helpful but still a little complicated to interpret.
For example if you are a California resident how long do you have to register in another county if you were on vacation 5 or 14 days ?
Please answer if anyone knows.
Oh ya and what about Puerto Rico and all the other U.S. territories ?
does anyone know ?
Thanks RSOL for helping us through this maze of inconsistent national and state laws.
THX JANICE !!!
I am going to DENVER , CO on business for 5-6 days in JUNE 2014…I hope I am reading this LEGAL STUFF right-lol…. “NO more than 14 BUSINESS days in a row in order to NOT have to REGISTER ?” ANYONE , please comment…THX 🙂
I’ll turn this into a feed widget for SOSEN’s network so that we can quickly get people to this resource… very nice work people! Good job on this. I’ll update this page when we have a feed widget we make distribute on websites…
When a state says something like Missouri does: “Missouri requirements are as follows: # of days to register, 3 days” Does it mean I might have to register within 3 days even if I just spend a single night there? I would hate to fly home and later find out I’m in trouble in another state.
This is all so confusing. I mean, what if I flew to Nevada, rented a car and stayed for a week? I mean, I would literally have to register? I can just see me walking in and registering a rental car and hotel? Now, what if I forgot to visit the police station before I left? I mean, would I have to go back into the station and inform them I’m leaving? For the most part, I wouldn’t have to register in most of the states I visit since battery (expunged/not a child) isn’t registerable or ? Now, get this one. In most states, sexual battery isn’t registerable after 10 years (misdemeanor). Now, what if I have to register in California and technically speaking if I lived in Nevada or Utah, I would no longer have to register after 10 years and its now been 17 or so? Would I still have to register? Or, here is another one. What if I’m required to register in California for battery, but yet sexual battery isn’t a registerable offense in their state? WOuld I still have to register? In summary, these laws are both confusing and terrible. I also had no idea Yorba Linda and a variety of other cities had enacted these park bans and ect. I can now see clearly how the Judge made the right decision. Good Job!
This list is a big step in the right direction but it’s still a bit vague and confusing. I think it’s safe to say that any modern slave aka Registrant is barred from vacationing out of the country due to the notification policy that has been unofficially enacted. Can anyone make a list of states where we can travel to within in the U.S. that require no registration if it’s under a set amount of days? I know Hawaii is one of these relaxed states that don’t require registration if you stay under 10 days, but does anyone know of any others? I’m looking to vacation soon and I rather avoid law enforcement because we all know how pleasant they are and lets face it, registration is a pain and will void the piece of mind vacationing is suppose to instill.
Anyone else wondering how much havoc could be caused by figuring out a way to just stay Lon enough in each state to trigger registration requirements and then within a few days turn around and unregister in each state? I am not suggesting anyone actually try this, but if timed and planned out correctly it would be a huge headache for law enforcement agencies around the country. One person doing it would have little effect, but imagine hundreds of registrants all arriving and departing within days of each other in every state. For the sake of simplicity pick popular tourist destinations in every state and have the registrants visiting those cities around the same time. Again I am not suggesting or saying anyone or group try organizing a massive registrant tourist trip around the United States, but that could highlight the ridiculousness of the vast disparity between registration requirements for the fifty states.
Outside of that or some incredible increase in interest via other means I didn’t see this getting less complicated anytime soon.
I kinda think this is bull****. Pretty much anytime, anyplace outside of our place of residence a RSO is in danger of being “popped” because we don’t know the law in Podunk, Mississippi or wherever. Are there any other groups of ex felons to which this amount of scrutiny is bestowed? I think not!
Hello Janice,
First of all… I love you for all that you and your team do for us 290’s.
Question.
I paroled in CA. In 2010. Homeless. Thanks to the 2500 foot rule close to a school. My dad found me a job in Minnesota in 2011. I transferred my parole to Minnesota. I am now off of parole as of 2013. Minnesota has a 3 level system. I am a level 1. The lowest threat to reoffend. This state only registers level 1 people for 10 years with no problems in that time. The problem is I was convicted in California where it is a lifetime registration. The yearly registration form that I filled out for Minnesota said if I was convicted in a lifetime state they will hold me to that even if I don’t live in California anymore. This does not seem right or fair at all. I made a mistake. I fixed it. I just want to move on with my life.
I am tired of being held hostage by this crazy registration process.
Any advice?
