Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 8/25/26
The North Carolina Supreme Court has issued a disappointing decision earlier this month concerning the ability of people on the sex offender registry to seek removal. In State v. Lingerfelt (August 14, 2026), the Court held that a person who fails to appeal an earlier determination of their federal SORNA tier cannot later challenge that determination in a subsequent petition for removal.
The petitioner pleaded guilty in 2003 to two counts of sexual activity by a substitute parent and was required to register. North Carolina law permits an individual to petition for termination of registration, subject to federal SORNA requirements. In 2019, a trial court determined that Lingerfelt was a Tier II offender, meaning he would have to remain registered for at least 25 years. Lingerfelt did not appeal that decision. When he filed another petition in 2023, he argued that he had actually been improperly classified as Tier II and should be treated as Tier I, which would have allowed him to seek removal sooner.
The Supreme Court ultimately did not decide whether Lingerfelt was correctly classified as Tier I or Tier II. Instead, it held that his failure to appeal the 2019 decision was fatal to his later challenge. The Court concluded that …