Sex Offender Registration
 

and Notification
 

in the United States: 

Current Case Law and Issues
 

December 2015
 
Table of Contents 

I. Overview of US Sex Offender Registration .....................................................................1 

Registration is a Local Activity ............................................................................................1 

Federal Minimum Standards ...............................................................................................1 

National Sex Offender Public Website .................................................................................2 

Federal Law Enforcement Databases..................................................................................3 

NSOR.............................................................................................................................3 

NGI ................................................................................................................................3 

NPPS..............................................................................................................................3 

CODIS............................................................................................................................3 

Federal Corrections.............................................................................................................3 

Bureau of Prisons...........................................................................................................3 

Bureau of Indian Affairs ................................................................................................4 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement ........................................................................4 

Federal Law Enforcement and Investigations .....................................................................4 

Military Registration............................................................................................................4 

Publication of Sex Assault Courts-Martial Results .......................................................5 

Unique Issues for Registration of UCMJ Convictions ..................................................5 

Summary ..............................................................................................................................6 

II. Who is Required to Register? ...........................................................................................6 

‘Sex Offenders’.....................................................................................................................6 

Kidnapping...........................................................................................................................6 

‘Catch-All’ Provisions .........................................................................................................7 

Comparable Convictions from Other Jurisdictions.............................................................7 

Elements vs. Facts................................................................................................................7 

Recidivists ............................................................................................................................7 

III.Registration of Juvenile Offenders ...................................................................................7 

Juvenile Registration Requirements Vary Across Jurisdictions ..........................................8 

Issues Unique to Juvenile Adjudications .............................................................................8 

Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act.......................................................................................8 

IV. Retroactive Application & Ex Post Facto Considerations .............................................9 

United States Supreme Court...............................................................................................9 
Table of Contents 

Significant State Court Decisions ........................................................................................9 

Additional Court Opinions.................................................................................................10 

V. Other Constitutional Issues.............................................................................................10 

Varied Successful Challenges............................................................................................10 

Other State Constitutional Provisions ...............................................................................11 

Jury Determination of Obligation to Register as a Sex Offender......................................11 

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel.......................................................................................11 

Padilla v. Kentucky ......................................................................................................12 

NFIB v. Sebelius and Arlington v. FCC ............................................................................12 

Varied Unsuccessful Challenges........................................................................................12 

VI. Community Notification...............................................................................................12 

VII. Failure to Register.........................................................................................................12 

Failure to Register as a ‘Continuing Offense’................................................................13 

Failure to Register as a ‘Strict Liability’ Offense ..........................................................13 

Notice ..............................................................................................................................13 

Prosecution Based on Failure to Update Information ...................................................13 

Venue...............................................................................................................................13 

VIII.Residency Restrictions ..................................................................................................13 

IX. Sex Offender Registration and Notification in Indian Country ...............................14 

Tribal Residents and State Registration Responsibilities ...............................................14 

X. International Relocation and Registration ....................................................................15 

XI. Miscellaneous....................................................................................................................15 

Defamation.........................................................................................................................16 

Deportation........................................................................................................................16 

Fair Credit Reporting Act ..................................................................................................16 

Homeless & Transient Offenders .......................................................................................16 

HUD Housing ....................................................................................................................17 

Impeachment......................................................................................................................17 

Sentencing Enhancement Under Federal Law ..................................................................17 

XII. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................17 

Endnotes..................................................................................................................................17 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

The Department of Justice makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, 

completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this update, and expressly disclaims liability for 

errors and omissions in the contents of this update. The information appearing in this update is for 

general informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice to any individual 

or entity. We urge you to consult with your own legal advisor before taking any action based on 

information appearing in this update. 

I. Overview of US Sex Offender Registration 

Sex offender registration and notification systems have been established within the 

United States in a variety of ways. There are a number of resources which are referred to, 

loosely, as ‘sex offender registries.’ For the purposes of clarification, we start this 

summary with an outline of those systems. 

Registration is a Local Activity 

In the United States, sex offender registration is conducted at the local level. The 

federal government does not have a comprehensive system for directly registering sex 

offenders. Generally speaking, sex offenders in the United States1 are required to register 

with law enforcement i

2

n each state, locality, territory, or tribe within which they reside, 

work, or attend school.

Each state has its own distinct sex offender registration and notification system. The 

District of Columbia and the five principal U.S. territories each have their own systems, 

as well, and an increasing number of federally-recognized Indian Tribes also have their 

own sex offender registration and notification systems.3 Every one of these systems has 

its own nuances and distinct features. Every jurisdiction (meaning each state, territory, or 

tribe) makes its own determinations about who will be required to register, what

information those offenders must provide, which offenders will be posted on the 

jurisdiction’s public registry website, and so forth. 

Even though sex offender registration itself is not directly administered by the federal 

government, the federal government is involved in sex offender registration and 

notification in a number of meaningful ways.4 

Federal Minimum Standards 

Over the last two decades Congress has enacted various measures setting 

‘minimum standards’ for jurisdictions to implement in their sex offender registration or 

notification systems. The first of these was passed in 1994 and is commonly referred to 

as the ‘Wetterling Act.’ This Act established a set of minimum standards for registration 

systems for the states.5 Two years later, in 1996, ‘Megan’s Law’ was passed as a set of 

minimum standards for community notification.6 The most recent set of standards can be 

found in the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), which was 

passed in 2006.7 SORNA currently governs the federal minimum standards for sex 

offender registration and notification systems. 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

If a state, tribe, or territory chooses to refrain from substantially implementing 

SORNA’s standards, the jurisdiction risks losing 10 percent of its Edward R. Byrne 

Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) funds.8 As of October 1, 2015, 17 states, 3 

territories, and 91 federally-recognized Indian Tribes have substantially implemented 

SORNA.9 It is important to note that there are still variations in the registration and 

notification laws among jurisdictions that have substantially implemented SORNA.10 

Practitioners are advised to become familiar with the specific registration and notification 

systems in any and all jurisdictions within which they will be working. 

National Sex Offender Public Website 

The National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), located at 

www.nsopw.gov, was created by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2005 and is

administered by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, 

Registering and Tracking (SMART Office).11 NSOPW works much like a search engine:

jurisdictions that have their own public sex offender registry websites connect to NSOPW 

by way of a web service or automated upload to enable NSOPW to conduct queries 

against the jurisdictions’ websites. Only information that is publicly disclosed on a 

jurisdiction’s own public sex offender registry website will be displayed in NSOPW’s

search results, and only the jurisdiction’s registry website page will be displayed on the 

results page of NSOPW. The Department of Justice does not administer any of the 

registration information that is searched whenever a query is made through NSOPW, and 

only ensures that the information that is available on jurisdictional websites can be 

queried through NSOPW.12 

The National Sex Offender Public Website 

www.nsopw.gov 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

Federal Law Enforcement Databases 

Federal databases are utilized by law enforcement across the country to access 

accurate information about registered sex offenders. Registering agencies and other units 

of state and local law enforcement submit the information necessary to populate these 

13 databases:

1.		 NSOR: The National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) is a law-enforcement 

only database that is a file of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC)

database managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice 

Information Services (CJIS) division. It was created in the late 1990s to store 

data on every registered sex offender in the United States, and to provide 

access to that data to law enforcement nationwide.14 

2.		 NGI: The Next Generation Identification (NGI) system officially

replaced the legacy fingerprint database at the FBI (IAFIS) in October of

2014.15 NGI fingerprint records are linked to the offender’s corresponding 

NSOR record at CJIS; approxima

16 

tely 92% of the records in NSOR have a 

corresponding fingerprint in NGI.

3.		 NPPS: The National Palm Print System (NPPS) is the database for palm 

prints housed with the FBI. 

4.		 CODIS: The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is the national DNA 

database administered by the FBI. 

SORNA requires that jurisdictions submit registration information about their 

registered sex offenders to NSOR, and ensure that offenders’ fingerprints have been 

submitted to NGI, palm prints to NPPS, and DNA profiles to CODIS.17 

Federal Corrections 

Part of the federal government’s involvement with sex offenders who are required to 

register concerns the handling of those offenders as they are housed and subsequently

discharged from federal correctional institutions. In particular, concerns have been raised 

about notifying local law enforcement when a sex offender is released from federal 

custody. Issues specific to military detention are discussed separately in the section on 

military registration, below. 

1.		 Bureau of Prisons 

BOP does not register sex offenders prior to their release from incarceration, as 

registration is primarily a state function. However, 18 U.S.C. §4042(c) requires that the 

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) or a Federal Probation Officer provide notice to the 

chief law enforcement officer and registration officials of any state, tribe, or local

jurisdiction whenever a federal prisoner required to register under SORNA is released 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

from custody.18 In May of 2014, moreover, BOP issued new guidelines governing its 

release of prisoners.19 

2. Bureau of Indian Affairs 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) operates a number of Detention Centers.20 

However, there are no statutory or administrative requirements for these centers to 

provide notice to local law enforcement when a sex offender is released from custody. In 

practice, offenders in BIA facilities generally are not registered prior to their release from 

incarceration. 

3. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is generally responsible

for detaining and deporting undocumented individuals who are present within the United 

States. As of September 2012, five percent of the nearly 60,000 aliens under an ‘Order of

Supervision’ in the community after being released from detention and pending 

deportation actions had been previously convicted of a sex offense.21 ICE-ERO has 

previously been faulted for having no regular method of notifying local law enforcement

when a sex offender, or any offender, is released from ICE-ERO custody.22 However, in

2015 DHS put forward a rule amending their Privacy Act provisions to permit the 

transfer of information from DHS to any sex offender registration agency about an 

offender who is released from DHS custody or removed from the United States.23 Like 

the Bureau of Prisons and BIA detention facilities, offenders are not registered prior to

their release from ICE custody. 