Laws controlling RSOs in Puerto Rico, also Guam and Samoa can be found at http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/Sex%20Offender%20Registry_US%20Territories%20and%20Federal_2013.pdf
A good start for the laws in the District of Columbia is http://klaaskids.org/megans-law/washington-d-c/
This is very helpful.
But it also points out a problem: Having to comply with different registration rules in 50 different states would seem to to violate the federal Constitution’s clause that bars states from passing any law that interferes with interstate commerce. Having to research and deal with all these different registration laws certainly seems to me to violate that clause. I think the states would only be able to apply their registration laws to their own residents, not outsiders going there without taking up real residence.
Just my thought.
And another thought: We have California and who knows how many other states saying that if you have to register where you live, then you will have to register in their jurisdiction too — even if they don’t require their own residents to register for the violation for which your state requires you to register. Something is VERY wrong with that. If that isn’t unequal application of the law I don’t know what is.
For instance, I was looking at the New Jersey laws, the home of Megan’s Law. They use very different and vague and general terms for the offenses that must register. But it seems only the most serious offenses have to register there. In California, a LOT more offenses have to register, even many misdemeanors. The favorite example is indecent exposure, which is lifetime registration in California. In NJ, it appears one does not have to register for indecent exposure ever. Yet, if someone in California who was convicted of that were to travel to NJ, they would have to register in NJ because NJ says you must register there you have to register in your home state. How can that be?!
Also, as I said, NJ appears to require only the most serious offenses to register, yet any registrant can get out from under registration — even the worst of the worst — after 15 years of a clean record. That’s the standard, simply a clean record for 15 years. They don’t have to go through all the crap of seeking a COR in California. Well, there is a tag of some vague language in the NJ law, that they must show they are “not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others.” I suppose that kind of vagueness could bring problems. See that clause here:
But the point is, they do not have to go through all the extreme and intense scrutiny of a COR — a COR is an application for a pardon, but in NJ you do not need to meet the standard for a pardon — and ANY registrant can ask the court for that relief, like I said even the worst of the worst. And I repeat, lesser offenders never have to register.
Gee, CA RSOL is talking of a minimum of 10 years registration for minor offenders, even indecent exposure which is eligible for a COR in only 7 years. CA RSOL should instead be talking of taking minor and lesser offenders out of registration altogether — other states don’t make those people register, and neither does the federal government require it (But of course, no one is telling this to the people of California). CA RSOL also should not be talking of 20 years for more serious offenders, nor accepting lifetime for even the worst of the worst — even those, if they have been clean long enough, have passed the test of time, which is the best test of all, let go of them and without impossible standards to meet. NJ says if even those people are good for 15 years,they have passed the test of time.
BTW, that said, it also appears to me that if you were convicted of such a minor or lesser offense for which NJ requires registration, you will not have to register any more if you were to move to NJ. You would only have to register there if you traveled there for business or the couple other reasons it states and were there for at least 14 consecutive days, or an aggregate of 30 days a year. But if you live there, only those offenses for which NJ requires registration would have to register.
Just in case someone needs to know, I phoned the police department, sex offender registration Dept. in two cities I plan to visit. The St. Louis official said I don’t even need to register unless I’ll be staying for more than seven (7) days. I’m not, so that’s awesome (though I’ll still have to register in my own city if I stay away for more than 48 hours…bummer).
The official in Vegas said I’d need to register if staying for longer than 48 hours…not quite as good.
Just thought you guys would like to know. I’d love to hear the rules for other large cities worth visiting if anyone knows.
And another landmine, USA: some states require you to register even if your offense is not a registrable one in that state — simply because they require you to register there no matter your offense if you must register in your home state. So, don’t stop reading those laws at the list of registrable offense — you better read through to see if you must register as a visitor anyway.
I refuse to register anywhere that I visit that I do not pay taxes. I pay taxes in California. I am a citizen of California. I reside and register in California.
I will NOT take my time to register in any other state I visit. I will simply NOT do it. I will NOT take my time to read their regulations either…I simply will NOT do it.
I am doing what is Federally required of me, which is registering in my state of residence. I will NOT register when visiting. I have a constitutional right to freely travel between states. I am not on probation. I am not moving. I understand that if I move I must register…this is not the case.
It really is that simple.
