In time for Summer we have updated our Summary of Registration Laws for all 50 States. Hopefully this will be of use to those planning on traveling during the summer months. Please note that this is a ‘best effort’, it is not intended to take the place of qualified legal advice, and please check the laws at your destination thoroughly (with the links we have provided to the best of our ability).
RegistrationRequirementsVisiting-May2014
Thank you this is helplful for me. I will be goi g to new York for five days this summer looks like I will be fine. Thank you so much for all the work you have put in this.
Thanks but no thanks.
I plan on traveling without reading this list. I am already fully registered in California which is my state of residence. I do not plan on moving and a vacation is not establishing residence somewhere else so there is no need to inform anyone of my plans.
Have a happy summer!
I was convicted in Illinois back in 2000..I did a 10 year registration that i have successfully completed…sex offender level 1… I no longer need to register in ILLINOIS but i do have to follow the PARK,SCHOOL, and some other restrictions cuz my ONLINE officer was posing as a 14-15 year old so i am considered a CSO…No victim…a sting set up…lol—GOTTA laugh, it is soooo stupid !!!
My question is, and most of us know about this IDIOTIC AWA act that was FEDERALY placed in 2006.
DO I still have to FOLLOW these rules going and traveling state to state ?????
THANKS MUCH and will this EVER END !!!! 🙂
ARRRRRRGH…any help would be appreciated !!!
Turtle-
You should consult a lawyer for your specific case, but it appears your offense is a 25 year duration under AWA which applies irrespective of your Illinois release. Travel or vacationing in any state subjects you to their reg laws (independent of AWA), many of which say “for an offense if committed in this state…” Visiting California beyond the exemption period would require you to register and moving to Cal would require you to register for life.
Because many of these laws are evolving, it is uncertain if you would be subject to notification of international travel. H.R. 4573 International Megan’s Law, if passed, would seem to apply in your case, for 25 years.
Yay! Fifty two sets of laws to keep track of, how fun. Wait you might be thinking in your head (there only fifty states), but don’t forget the district of Columbia and any laws at the federal level that a particular state may or may not be following.
I think ever year there should be a sex offender tour of the United States of America that sends registrants from every state to all the best spots in the country just long enough to trigger mass registration there just before moving on to the next place. Force so much paperwork on law enforcement that they will wish the laws would change.
“Call me paranoid. I’m frequently right.”
Seanan McGuire, A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2)
This is where it gets surreal, and I wonder when I pressed the remote button and ended up in some twilight zone like crazy alternate universe. We are talking about the possibility of going to jail for taking a vacation. No, no, we are not talking about traveling somewhere to have a tryst with a minor, or buy some illegal pictures, no we are talking about visiting the Washington Monument or seeing Niagra Falls just like millions of others do all the time. The only difference between them and us is they don’t have to carry a book with all the state and local notification laws just to go and enjoy some clean summer fun. Of course one should respect the laws of the state you are in but come on, if you make an illegal right turn while traveling, and don’t hurt anyone, you might get a warning, but not thrown in jail for years. And the traffic laws moatly make sense, these notification laws do nothing to protect people. What crazy world did I enter?
hello and thanks for the information but i am traveling at the end of july 2014 for 9 days to puerto rico so my question is should do anything like tell them and etc
Is it less dangerous traveling to another state by plane and taking public transportation? Seems like you’d avoid the main risk of detection…a traffic stop.
I’m not brave enough to risk ignoring the laws, but as someone mentioned, even calling beforehand isn’t airtight. And some of the states (thanks for posting that, Janice) either have conflicting laws are ones I’m unsure of…like Michigan, where it says “register immediately/ within 7 days.”
Just seems like you’re less likely to risk trouble if you fly rather than drive. Surely they’re not checking domestic flights for sex offenders.
I’m just vacationing for a family reunion for nine days and the total flight from ca to pr with stops is around 11 hours
Illinois restrictions that state CSOs cannot live 500 feet from a park are incorrect. There is actually a problem in the Illinois law where the statute that dictates what is present on the Sex Offender Registration Form says that you cannot live within 500 feet of a park but the actual statute only says you cannot live within 500 feet of a playground. The state police are aware of the discrepancy but they can’t do anything to fix it without a legislator changing the law that dictates what information is supposed to be on the form. CSO restrictions are listed in 720 ILCS 5/11-9.3 and 720 ILCS 5/11-9.4-1.