Federal Law Enforcement and Investigations 

SORNA designated the United States Marshals Service (USMS) as the lead agency in

investigations of suspected violations of the federal law regarding failure to register as a 

sex offender, which is found at 18 U.S.C. §2250. In order to further their investigative 

capacity, the USMS has established the National Sex Offender Targeting Center 

(NSOTC).24 

Military Registration 

If a person resides, works, or attends school on a military base, depending on the 

source and manner of obtaining the land held by the federal government and housing that

base, a state might have no jurisdiction at all over matters occurring thereon. In other 

words, the base may be a ‘federal enclave’ where only federal law applies.25 Because of

that, in some locations there may be sex offenders present on military bases who are not 

required to register with the state because they live, work and attend school solely on land 

considered to be a federal enclave. 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

In 2013, Congress enacted a provision that prohibits any person convicted of a felony 

sex offense from enlisting or being commissioned as an officer in the Armed Forces.26 In

August 2014, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense issued a report

regarding DoD’s compliance with SORNA.27 Finally, in March 2015, the Department of

Defense issued a directive requiring all installations to identify any affiliated personnel

that are required to register as sex offenders, notify state sex offender registries of the 

presence of those offenders, monitor the offenders while they are on the installation, and 

report any intended international travel to the U.S. Marshals Service.28 

Prior to 2015, there had been no provision of federal law (since the passage of

SORNA) which enabled or permitted federal authorities to register sex offenders such 

that the information from those registrations would be connected to any national

databases. However, in May 2015, Congress amended SORNA to require the 

Department of Defense to submit registration information to NSOR and NSOPW on any 

sex offender who is adjudged by courts-martial or released from a military corrections 

facility.29 

Certain components of the Department of Defense have also adopted new policies 

and procedures to independently track and monitor sex offenders who are either active 

duty members, civilian employees, contractors, or dependents of active duty members 

located on U.S. military installations at home and abroad.30 For example, the Department 

of the Army now requires all sex offenders who reside or are employed on an Army 

installation (including those outside of the continental United States) to register with the 

31 installation Provost Marshal.

Offenders convicted by military tribunals of registerable sex offenses are required 

under SORNA to register with any jurisdiction where they live, work or go to school,

subject to the limitations described above.32 Through a series of statutory and 

administrative cross-references, SORNA requires that persons register as a sex offender 

whenever they have been convicted of a UCMJ offense listed in Department of Defense 

Instruction 1325.07, which was revised in 2013.33 

1. Publication of Sex Assault Courts-Martial Results 

The U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force have all started to publicly disclose 

information about convictions for sex offenses, although such disclosures are not 

occurring on NSOPW at the present time.34 While it does not make available a universal

list of sexual assault Courts-Martial, in 2013, the Army issued a directive to initiate

discharge proceedings against any active duty convicted sex offender.35 

2. Unique Issues for Registration of UCMJ Convictions 

Given the unique structure of the military justice system, certain issues arise that are 

distinct from those in civilian courts. For example, a state-level requirement to register 

based on a conviction of a sex offense in ‘federal court’ was held to also include a courtmartial from a military court.36 In at least one state, an offender convicted under article 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

134 of the UCMJ for an offense relating to child pornography was required to register 

because the offense of conviction was determined to be a “like violation” to a state 

offense.37 

Summary 

This hybrid framework of state, territorial, tribal, local, military, and federal laws and 

policies is the context in which the case law regarding sex offender registration and 

notification has developed. The summary which follows intentionally avoids any lengthy 

discussion of the legal issues and case law surrounding prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. 

§2250, the federal failure to register statute. That topic is worthy of its own guide, and is

largely beyond the intended scope of this summary. 

II. Who is Required to Register? 

Nearly all registration requirements in the United States are initially triggered by a 

conviction for a criminal offense.38 Most jurisdictions limit their registration and 

notification systems to persons convicted of sex offenses and non-parental kidnapping of 

a minor. Some states also include other violent or dangerous offenders in their 

registration and notification system.39 

‘Sex Offenders’ 

Federal courts have interpreted SORNA as directly imposing a duty on a person to 

attempt to register if they meet the federal definition of ‘sex offender’.40 SORNA’s 

standards call for jurisdictions to register all persons who have been convicted of a tribal,

territory, military, federal, or state sex offense.41 In addition, certain foreign sex offense 

convictions will also trigger a registration requirement under SORNA.42 Generally

speaking, however, in practice a jurisdiction will not register an offender unless that

jurisdiction’s laws require that the offender be registered.43 However, at least one state

has concluded that if a person has ever been required to register as a sex offender 

pursuant to federal law, that person is required to register in the state.44 In addition, at

least one state will impose the registration requirements of the originating state, even if

the new state’s requirements are less stringent.45 

Kidnapping 

The inclusion of kidnapping offenses in sex offender registration systems is a legacy 

of the federal standards discussed above; these offenses have been retained as registerable 

since the passage of the first federal legislation regarding sex offender registration in

1994. Inclusion of kidnapping offenses in a jurisdiction’s sex offender registry has been 

largely upheld by the courts.46 

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‘Catch-All’ Provisions 

When jurisdictions specifically outline the offenses that require registration, there is

little question as to who is required to register. Most jurisdictions, however, also include 

‘catch-all’ provisions which, in varying forms, generally require any person convicted of 

an offense which is ‘by its nature a sex offense’ to register as well. One court recently

concluded that the state need only prove by ‘clear and convincing’ evidence that an 

offender engaged in sexual contact in order to qualify under its catch-all registration 

provision,47 while another held that such proof must meet the ‘beyond a reasonable

doubt’ standard.48 

Comparable Convictions from Other Jurisdictions 

A more difficult situation arises when a convicted sex offender moves from one 

jurisdiction to another, and the new jurisdiction has to make a determination as to

whether the person is required to register there. When a person has an out-of-state 

conviction, most jurisdictions require registration for any offense which is ‘comparable,’ 

‘similar,’ or ‘substantially similar’ to one or more of the receiving jurisdiction’s 

registerable offenses.49 However, when a state’s registration system treats persons 

convicted of in-state offenses differently from those convicted out-of-state, equal 

protection problems may arise.50 

Elements vs. Facts 

Making the determination as to whether an offense fits under one of these ‘catch-all’ 

or ‘comparable’ provisions has led to a great deal of litigation.51 Some jurisdictions look 

at just the elements of the offense of conviction, while others will also look at the facts

underlying the conviction.52 Often, courts take an expansive view of which offenses will

trigger registration requirements; though sometimes, the approach can be quite narrow.53 

Recidivists 

In many states, as under SORNA’s requirements, an offender who has been convicted 

of more than one sex offense is subject to heightened registration requirements. One 

court has held that the two (or more) offenses do not need to arise out of separate

proceedings in order to trigger these increased requirements.54 

III. Registration of Juvenile Offenders 

State juvenile justice systems within the United States have handled juvenile sex 

offender registration in different ways. For example, at the time of SORNA’s passage, 36 

states required certain juveniles adjudicated delinquent of sex offenses to register as sex 

offenders, while the remainder did not require any such juveniles to register. SORNA’s 

minimum standards do require registration for certain juvenile offenders adjudicated 

delinquent of serious sex offenses.55 Moreover, SORNA does not require jurisdictions to 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

disclose information about juveniles adjudicated delinquent on their public registry 

websites.56 

Juvenile Registration Requirements Vary Across Jurisdictions 

Despite SORNA’s requirement that juveniles adjudicated delinquent of certain 

offenses register as a sex offender, the implementation of this provision varies across 

jurisdictions.57 Some jurisdictions do not register any juveniles at all; some limit the ages 

of the offenders who might be registered; some limit the offenses for which they might be 

registered; and others limit the duration, frequency, or public availability of registration 

information.58 Some jurisdictions have mandatory registration provisions for certain

juveniles, some are discretionary, and some have a hybrid approach.59 At least one 

jurisdiction required a person who committed an offense at age 12 – who would not have 

been required to register under SORNA had an adjudication occurred at the time of the 

offense – to register as an adult because the conviction for that offense did not occur until 

after the individual was 18 years of age.60 

As with adult registration requirements, registration requirements for juveniles are 

generally triggered by the equivalent of a conviction for a sex offense in juvenile court,

which is typically referred to as an ‘adjudication of delinquency.’ Most jurisdictions 

mandate registration for juveniles transferred and convicted for sex offenses in adult 

court. In addition, one federal circuit court has held that a person previously adjudicated 

delinquent of a SORNA-registerable offense in state court can be ordered to register as a 

sex offender as a mandatory condition of probation for a subsequent, unrelated federal 

conviction.61 

Because of the varying nature of juvenile justice systems across jurisdictions, 

problems often arise when a juvenile is adjudicated delinquent in one jurisdiction and 

then moves to another.62 Many of those issues mimic the issues discussed above 

regarding adult offenders. 

Issues Unique to Juvenile Adjudications 

There are some issues unique to juvenile court cases. When a jurisdiction requires 

that juveniles subject to registration requirements more onerous than those imposed on 

adults convicted of the same offense, equal protection issues exist.63 In two states, the 

automatic lifetime registration requirement as applied to adjudicated juveniles was held

to unconstitutionally violate due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual 

punishment.64 However, when a juvenile court judge refuses to order a juvenile to 

register, as required by statute, a writ of mandamus may be successfully pursued by the 

state.65 

Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act 

There are particular issues which arise when a person is ordered to register by a 

federal court because of a federal adjudication of delinquency for a sex offense.66 In 

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particular, multiple courts have held that it is not a contravention of the Federal Juvenile

Delinquency Act confidentiality provisions to require such individuals to register as a sex 

offender.67 

IV. Retroactive Application & Ex Post Facto Considerations 

One of the first issues to be litigated as sex offender registration systems were 

established across the country was whether or not an offender who had been convicted 

prior to the passage of the laws requiring registration could be required to register.68 

Numerous challenges to the retroactive application of registration laws were heard 

throughout the 1990s and 2000s. 