You’re never going to win under the present system. Best we can do is survive to work on changing these laws. Some famous actress can get arrested protesting the Keystone pipeline, get thrown in jail for one night and get painted as a heroine willing to sacrifice for her convictions. We fail to follow a registration law, believing them all to be unconscionable laws, and if they feel like being bad ass about it, put you in prison for a good part of your life, and then you come across as a predator, who is trying to go unnoticed to commit unspeakable crimes. We have to be smarter than that. Geez, there is nearly 100000 of us in California 98% are not repeat criminals. That’s got to be some sort of moral force if moved.
Since they’ve made traveling abroad almost impossible, I’d like to see some good spots in the states. Since most of you good folks are from California, can you tell me how long I can be in either San Diego or San Francisco before I register? I am from Texas.
Just got back from a seven day vacation in Maui …. Paradise. We knew we didn’t need to register … Only if more than 10 days. Only thing we did bring with us was a printout of the law, pre-highlighted …. Just in case!! Was awesome and we forgot everything for a week!!
I am registered in Virginia and will be going to Seattle (King County), Washington, next month for 6 days. I contacted law enforcement in King County and was told I did not need to register there for this stay. However, your spreadsheet indicates a visiting registrant must register within 3 days.
@David–I’ve read the California states requirement for visiting, and even I (a native) am confused. Is it 14 days or 5? As far as visiting California, San Francisco is the most expensive place to stay, although beautiful. If you like beaches, then San Diego is your ticket. Miles and miles of beaches, and we have a mild climate. La Jolla cove is my favorite place, but too crowded during summer. I suggest visiting in September or October when the weather is great and the beaches less crowded. Also hotel/motel rates go way down. So much to do and see. San Diego county is divided into four areas; beach/coast, inland, mountain, desert, and all within driving distance of one + hour.
Well, we all know how I feel about travel. I think this represents a terrific amount of work and caring on behalf of CaliforniaRSOL. It really is a gift to anyone who wrestles with interstate registration issues. One thing that concerns me, is that one must be mindful of not triggering a residency requirement when traveling, also. For example, I believe Alabama has laws which state if you are there for more than 3 days, you are considered a “resident”, even if you just go visit Aunt Mary for a week. I apologize for adding yet more confusion to an already complex topic. I cannot imagine how such short stays can be interpreted as establishing residency, especially down the line when it comes to paying taxes. Forewarned is always forearmed. Nobody wants to risk a federal failure to register charge for traveling interstate. These laws are not our friends.
so what i have read about texas i can visit there for 7 days and not have to register is that correct
Hi, If I were to take a vacation in Peurto Rico How many days do I have before I would have to register? Triés googling it and cannot find anything. And if you know where I can find it Please link it. Thank You!
Hello,
I have chosen not to be anonymous. I am tired of hiding in anonymity for the sake of hiding that I am a registrant, as many people seem to do. I have seen several posts saying that we ought to make the registry less than useless. I very much agree. It is very inconvenient for my family as well as myself. It affects their lives. It affects the lives of my friends. It affects the lives of potential employers who can’t hire me due to policy.
I have been out of prison for over a year, and have not been able to find work, because businesses are allowed to discriminate based on such a status. I tell people about my status. I don’t hide it. Once they know about it, it changes them. The thing is, most people actually like me. They want me to do well. When they learn that one single conviction (touching a 13 year olds breast, mind you) is keeping me from being self-sustaining and productive, it hurts them. Even people that don’t like me have fought for me, because they know the “victim” was lying.
My friends are seeking a place to live where I can live with them, just to have some semblance of independence. This affects their lives and their families. Not to mention, their 4 year old son, who sees me as an uncle. He will always wonder why I can’t take him to the park, or go to school events. People I talk to generally see the sex offender laws as evil. This includes judges, sheriff’s deputies, attorneys, etc. I wish these people would come out into the open and voice their opinions against such laws. I wish all people opposed to these laws would open their mouth, without a mask, without an anon ID, and proclaim their position.
We are meant to have a government which provides what our citizens request. Do you know what I bet the majority of people would say, if they were not scared to say it? They hate our laws. They hate this evil.
I would bet that any divine being you may believe in would scorn these laws. We need to, as a people, let our voices be heard without fear.
I am Miles Wray. I am 26 years old. I have no future. But I will build one. I will build it alone, or I will build it with a fearless army. That choice is yours.
Blessed Be
Shalom
Amen