United States Supreme Court 

In 2003, the United States Supreme Court seemingly settled the issue in the case of

Smith v. Doe, a challenge from a sex offender in the State of Alaska who argued that the 

imposition of registration requirements on him violated the Ex Post Facto clause of the 

Constitution.69 The Court held that registration and notification—under the specific facts 

of that case—were not punitive, and could, therefore, be retroactively imposed as 

regulatory actions.70 

While the issue was settled for a time, subsequent litigation has ensued based on 

increased sex offender registration and notification requirements in many jurisdictions 

since the Doe decision.71 In a series of recent cases interpreting 18 U.S.C. §2250, the 

Supreme Court has declined to take a fresh look at any Ex Post Facto implications raised 

by the increasing requirements which have been placed on registered sex offenders over 

the last 12 years.72 

Significant State Court Decisions 

There have been seven state supreme courts in recent years that have held that the 

retroactive application of their sex offender registration and notification laws violate their 

respective state constitutions.73 For example, early in 2015, the New Hampshire 

Supreme Court held that requiring lifetime registration without the opportunity for review 

violates the Ex Post Facto provisions of the state’s constitution.74 Similarly, in a recent

Pennsylvania case, the retroactive application of a requirement to appear in-person to

update any changes to an offender’s registration information was held to violate the Ex 

Post Facto clause.75 Conversely, however, many state courts continue to stand by the 

reasoning of the Doe case in continuing to affirm the retroactive application of their own 

registration laws.76 

A handful of courts are also requiring the specific performance of a plea agreement or 

court order when sex offender registration was not actually ordered, was part of the plea 

negotiations, or given as a specific classification at sentencing.77 However, on the other 

hand, this year, California held that a defendant was properly subjected to community 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

notification in 2004 even though he had entered a plea agreement in 1991 which was 

silent on the issue.78 

Additional Court Opinions 

A review of pertinent federal and state case law reveals that, in one case, a federal 

court enjoined the enactment of Nevada’s SORNA-implementing legislation based on Ex 

Post Facto concerns,79 although that injunction has since been lifted.80 Recently in Texas, 

a Writ of Mandamus was granted compelling the Department of Public safety to comply

with a court order to remove an offender from the registry.81 In other cases, some 

offenders have been able to be removed from the registry when the statute is changed in a 

way which inures to their benefit,82 but another court has held that increasing the 

penalties for a failure to register does not violate the Ex Post Facto clause.83 

Massachusetts recently held that applying community notification retroactively to its 

existing level two offenders violated due process.84 Massachusetts also requires a due 

process hearing before any offender is ordered to comply with its full registration 

requirements, including those offenders convicted prior to the registration statute’s 

effective date.85 

V. Other Constitutional Issues 

As previously mentioned, nearly all persons required to register as sex offenders must

do so because they have been convicted of a criminal offense. Accordingly, by the time a 

person is actually required to register, a number of constitutional protections have already 

been afforded—namely, those which inure to a defendant throughout the course of a 

criminal trial and sentencing. 

Varied Successful Challenges 

Although the vast majority of constitutional challenges to sex offender registration 

and notification requirements have been unsuccessful, there have been some notable

decisions based on constitutional grounds. For example, in 2015 a successful challenge 

was made under the Bill of Attainder clause under article I, section 9 of the U.S. 

Constitution.86 

Other examples include opinions issued by state or federal courts which have held

that: the collection of internet identifiers violates the First Amendment;87 being ordered to 

register as a sex offender triggers the protections of procedural due process;88 publishing 

information about an offender’s “primary and secondary targets” violates due process;89 

being ordered to register as a parole condition violates due process when the underlying 

convictions are not sexual in nature;90 requiring registration for a conviction for 

solicitation, and not prostitution, when each offense had the same elements, violates due 

91 process; ‘three-strikes’ sentence based on a failure to register conviction is cruel and a

unusual punishment;92 mandatory life imprisonment for a second conviction of failure to 

register is cruel and unusual punishment;93 and requiring an offender to continue to 

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Sex Offender Registration and Notification in the United States (2015)
	

register when he had been convicted of having consensual sex with his 14-year old 

girlfriend (he was 18 at the time) and had his case successfully dismissed under a 

deferred disposition is cruel and unusual punishment.94 

Other State Constitutional Provisions 

In addition to the decisions above, there have been some notable cases regarding the 

interaction between SORNA and the existing registration and notification laws in a state:

Missouri has held that SORNA preempts state law to the extent that any state 

constitutional concerns are not implicated;95 and North Carolina concluded that SORNA 

is directly incorporated (in part) in to state law and that incorporation is not an 

unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.96 In addition, the Pennsylvania

Supreme Court recently invalidated a portion of its sex offender registration law because 

it violated the ‘single subject’ rule of the Pennsylvania Constitution.97 

Jury Determination of Obligation to Register as a Sex Offender 

There are a number of cases recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court which 

continue to have a bearing on litigation in the field of sex offender registration and 

notification. For example, the case of Apprendi v. New Jersey has spawned a number of

challenges to registration requirements; namely, contending that a jury should be required 

to determine whether an offender should be subject to the additional ‘punishment’ of sex 

offender registration.98 The test as to whether sex offender registration constitutes 

‘punishment’ is the same as that used to determine whether something is ‘punitive’ for 

purposes of an Ex Post Facto analysis as discussed above. To date, most challenges 

under Apprendi have been unsuccessful.99 

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel 

One frequent argument in failure to register cases is that the offender had ineffective 

assistance of counsel during the trial for the underlying sex offense, because counsel did 

not advise them that they would be required to register as a sex offender. Most of these 

100 cases have focused on sex offender registration as a ‘collateral consequence’ f o

conviction; other cases involving whether a guilty plea is knowing, voluntary and 

intelligent have also discussed the issue.101 Recently, though, at least one court has 

concluded that the heightened registration and notification requirements imposed on sex 

offenders has rendered any registration requirement a ‘direct consequence’, rather than a 

‘collateral consequence’, of conviction.102 

While most courts do not find any constitutional violation in these circumstances, one 

court held that an affirmative misrepresentation that an offender would not have to 

register as a sex offender is ineffective assistance of counsel;103 and another determined 

that incorrect advice to an offender regarding whether he would be required to register as 

104 a sex offender is ineffective assistance of counsel.

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Padilla v. Kentucky
	

Padilla v. Kentucky105 is a Supreme Court case which held that counsel’s

failure to correctly advise a client that a conviction would count as a deportable 

offense under the Immigration and Naturalization Act was deficient assistance 

106 under the Sixth Amendment. ince the decision in S Padilla, a number of cases 

have addressed the issue of whether counsel’s failure to advise their client that a 

conviction would result in sex offender registration also runs afoul of the Sixth

Amendment.107 The Supreme Court recently concluded that the holding in 

y.

108 Padilla does not apply retroactivel

NFIB v. Sebelius and Arlington v. FCC 

While beyond the scope of this update, other recent cases such as National Federation 

of Independent Business v. Sebelius109 and Arlington v. FCC110 are having an impact on 

certain prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. §2250.111 

Varied Unsuccessful Challenges 

In addition to the challenges described above, offenders often raise other 

constitutional objections that lead to litigation. In prosecutions for state-level failure to 

register cases or civil challenges to registration requirements, offenders have launched 

unsuccessful challenges based on the following arguments: takings,112 double

jeopardy,113 procedural due process,114 substantive due process,115 equal pro

119 

tection,116 the 

right to a trial by jury,117 right to travel,118 cruel and unusual punishment, full faith & 

credit,120 the supremacy clause,121 and separation of powers.122 Another set of 

constitutional arguments are those advanced by the ‘sovereign citizen movement’ which, 

though creative, have proven unsuccessful.123 In addition, in Bond v. U.S.,124 the 

Supreme Court granted standing to sex offenders to challenge SORNA on 10th 

Amendment grounds, where previously they had no standing to do so, but no challenges 

on those grounds have been successful at the circuit level thus far.125 

VI. Community Notification 

Every state, tribe and territory that registers sex offenders also makes publicly

available certain information about at least some of their sex offenders. While in earlier 

years community notification was handled via public meetings, fliers, and newspaper 

announcements, notification has now expanded to include publicly available and 

searchable websites, which are linked together via NSOPW. 

VII. Failure to Register 

For an offender to have any motivation for compliance with the sex offender 

registration process, there must be an enforcement component. Nearly all jurisdictions 

which require sex offender registration also have a criminal penalty for failure to register. 

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The following are a sample of some of the prominent issues which arise in state-level

failure to register prosecutions. 

Failure to Register as a ‘Continuing Offense’ 

Many jurisdictions hold that a failure to register is a ‘continuing offense,’ much like 

larceny or escape, such that a person cannot be prosecuted for multiple failures to register 

within a given time frame.126 

Failure to Register as a ‘Strict Liability’ Offense 

Many jurisdictions require a mens rea of some sort to be proven prior to permitting a 

person to be convicted of failure to register,127 while others hold that it is a strict liability

offense.128 

Notice 

All jurisdictions require that some kind of notice of registration requirements be given 

to a sex offender prior to their being held criminally liable for a failure to register. That 

notice can be ‘imperfect’ and still be sufficient.129 In other cases, the notice can be 

constructive, and still valid.130 However, there are situations where notice will be found 

131 insufficient.

Prosecution Based on Failure to Update Information 

Most jurisdictions require sex offenders to update their registration information when 

that registration information changes. In one state, the failure to provide an online 

identifier supported a conviction for failure to register.132 In another, however, a change 

of residence outside of the country did not require the offender to update the state 

registry.133 

Venue 

Generally speaking, the proper venue for a failure to register case is the jurisdiction in

which the person has failed to comply with his registration requirements. In addition, at

least one state has held that there is no need to prove where an offender was during the 

time that he failed to register.134 The federal failure to register statute, 18 U.S.C. §2250, 

can also be utilized in cases where there has been interstate travel. 

VIII. Residency Restrictions 

SORNA’s minimum standards do not address or require residency restrictions in any 

way. One of the most debated collateral consequences of a conviction for a sex offense 

occurs when a jurisdiction chooses to impose residency restrictions on registered sex 

offenders, that is, restrictions that prohibit registered sex offenders from residing within a 

certain perimeter of schools, day care centers, parks, and other locations frequented by 

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children. These residency restrictions are generally passed and enforced on a local or 

municipal level, although, in some circumstances, a state, tribe, or territory might pass 

such provisions.135 

This past year in California, such residency restrictions were held unconstitutional as 

applied on due process grounds.136 In New York and some other states, municipal 

residency restrictions have been invalidated because they were deemed to have been 

preempted by state law.137 In another case, the residency restriction was deemed to be 

punitive and therefore not retroactively applicable.138 More frequently, however, these 

d.139 locally mandated provisions have been uphel

IX. Sex Offender Registration and Notification in Indian Country 

As previously discussed, 42 U.S.C. §16927 created, for the first time, a carve-out of 

state jurisdiction over sex offenders who live, work, or attend school on the lands of 

certain federally-recognized Indian Tribes. Generally speaking, the tribes that were 

eligible to opt-in as SORNA registration jurisdictions are those who are not PL-280 

tribes. As of September 15, 2015, there are more than 160 federally-recognized tribes 

operating as SORNA registration jurisdictions; this means that they either have 

established, or are in the process of establishing, a sex offender registration and 

notification program. 

The vast majority of the 91 tribes that have substantially implemented SORNA, 

moreover, have utilized the Model Tribal Code, which was developed by Indian Law 

experts in conjunction with the SMART Office and fully covers all of SORNA’s 

s.140 requirement There are many tribes that have more rigorous registration 

requirements than the states within which they are located, particularly for those tribes 

located within states that have not substantially implemented SORNA.141 For example, 

in addition to possible criminal sanctions for failure to register, tribes are also generally

able to exclude any person (such as a convicted sex offender) from their lands 

altogether.142 

There are legal issues unique to Indian Country which impact the registration of tribal 

sex offenders or the enforcement of sex offender registration requirements against

persons who reside on tribal lands or were convicted by tribal courts. For example, 

because of the different standards regarding the right to counsel in some tribal courts, it is 

sometimes argued that prosecuting a person based in part on an underlying tribal 

conviction violates the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Although there are 

some contrary opinions, and none specifically on point regarding a failure to register 

prosecution, there is case law to support the argument that convictions for a sex offense 

in tribal court can form the basis of a federal failure to register conviction.143 

Tribal Residents and State Registration Responsibilities 

Further complications may develop when an offender lives on tribal land but was 

convicted of a state or federal offense. One question which arises is whether an offender 

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who exclusively lives, works, and attends school on tribal land can be compelled to 

register with the state within which that tribal land is located. If the offender cannot be 

compelled to register with the state, it falls to the tribe to register the offender, if the tribe 

has opted-in to SORNA’s provisions and is operating as a registration and notification 

jurisdiction under its terms. 

For example, in New Mexico, the State cannot impose a duty to register on enrolled 

tribal members living on tribal land who have been convicted of federal sex offenses.144 

At the same time, in neighboring Arizona, persons living in Indian Country are required 

to keep their registration current with both the state and the tribe.145 In Arizona, however, 

a tribal member residing on tribal land cannot be prosecuted under state law for failure to 

register unless a tribe’s registration responsibilities have been delegated to the state via

SORNA’s delegation procedure.146 

X. International Relocation and Registration 

In 2011, the SORNA Supplemental Guidelines were issued by the Department of

Justice, and added a requirement to SORNA’s baseline standards that jurisdictions were 

required to have their offenders inform them of any intended international travel at least

21 days prior to that travel taking place.147 Per these standards, offenders are to provide 

authorities with information regarding their itinerary and intended destinations, among 

other items, and registration jurisdictions are required to provide this information to the 

National Sex Offender Targeting Center of the United States Marshals Service. 

Prosecution of failure to register cases once a person has left the country has proven 

difficult on the federal level. While at least one circuit has held that a person can be 

prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 2250 for a failure to update their state registration to reflect

that they had departed the country,148 other circuits have held to the contrary.149 

To date, more than twenty foreign countries have some form of nationwide or 

provincial sex offender registration systems. South Korea, the Province of Western 

Australia, and Canada also make some information publicly available via websites,150 

while other countries have different community notification procedures.151 The SMART 

Office also issued the Global Overview of Sex Offender Registration and Notification 

Systems, which provides more information on international registration and notification 

systems.

152 

XI. Miscellaneous 

The status of having been convicted of a sex offense, being required to register as a 

sex offender, or having failed to register as a sex offender, can trigger other legal issues 

s.153 in a variety of context In addition to all of the topics discussed above, the following 

matters also arise in these circumstances. 

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Defamation 

Defamation is a civil tort action which can be pursued when someone’s reputation in 

s.154 the community has been injured by false or malicious statement Some individuals

have unsuccessfully made claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on the basis of defamation, 

when they were posted on the sex offender registry website without the due process 

e.155 provided by statut

Deportation 

Convictions for a failure to register have triggered subsequent deportation 

proceedings in some cases. There is a circuit split as to whether a conviction for a state

failure to register offense is a crime involving ‘moral turpitude’ under the immigration 

code such that a person is removable because of that conviction.156 

Fair Credit Reporting Act 

Certain people have had limited success in pursuing claims under the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (FCRA) when they have been incorrectly reported by a credit bureau as 

having prior sex offense convictions.157 

Homeless & Transient Offenders 

Homeless or transient sex offenders have generated a great deal of litigation as states 

have tried to enforce registration requirements. Many states are rewriting their laws in

such a way that these offenders are clearly required to register.158 This issue has recently

come to the fore in the City of Chicago, where there has been a great deal of civil

litigation based on its policy to deny registration to any sex offender who lacked a fixed 

address.159 

In most cases, an offender’s homelessness has not prevented a successful prosecution 

for failure to register, although sometimes statutory or evidentiary problems have 

prevented successful prosecution.160 Differing check-in requirements for homeless 

offenders as opposed to offenders who have a residence address have been affirmed.161 

In one case, a court found that when an offender repeatedly uses a ‘mail drop’ address as 

his legal address, he ‘resides’ at that location for the purposes of a prosecution for failure 

to register as a sex offender.162 In another, when an offender still technically lived at the 

same address, even though he lived in an outbuilding or his truck rather than the main 

residence, he could not be prosecuted for a failure to update his residence address.163 

However, in an attempt to prosecute a long-haul trucker for failure to register, a 

conviction could not be had, even when he had prolonged absences from his registered 

residence.164 

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HUD Housing 

One collateral consequence of a state-imposed lifetime sex offender registration 

requirement is that a person is no longer permitted, pursuant to federal law, to be 

admitted to any “federally assisted housing.”165 However, once a person has been 

admitted to a program such as Section 8,166 they cannot be thereafter terminated because 

of a new, or newly-discovered, lifetime sex offender registration requirement.167 A

person may be prosecuted for perjury if they have lied on an application for Section 8 

housing about the status of a lifetime registered sex offender living in the residence.168 

One recent case permitted the termination of a beneficiary’s assistance based only on the 

address displayed on the public sex offender registry website for a jurisdiction.169 

Impeachment 

Generally speaking, rules of evidence permit attacking the credibility of a witness by 

way of introducing evidence of certain prior convictions. In one state, a conviction for 

failure to register was determined to be a ‘crime of deception’, rendering it admissible in

a subsequent criminal trial to impeach the defendant’s testimony.170 

Sentencing Enhancement Under Federal Law 

Under federal law, additional punishment can result if certain crimes are committed 

while an offender is required to register as a sex offender. Under 18 U.S.C. §2260A, the 

commission of certain offenses against a minor while the perpetrator is required to 

register as a sex offender under any law will result in a ten year mandatory minimum 

sentence to run consecutively to any other sentences imposed.171 The retroactive 

application of these provisions does not violate the Ex Post Facto clause.172 

XII. Conclusion 

The statutes, regulations and laws addressing sex offender registration and 

notification in the United States are varied and complex. While this summary seeks to 

provide updated and accurate information, practitioners are advised to conduct their own 

research to confirm that they are utilizing the most current information available and 

applicable in their jurisdiction. 

For any questions about SORNA itself or for more information about any of the 

SMART Office projects described in this resource, please feel free to contact the SMART 

Office at asksmart@usdoj.gov or visit our website at www.smart.gov. 

1 Except for military offenders, addressed in more detail below, in section I. 2 Colleges must also annually include in a security report a statement advising the campus
	

community the location where information about registered sex offenders on campus may be obtained.
	

Violence Against Women Act; Final Rule, 79 Fed. Reg. 62,785-86 (Oct. 20, 2014).

3 Federally-recognized Indian Tribes located in ‘PL-280’ states will typically have their registration
	

functions handled by the state within which their lands are located. 42 U.S.C. § 16927(a)(2)(A), citing Pub.
	

L. No. 83-280, c. 505, 67 Stat. 588 (1953) (codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1162). 

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4 CONG. RESEARCH SERVICE REPORT 7-5700, FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT IN SEX OFFENDER
	

REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION: OVERVIEW AND ISSUES FOR CONGRESS, IN BRIEF (March 25, 2015),

https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43954.pdf. 5 Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, Pub.
	

L. No. 103-322, § 170101, 108 Stat. 2038 (1994). This was an incentive-based system, where States would

be penalized (via loss of federal grant funds) for a failure to implement its terms. The five principal U.S. 

territories (American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands) were included under Wetterling’s requirements by way of Final Guidelines issued in

April of 1996. Final Guidelines for the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent

Offender Registration Act, 61 Fed. Reg. 15,110 (April 4, 1996).

6 In the same way that the Wetterling Act’s provisions were incentive-based (see supra text 

accompanying note 5), so were the provisions of Megan’s Law. 

7 42 U.S.C. §§ 16901-16946. All United States Code references are current as of July 2015. Two 

sets of guidelines have been issued to assist in the implementation of SORNA. The National Guidelines for 

Sex Offender Registration and Notification, 73 Fed. Reg. 38,030 (July 2, 2008) [hereinafter Final

Guidelines], Supplemental Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification, 76 Fed. Reg. 1630 

(Jan. 11, 2011) [hereinafter Supplemental Guidelines]. Guidelines provisions, standing alone, do not create

an additional basis for criminal liability under 18 U.S.C. §2250, United States v. Belaire, 480 Fed. Appx. 

284 (5th Cir. 2012) (defendant could not be prosecuted for failing to update ‘temporary lodging’ 

information when neither originating nor destination state required such information to be provided); but 

see United States v. Piper, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113059 (D. Vt. Aug. 12, 2013).

8 For any State or Territory, the penalty is contained in 42 U.S.C. § 16925: 

For any fiscal year after the end of the period for implementation, a jurisdiction that fails, 

as determined by the Attorney General, to substantially implement this title shall not 

receive 10 percent of the funds that would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year to

the jurisdiction under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. § 3750, et seq.). 

If the 10 percent penalty is assessed, the jurisdiction can apply for reallocation of those funds to 

use for purposes of implementing SORNA. 

For Tribes that elected to function as registration jurisdictions, the penalty contained in 42 U.S.C. 

§ 16925 may apply, if the tribe qualifies for that funding, which is determined by formula. However, there 

is a separate and significant penalty for non-compliance by tribes contained in 42 U.S.C. § 16927: For any 

federally-recognized Indian Tribe that the Attorney General determines has “not substantially implemented 

the requirements of [SORNA] and is not likely to become capable of doing so within a reasonable amount 

of time,” the statute creates automatic delegation of SORNA functions: 

. . . to another jurisdiction or jurisdictions within which the territory of the tribe is located 

[and requires the tribe] to provide access to its territory and such other cooperation and 

assistance as may be needed to enable such other jurisdiction or jurisdictions to carry out

and enforce the requirements of [SORNA]. 

The meaning of “provide access” and other issues regarding delegation of registration and 

notification responsibilities under SORNA for federally-recognized Indian Tribes is discussed in

documents #12 and #13 of the SMART Office’s “Topics in SORNA Implementation” series, available at

http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/SORNA_ImplementationDocuments.pdf. 9 Current as of October 1, 2015. For the current list of implemented jurisdictions, please visit

http://www.smart.gov/newsroom_jurisdictions_sorna.htm. For a comprehensive report on the efforts and 

challenges in implementing SORNA, see GAO-13-211, SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION 

ACT: JURISDICTIONS FACE CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTING THE ACT, AND STAKEHOLDERS REPORT 

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS (2013), available at http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/652032.pdf. 

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10 Official reports detailing the systems of each jurisdiction which has substantially implemented 

SORNA are available on the SMART Office web site at http://www.smart.gov/sorna.htm. 11 The precursor of NSOPW was NSOPR, the National Sex Offender Public Registry, which was the 

official name of the website from the time of its administrative creation in 2005 until the passage of

SORNA in 2006. Press Release, Dep’t of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice 

Activates National Sex Offender Public Registry Website (July 20, 2005), available at

http://www.amberalert.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/ojp_05_0720.htm. By July of 2006, all fifty states 

were linked to NSOPR. Press Release, Dep’t of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, All 50 States Linked 

to Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Registry Website (July 3, 2006), available at

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2006/July/06_ag_414.html.

12 The SMART Office administers the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System 

(TTSORS), which is a system developed particularly for federally-recognized Indian Tribes and U.S. 

Territories which had not previously operated a sex offender registration system or website. All of the 

information in TTSORS is supplied and administered by the jurisdictions. More information about

TTSORS is available at http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/TTSORSFactSheet.pdf. 13 For example, a local police department might submit an offender’s fingerprints to the FBI at the 

time of arrest.

14 See Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-236, 

110 Stat. 3093. 

15 NGI Officially Replaces IAFIS—Yields More Search Options and Investigative Leads, and 

Increased Identification Accuracy, https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/cjis-link/october%202014/ngiofficially-replaces-iafisyields-more-search-options-and-investigative-leads-and-increased-identificationaccuracy.

16 Conversation with Zachary Hartzell, FBI CJIS Division, NCIC Operations and Policy Unit, 2010. 

17 In many cases, an offender will have had their fingerprints, palm prints or DNA submitted prior to

the registration process, as part of their arrest, sentencing, incarceration, or at some other point in the 

processing of their case. Registration agencies are not required to submit duplicate entries to federal

databases where a fingerprint, palm print, or DNA record already exists. Final Guidelines, supra note 7, at

38,057.

18 18 U.S.C. § 4042(c). The Bureau of Prisons is a Department of Justice subdivision and part of the 

Executive Branch. Federal probation officers are governed by the Administrative Office of the United 

States Courts, a Judicial Branch Office. 

19 Program Statement 5110.15, Notification Requirements Upon Release of Sex Offenders, Violent

Offenders, and Drug Traffickers (May 16, 2014), available at

http://www.bop.gov/policy/progstat/5110_017.pdf. The form utilized by BOP to provide notice of 

registration responsibilities to its prisoners upon release can be found at

http://www.bop.gov/policy/forms/BP_A0648.pdf.

20 BIA is part of the Department of the Interior, in the Executive Branch. See generally Office of the 

Inspector General Report #WR-EV-BIA-0005-2010, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS’ DETENTION FACILITIES 

(March 2011) (“BIA reported that as of September 2009, the detention program consisted of 94 detention 

facilities: 23 bureau-operated facilities, 52 tribally-operated facilities under Public Law (P.L.) 93-638 

contracts, and 19 tribally-operated facilities under self-governance compact agreements”), available at

http://www.doi.gov/oig/reports/upload/01-WR-EV-BIA-0005-2010Public.pdf.

21 GAO-13-832, ICE COULD BETTER INFORM OFFENDERS IT SUPERVISES OF REGISTRATION 

RESPONSIBILITIES AND NOTIFY JURISDICTIONS WHEN OFFENDERS ARE REMOVED (2013) at p. 1, available at

http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/657831.pdf.

22 See id. 

23 Notice of Amendment of Privacy Act System of Records, 80 Fed. Reg. 24,269 § HH (April 30, 

2015). ICE-ERO is now using the SORNA Exchange Portal to provide notifications to jurisdictions when a 

sex offender is released from ICE-ERO custody. For additional information about the SORNA Exchange 

Portal, see http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/SORNA_Portalfactsheet.pdf. 24 The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) operates the Sex Offender 

Tracking Team (SOTT) which is collocated with NSOTC in Crystal City, Virginia. SOTT publishes a biPage 19 of 30
	
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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annual survey of the number of registered sex offenders in the United States. 

http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/Sex_Offenders_Map.pdf. As of June 1, 2015, there were 

843,260 registered sex offenders in the United States. For more information about SOTT, see 

http://www.missingkids.com/SOTT. 25 ‘Federal Enclave’ is a legal term of art which refers to property that is either in whole or in part

under the law enforcement jurisdiction of the United States Government. See generally the ‘Enclave 

Clause,’ U.S. CONST. art. I, § 8, cl. 17 (“[The Congress shall have Power...] [t]o exercise exclusive 

Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by Cession 

of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United 

States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the 

State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other 

needful Buildings”); see also 40 U.S.C. § 3112 (2006) (concerning federal jurisdiction). A similar issue 

arises regarding offenders located within National Parks or other federally-held land that holds the status of

‘federal enclave.’ 

26 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Pub. L. No. 112-239, § 523, 126 Stat.

1632, 1636 (codified at 10 U.S.C. § 504 note). This general prohibition also extends to federal convictions, 

juvenile adjudications, and situations where the disposition of the case requires the person to register as a 

sex offender, regardless of the offense of conviction. Enlistment, Appointment, and Induction Criteria, 32 

C.F.R. § 66.6(b)(8)(iii) (2015).

27 DODIG-2014-103, Evaluation of DoD Compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and 

Notification Act (August 29, 2014), http://www.dodig.mil/pubs/documents/DODIG-2014-103.pdf.

28 Registered Sex Offender (RSO) Identification, Notification, and Monitoring in DoD, DirectiveType Memorandum (DTM) 15-003 (March 26, 2015),

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/DTM15003.pdf.

29 Military Sex Offender Reporting Act of 2015 (Title V of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act 

of 2015), Pub. L. No. 114-22, § 502, 129 Stat. 227 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16928a).

30 See Army Regulation 190-45, § 2-7 (2007).

31 Registration of Sex Offenders on Army Installations (inside and outside the Continental United 

States), 32 C.F.R. § 635.6 (2015). Provost Marshal officials have also been directed to seek to establish 

Memoranda of Understanding with state and local sex offender registration officials to facilitate the flow of

information regarding sex offenders (along with other criminal justice information). Establishing 

Memoranda of Understanding, 32 C.F.R. § 635.20 (2015).

32 U.S. v. Kebodeaux, 133 S.Ct. 2496 (2013).

33 Administration of Military Correctional Facilities and Clemency and Parole Authority, Dep’t of

Defense Instruction 1325.07, Appx. 4 to Enc. 2 (March 11, 2013),

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/132507p.pdf. Although the United States Coast Guard is

technically a part of the Department of Homeland Security, this Instruction (along with the DTM 

referenced supra n. 28) also governs their proceedings. See Kebodeaux, 133 S.Ct. at 2496. 

34 Navy courts-martial results are available every month, and the most recent report can be found at

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=91604 (September 2015). USMC courts-martial 

summaries are available by region and can be viewed at

http://www.mciwest.marines.mil/StaffOffices/LegalServicesSupportSectionWest/CourtMartialResults.aspx 

and

http://www.mcieast.marines.mil/StaffOffices/LegalServicesSupportSectionEast/EasternRegionalTrialCoun 

selOffice/CourtsMartialResults.aspx (courts-martial page does not appear to be populated at the time of

publication); a summary version is very difficult to find, the most recent document being 

http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/portals/61/Docs/courtsmartial0514.pdf. A four-year summary of Air Force 

Courts-Martial for sexual assault can be found at http://www.afjag.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD130917-061.pdf.

35 Antonieto Rico, Army to Discharge Convicted Sex Offenders, MILITARY TIMES (Nov. 20, 2013),

http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20131120/NEWS/311200024/Army-discharge-convicted-sexoffenders. 

36 Billingsley v. Alabama, 2012 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 112 (Ala. Crim. App. 2012). 

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37 Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Board, 23 N.E.3d 938 (Mass. 2015).

38 Withheld adjudications have been held to require registration under SORNA. See U.S. v. Bridges, 

901 F. Supp. 2d 677 (W.D. Va. 2012), aff’d, 741 F.3d 464 (4th Cir. 2014) (withheld adjudication in Florida 

registerable under SORNA); Roe v. Replogle, 408 S.W.3d 759 (Mo. 2013) (“suspended imposition of 

sentence” is a ‘conviction’ under SORNA). In some jurisdictions, registration is required when a person 

has been civilly committed, received a withheld adjudication, found ‘Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity’ or 

incompetent to stand trial, or when ordered to register by a probation officer. See Mayo v. People, 181 

P.3d 1207 (Colo. App. 2008) (civil commitment triggered requirement to register); Price v. State, 43 So.3d 

854 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2010) (withheld adjudication); State v. Cardona, 986 N.E.2d 66 (Ill. 2013) (a

finding of ‘not not guilty’ for an incompetent defendant sufficient to require registration); State v. Olsson, 

958 N.E.2d 356 (Ill. App. Ct. 2011) (defendant found incompetent to stand trial was required to register);

In re Kasckarow, 936 N.Y.S.2d 498 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2013) (nolo contendere plea and withheld adjudication 

in Florida registerable in New York); Walters v. Cooper, 739 S.E.2d 185 (N.C. Ct. App.), aff’d, 748 S.E.2d 

144 (N.C. 2013) (‘Prayer for Judgment Continued’ on a charge of sexual battery is a final conviction 

triggering requirement to register). But see United States v. Moore, 449 Fed. Appx. 677 (9th Cir. 2011)

(probation condition under SORNA requiring registration for a tier I offender more than 15 years after the 

conviction was invalid). In addition, some jurisdictions require registration even if an offender has been 

pardoned of the underlying offense, In re Edwards, 720 S.E.2d 462 (S.C. 2011), had their underlying 

complaint dismissed and pleas vacated under a special statutory procedure, People v. Hamdon, 225 Cal.

App. 4th 1065 (2014) (procedure under California Penal Code 1203.4a), Witten v. State, 2014 Miss. LEXIS

308 (June 26, 2014) (procedure under California Penal Code 1203.4a), had their conviction for a sex 

offense vacated on double jeopardy grounds, Montoya v. Driggers, 320 P.3d 987 (N.M. 2014), and in some 

jurisdictions an offender can remain on the public registry website even if that offender no longer has any 

meaningful ties to the jurisdiction, Doe v. O’Donnell, 924 N.Y.S.2d 684 (N.Y. App. Div. 2011). But see 

Stallworth v. Mississippi, 160 So.3d 1161 (Miss. 2015) (expungement of underlying conviction from 

Maryland entitles the defendant to relief from registration responsibilities in Mississippi).

39 For example, Montana’s Violent Offender registry (http://svcalt.mt.gov/svor/search.asp) is displayed 

together with its sex offender registry information. See Mont. Code § 46-23-502(13) (definition of ‘violent 

offense’). Other states have registries for other kinds of offenses. See State v. Brown, 301 P.3d 789 (Kan. 

Ct. App. 2013) (describing Kansas’ drug offense registry); Alex Byrd, Officials Target Abuse Recidivism, 

LONGVIEW NEWS-JOURNAL (Oct. 11, 2014), available at http://www.newsjournal.com/news/2014/oct/11/officials-target-abuse-recidivism (Texas establishes domestic violence 

registry); Ben Winslow, Governor Signs More Bills into Law, Including ‘White Collar Crime Registry’,

FOX 13 NOW (March 24, 2015), available at http://fox13now.com/2015/03/24/governor-signs-more-billsinto-law-including-white-collar-crime-registry/ (Utah).

40 42 U.S.C. § 16911(1). The bulk of these cases have been appeals of convictions under 18 U.S.C. 

§ 2250 and interpret the “initial registration” requirement contained in 42 U.S.C. § 16913. See Carr v. 

United States, 560 U.S. 438 (2010).

41 “Sex Offense” is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 16911(5)(A). For guidance on which persons convicted of

UCMJ offenses are required to register, see United States v. Jones, 383 Fed. Appx. 885 (11th Cir. 2010)

and Dep’t of Defense Instruction 1325.07, supra n. 33. 42 42 U.S.C. § 16911(5)(B). See McCarty v. Roos, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48363 (D. Nev., Apr. 8 

2014) (describing the standard for registering a Japanese conviction under SORNA).

43 In other words, there will be situations where SORNA imposes a registration requirement directly

on an offender, but the jurisdiction where that offender lives, works or attends school refuses to register 

him, because the jurisdiction’s laws do not require registration for the offense of conviction. See Dep’t of

Pub. Safety v. Doe, 94 A.3d 791 (Md. 2014) (State is not required to register an offender if the state’s laws 

do not require it).

44 Doe v. Toelke, 389 S.W.3d 165 (Mo. 2012) (“the [state] registration requirements apply to any 

person who ‘has been’ required to register as a sex offender pursuant to federal law. Consequently, even if

Doe presently is not required to register pursuant to SORNA, he ‘has been’ required to register as a sex 

offender and, therefore, is required to register [with the state].”) (offender convicted in 1983 required to 

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register, even though Missouri law only requires registration of persons convicted on or after January 1,
	

1995).

45 Oulman v. Setter, 2014 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 842 (Aug. 4, 2014) (Colorado registration
	

requirements imposed on offender who relocated to Minnesota).

46 See Rainer v. State, 690 S.E.2d 827 (Ga. 2010) (non-parental false imprisonment is registerable),

Moffitt v. Commonwealth, 360 S.W.3d 247 (Ky. Ct. App. 2012) (citing the legislative history of the
	

Wetterling Act to support registration for kidnapping); People v. Knox, 903 N.E.2d 1149 (N.Y. 2009) (nonparental kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment is registerable); State v. Smith, 780 N.W.2d 90 (Wisc.
	

2010) (non-parental false imprisonment is registerable).

47 State v. Norman, 824 N.W.2d 739 (Neb. 2013).

48 In re K.B., 285 P.3d 389 (Kan. Ct. App. 2012).

49 See Doe v. Board, 925 N.E.2d 533 (Mass. 2010) (Maine conviction for unlawful sexual contact
	

registerable in Massachusetts); Skaggs v. Neb. State Patrol, 804 N.W.2d 611 (Neb. 2011) (California
	

conviction registerable in Nebraska); Lozada v. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, 719 S.E.2d 258
	

(S.C. 2011) (Pennsylvania conviction for unlawful restraint registerable as kidnapping in South Carolina);

In re Shaquille O’Neal B., 684 S.E.2d 549 (S.C. 2009) (North Carolina juvenile adjudication for ‘indecent

liberties between children’ registerable in South Carolina); State v. Harbin, 2014 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS

959 (Oct. 15. 2014) (Michigan conviction for criminal sexual conduct registerable in Tennessee); Scott v. 

State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 11410 (Oct. 16, 2014) (Illinois conviction for criminal sexual assault 

registerable in Texas). But see People v. Brooks, 296 P.3d 216 (Co. 2012) (Texas conviction not 

registerable in Colorado); Sharma v. State, 670 S.E.2d 494 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008) (Texas conviction not 

registerable in Georgia); State v. Frederick, 251 P.3d 48 (Kan. 2011) (Minnesota adjudication for criminal 

sexual conduct not registerable in Kansas because it is not a ‘conviction’ under Kansas law); Doe v. Sex 

Offender Registry Board, 11 N.E.3d 153 (Mass. App. Ct. 2014) (Federal conviction for Kidnapping of a 

minor not registerable in Massachusetts), State v. Orr, 304 P.3d 449 (N.M. Ct. App. 2013) (conviction for 

‘taking indecent liberties with children’ in North Carolina not registerable in New Mexico); State v. Hall,

294 P.3d 1235 (N.M. 2013) (California conviction for ‘annoying or molesting children’ not registerable in

New Mexico without evidence of actual conduct comparable to New Mexico offense, regardless of the 

elements of the offense); Dep’t Pub. Safety v. Anonymous, 382 S.W.3d 531 (Tex. App. 2012)

(Massachusetts conviction for indecent assault and battery not registerable in Texas); Ex parte Harbin, 297 

S.W.3d 283 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009) (California conviction for ‘annoying or molesting a child’ not 

registerable in Texas); State v. Howe, 212 P.3d 565 (Wash. 2009) (California conviction for ‘lewd acts

upon a child’ not registerable in Washington); State v. Werneth, 197 P.3d 1195 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008)

(Georgia conviction for child molestation not registerable in Washington State).

50 See Doe v. Pa. Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 513 F.3d 95 (3d Cir. 2008) (Pennsylvania’s disparate

treatment of in-state and out-of-state offenders violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th 

Amendment).

51 See United States v. Dodge, 597 F.3d 1347 (11th Cir. 2010) (18 USC § 1470 registerable under 

SORNA, even though it is not listed); United States v. Hahn, 551 F. 3d 977 (10th Cir. 2008) (probation 

conditions properly required registration in a fraud case when there was a prior state conviction for a sex 

offense); United States v. Byun, 539 F.3d 982 (9th Cir. 2008) (conviction for alien smuggling which had 

underlying facts of sex trafficking properly triggered registration); United States v. Jensen, 278 Fed. Appx. 

548 (6th Cir. 2008) (Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Abuse is a registerable offense). But see United States 

v. Jimenez, 275 Fed. Appx. 433 (5th Cir. 2008) (where only evidence of sexual misconduct was three 

unsubstantiated police reports, registration requirement was inappropriate); State v. Coman, 273 P.3d 701 

(Kan. 2012) (bestiality is not a registerable offense); State v. Haynes, 760 N.W.2d 283 (Mich. App. 2008)

(bestiality not registerable).

52 See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Sampolski, 89 A.3d 1287 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014) (looking to the 

elements of the offense), Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 925 N.E.2d 533 (Mass. 2010) (may not 

consider facts underlying the conviction).

53 See, e.g., State v. Duran, 967 A.2d 184 (Md. 2009) (determining that Indecent Exposure was not 

registerable because the lewdness element of the crime incorporated conduct that was not sexual in addition 

to that which could be sexual). 

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54 Ward v. State, 288 P.3d 94 (Alaska 2012). SORNA’s provisions for enhanced tiering of 

recidivists are found in 42 U.S.C. § 16911(3)(C) & § 16911(4)(C).

55 SORNA’s minimum standards require that jurisdictions register juveniles who were at least 14 

years old at the time of the offense and who have been adjudicated delinquent for committing (or 

attempting or conspiring to commit) a sexual act with another by force, by the threat of serious violence, or 

by rendering unconscious or drugging the victim. “Sexual Act” is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2246. 

56 The Supplemental Guidelines give jurisdictions full discretion over whether they will post

information about juveniles adjudicated delinquent of sex offenses on their public registry website. 

Supplemental Guidelines, supra note 7 at 1636-37. 57 A survey of the varying juvenile registration responsibilities imposed by each state can be found in

A Snapshot of Juvenile Registration and Notification Laws: A Survey of the United States (2011),

http://www.njjn.org/uploads/digital-library/SNAPSHOT_web10-28.pdf. 58 See, e.g., Clark v. State, 957 A.2d 1 (Del. 2008) (lifetime registration requirement for juvenile was 

not contravened by requirement to consider the ‘best interests of the child’ in fashioning a disposition).

Some states go beyond SORNA’s requirements. See, e.g., State v. I.C.S., 145 So.3d 350 (La. 2014)

(defendants who committed sex offenses prior to age 14, were not transferrable to adult court at that age, 

and whose offenses did not require registration upon a juvenile adjudication of delinquency, were 

prosecuted in adult court in their twenties for those offenses and required to register); In re J.L., 800 

N.W.2d 720 (S.D. 2011) (14 year-old boy adjudicated delinquent for consensual sex with his 12 year-old 

girlfriend was ordered to register for life).

59 See, e.g., N.V. v. State, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 207 (March 5, 2008) (due process hearing required 

prior to juvenile being required to register); N.L. v. State, 989 N.E.2d 773 (Ind. 2013) (adjudicated juvenile 

may only be required to register after an evidentiary hearing, using the ‘clear and convincing’ standard).

For a complete summary of the juvenile registration schemes across the United States, see SMART 

SUMMARY: PROSECUTION, TRANSFER, AND REGISTRATION OF SERIOUS JUVENILE SEX OFFENDERS,

http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/SMARTSummary.pdf (2015).

60 State v. I.C.S., supra n. 58. 

61 U.S. v. Shannon, 511 Fed. Appx. 487 (6th Cir. 2013) (Ohio adjudication for Gross Sexual

Imposition triggered registration condition in subsequent sentencing for possession of a firearm by a felon).

62 See, e.g., In re Crockett, 159 Cal. App. 4th 751 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008) (juvenile adjudicated 

delinquent of sex offense in Texas was not required to register when he moved to California); Murphy v. 

Commonwealth, 2015 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 275 (Apr. 24, 2015) (juvenile adjudicated delinquent in

Michigan required to register in Kentucky, even though Kentucky-adjudicated juveniles are not required to 

register); Smith v. Commonwealth, 2014 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 728 (Sept. 12, 2014) (Illinoisadjudicated offender required to register in Kentucky because he was required to register in Illinois).

Nebraska also only requires registration for a juvenile adjudication of delinquency for a sex offense when 

the offender is convicted outside of Nebraska and has a registration requirement imposed by another state. 

See Nebraska Sex Offender Registry: FAQ’s, https://sor.nebraska.gov/FAQ (last visited July 13, 2015); see 

also A.W. v. Nebraska, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48287 (D. Neb. April 13, 2015) (refusing to certify the 

question of the constitutionality of requiring an out-of-state adjudicated juvenile to be subject to public 

notification in Nebraska to the Nebraska Supreme Court).

63 See In re Z.B., 757 N.W.2d 595 (S.D. 2008) (treating juvenile sex offenders convicted of the same 

crimes as adult sex offenders differently and more harshly than the adult sex offenders served no rational

purpose and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment); cf. In re C.P.T., 2008 Minn. 

App. Unpub. LEXIS 929 (Aug. 5, 2008) (lifetime registration requirement for juveniles does not violate

due process).

64 In re C.P., 967 N.E.2d 729 (Ohio 2012) (due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual 

punishment); In re J.B., 107 A.3d 1 (Pa. 2014) (procedural due process). Other courts have held that 

registration requirements as applied to juveniles adjudicated delinquent of a sex offense does not violate the 

8th Amendment. United States v. Under Seal, 709 F.3d 257 (4th Cir. 2013) (military conviction); see also In 

re Justin B., 747 S.E.2d 774 (S.C. 2013) (lifetime GPS monitoring of a juvenile adjudicated delinquent of a 

sex offense does not violate the 8th Amendment).

65 Illinois ex. rel. Birkett v. Konetski, 909 N.E.2d 783 (Ill. 2009). 

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66 In 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case where the Ninth Circuit had held that

the juvenile registration provisions of SORNA were unconstitutional when applied retroactively. U.S. v. 

Juvenile Male, 581 F.3d 977 (2009), vacated and remanded, 131 S. Ct. 2860 (2011), appeal dismissed as 

moot, 653 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2011). In its decision, however, the Supreme Court did not in any way 

address the question of the constitutionality of the retroactive application of SORNA’s requirement that 

certain adjudicated juveniles register as sex offenders. 

67 U.S. v. Under Seal, 709 F.3d 257 (4th Cir. 2013) (military conviction); United States v. Juvenile

Male, 670 F.3d 999 (9th Cir. 2012). The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act is found at 18 U.S.C. §5031, 

et. seq. 

68 SORNA requires that jurisdictions register offenders whose “predicate convictions predate the 

enactment of SORNA or the implementation of SORNA in the jurisdiction” when an offender is:

(1) incarcerated or under supervision, either for the predicate sex offense or for some other crime;

(2) already registered or subject to a pre-existing sex offender registration requirement under the 

jurisdiction’s law; or 

(3) reenter the jurisdiction’s justice system because of a subsequent felony conviction. 

Final Guidelines, supra n. 7, at 38046; Supplemental Guidelines, supra n. 7, at 1639. 

69 Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1009 (2003).

70 Id.
	 71 See, e.g., Jensen v. State, 905 N.E.2d 384 (Ind. 2009) (person convicted after the initial passage of

the law could be required to comply with amended requirements).

72 See U.S. v. Kebodeaux, 133 S.Ct. 2496 (2013) (assuming without deciding that Congress did not
	

violate the Ex Post Facto clause in enacting SORNA’s registration requirements); U.S. v. Juvenile Male,
	

131 S.Ct. 2860 (2011) (declining to address whether SORNA’s requirements violated the Ex Post Facto
	

clause on grounds of mootness); Carr v. U.S., 560 U.S. 438 (2010) (declining to address the issue of

whether SORNA violates the Ex Post Facto clause).

73 Doe v. State, 189 P.3d 999 (Alaska 2008); Wallace v. State, 905 N.E.2d 371 (Ind. 2009); Maine v.
	

Letalien, 985 A.2d 4 (Me. 2009); Doe v. Dep’t of Pub. Safety & Corr. Servs., 40 A.3d 39 (Md. 2013); State
	

v. Williams, 952 N.E.2d 1108 (Ohio 2011); Starkey v. Okla. Dep’t of Corr., 305 P.3d 1004 (Okla. 2013)

(detailing all case law from state courts regarding retroactive application of sex offender registration and
	

notification statutes). One additional case along these lines, Doe v. Phillips, 194 S.W.3d 833 (Mo. 2006),

has subsequently been rendered moot, Doe v. Keathley, 2009 Mo. App. LEXIS 4 (Jan. 6, 2009).

74 Doe v. State, 111 A.3d 1077 (N.H. 2015) (registration requirements can only be applied to the
	

petitioner if he is “promptly given an opportunity for either a court hearing, or an administrative hearing
	

subject to judicial review, at which he is permitted to demonstrate that he no longer poses a risk sufficient

to justify continued registration....[and] must be afforded periodic opportunities for further hearings, at

reasonable intervals, to revisit whether registration continues to be necessary to protect the public”).

75 Cappolino v. Commisioner, 102 A.3d 1254 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2014). But see Commonwealth v.
	

Perez, 97 A.3d 747 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014) (retroactive application of new registration scheme did not violate

the Ex Post Facto clause).

76 See, e.g., Doe v. Snyder, 932 F. Supp. 2d 803 (E.D. Mich. 2013) (addressing Michigan’s 2011
	

amendments which substantially implemented SORNA); State v. Henry, 228 P.3d 900 (Ariz. Ct. App.
	

2010); Buffington v. State, 2008 Ark. LEXIS 71 (Jan. 31, 2008); Finnicum v. State, 673 S.E.2d 604 (Ga.
	

2009); State v. Yeoman, 236 P.3d 1265 (Idaho 2010); Illinois ex. rel. Birkett v. Konetski, 909 N.E.2d 783
	

(Ill. 2009); State v. Hunt, 2014 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1424 (June 17, 2014); Smith v. Commonwealth,
	

743 S.E.2d 146 (Va. 2013); Kammerer v. State, 322 P.3d 827 (Wyo. 2014). In addition, one federal circuit

has concluded that retroactive application of New York’s registration amendments to an offender did not
	

violate the Ex Post Facto clause. Doe v. Cuomo, 755 F.3d 105 (2d Cir. 2014).

77 Commonwealth v. Hainesworth, 82 A.3d 444 (Pa. 2014) (defendant entitled to specific
	

performance of his plea agreement, a component of whose negotiation was that he would not be required to
	

register as a sex offender). But see Commonwealth v. Giannatonio, 114 A.3d 429 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015)

(extension of state duration of registration period did not violate Ex Post Facto when conviction secured
	

pursuant to federal plea agreement).

78 Doe v. Harris, 302 P.3d 598 (Cal. 2013).
	

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79 ACLU v. Masto, 2:08-cv-00822-JCM-PAL (D. Nev., Oct. 7, 2008).

80 ACLU v. Masto, 670 F.3d 1046 (9th Cir. 2012). The Nevada Supreme Court also held that
	

retroactive application of registration and notification requirements to juveniles adjudicated delinquent does
	

not violate Due Process or the Ex Post Facto clause. State v. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct., 306 P.3d 369 (Nev.
	

2013).

81 McCraw v. Gomez, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 13911 (1st Dist., Dec. 30, 2014).

82 State v. Jedlicka, 747 N.W.2d 580 (Minn. App. 2008); see also Flanders v. State, 955 N.E.2d 732
	

(Ind. App. 2011).

83 Buck v. Commonwealth, 308 S.W.3d 661 (Ky. 2010).

84 Moe v. Sex Offender Registry Board, 6 N.E.3d 530 (Mass. 2014).

85 See the procedure followed in Massachusetts, where the Sex Offender Registry Board must find
	

that the offender poses a danger to the community before requiring registration: 803 CMR 106(B),

available at http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/sorb/sor-regulations.pdf.

86 Doe v. Anderson, 108 A.3d 378 (Me. 2015) (holding, in part, that a guilty plea is not a ‘criminal

trial’). But see Bell v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole, 2014 Pa. Commw. Unpub. LEXIS 460
	

(July 24, 2014).

87 Doe v. Prosecutor, Marion County, 705 F.3d 694 (7th Cir. 2013) (statute prohibiting sex offenders
	

from using social networking websites, instant messaging services, and chat programs violated the First

Amendment); Doe v. State, 898 F.Supp.2d 1086 (D. Ne. 2012) (requirement to provide internet identifiers
	

found unconstitutional on First Amendment and other grounds); Doe v. Shurtleff, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS

73787 (D. Utah Sept. 25, 2008), vacated after legislative changes, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73955 (D. Utah
	

Aug. 20, 2009); Harris v. State, 985 N.E.2d 767 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013) (statute prohibiting use of a social
	

networking site by a registered sex offender violated the First Amendment).

88 Brown v. Montoya, 662 F.3d 1152 (10th Cir. 2011).

89 State v. Briggs, 199 P.3d 935 (Utah 2008) (‘target’ information could include, among other things,
	

a description of the offender’s preferred victim demographics).

90 Ex parte Evans, 338 S.W.3d 545 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011).

91 Doe v. Jindal, 851 F. Supp.2d 995 (E.D. La. 2012).

92 Gonzalez v. Duncan, 551 F.3d 875 (9th Cir. 2008).

93 Bradshaw v. State, 671 S.E.2d 485 (Ga. 2008).

94 State v. Dipiazza, 778 N.W.2d 264 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

95 Doe v. Keathley, 2009 Mo. App. LEXIS 4 (Jan. 6, 2009). But see State v. Hough, 978 N.E.2d 505
	

(Ind. Ct. App. 2012); Andrews v. State, 978 N.E.2d 494 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012) (states without deciding that

the federal duty to register could apply if the offender engaged in interstate travel).

96 In re McClain, 741 S.E.2d 893 (N.C. 2013) (North Carolina’s registration law directly

incorporates the clean record provisions of SORNA); see In re Hall, 768 S.E.2d 39 (N.C. Ct. App. 2014)

(using SORNA’s tiering structure).

97 State v. Nieman, 84 A.2d 603 (Pa. 2013).

98 530 U.S. 466 (2000).

99 See People v. Mosley, 344 P.3d 788 (Cal. 2015) (residency restrictions are not ‘punishment’ for
	

the purposes of Sixth Amendment analysis); Colorado v. Rowland, 207 P.3d 890 (Colo. Ct. App. 2009);

State v. Meredith, 2008 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 324 (April 8, 2008).

100 The American Bar Association’s Collateral Consequences Project,

http://www.abacollateralconsequences.org, has produced a standing resource which lists all collateral

consequences which flow at the federal and state level for convictions of certain crimes. Users may select

‘sex offenses’ as a search term and view all of the collateral consequences which may be imposed on
	

persons so convicted.
	 101 See United States v. Cottle, 355 Fed. Appx. 18 (6th Cir. 2009); Mireles v. Bell, 2008 U.S. Dist.

LEXIS 2451 (D. Mich. Jan. 11, 2008); State v. Flowers, 249 P.3d 367 (Idaho 2011); Magyar v. State, 18
	

So.3d 807 (Miss. 2009) (citing thorough collection of controlling case law across the country); People v.
	

Gravino, 928 N.E.2d 1048 (N.Y. 2010) (guilty plea); State v. Nash, 48 A.D.3d 837 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d
	

Dep’t 2008); see also United States v. Molina, 68 M.J. 532 (U.S.C.G. CCA 2009) (mutual
	

misunderstanding of registration requirement was grounds for withdrawing a guilty plea entered pursuant to
	

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a plea agreement); State v. Bowles, 89 A.D.3d 171 (N.Y. App. Div. 2011) (offender has the right to the 

effective assistance of counsel in a risk level assessment (SORA) hearing).

102 U.S. v. Riley, 72 M.J. 115 (C.A.A.F. 2013) (substantial basis to question the providence of guilty

plea when the judge failed to ensure that the defendant understood the registration requirements associated 

with a plea of guilty). The Riley decision was clarified in U.S. v. Talkington, 73 M.J. 212 (2014) as 

applying only to considerations raised by the Padilla case and its progeny regarding the voluntariness of 

guilty pleas, and is further clarified in Washington v. U.S., 74 M.J. 560 (A.C.C.A. 2014), as not applying 

retroactively. 

103 United States v. Rose, 2010 CCA LEXIS 251 (A.F. Ct. Crim. App. June 11, 2010). Contra 

Edmonds v. Pruett, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116736 (E.D. Va. Aug. 20, 2014).

104 People v. Fonville, 804 N.W.2d 878 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

105 559 U.S. 356 (2010).

106 Id. 

107 Rodriguez-Moreno v. Oregon, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151123 (D. Or. Nov. 15, 2011) (failure to

advise of registration requirements is not ineffective assistance of counsel); Illinois v. Cowart, 28 N.E.3d
	

862 (Ill. App. 2015) (trial court failure to admonish regarding registration requirements is not
	

constitutionally deficient). Contra Taylor v. State, 698 S.E.2d 384 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010); People v. Dodds, 7
	

N.E.3d 83 (Ill. Ct. App. 2014); People v. Fonville, 804 N.W.2d 878 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011); State v.
	

Trammell, 336 P.3d 977 (2014) (N.M. Ct. App. 2014); State v. Trotter, 2014 Utah LEXIS 72 (May 20,
	

2014).

108 Chaidez v. U.S., 133 S.Ct. 1103 (2013).

109 132 S.Ct. 2566 (2012).

110 133 S.Ct. 1863 (2013). 111 t See U.S. v. Anderson, 771 F.3d 1064 (8 h Cir. 2014); U.S. v. Robbins, 729 F.3d 131 (2d Cir. 2013)

(unsuccessful argument that an interstate travel prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 2250 was precluded by the 

decision in Sebelius, i.e., that the government cannot prosecute ‘inactivity’); U.S. v. Piper, 2013 U.S. Dist.

LEXIS 113059 (D. Vt. Aug. 12, 2013) (successful argument under Chevron that the SORNA Final

Guidelines must be followed in determining whether someone is required to register under SORNA).

112 Smith v. Commonwealth, 743 S.E.2d 146 (Va. 2013).

113 State v. Larson, 2008 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1525 (Dec. 30, 2008); State v. Sparks, 657 S.E. 

2d 655 (N.C. 2008); State v. Green, 230 P.3d 654 (Wash. App. 2010).

114 Meza v. Livingston, 607 F.3d 392 (5th Cir. 2010) (defendant had a liberty interest in being free 

from registration requirements where he had not been convicted of a sex offense); State v. Arthur H., 953 

A.2d 630 (Conn. 2008) (no due process hearing required); Doe v. Dep’t of Public Safety, 971 A.2d 975 

(Md. App. 2009) (presumption of dangerousness flowing from a rape conviction was permissible); Smith v. 

Commonwealth, 743 S.E.2d 146 (Va. 2013).

115 Litmon v. Harris, 768 F.3d 1237 (9th Cir2014) (requiring sexually violent predators to check in

every 90 days did not violate substantive due process); Woe v. Spitzer, 571 F.Supp.2d 382 (E.D. N.Y. 

2008) (when amended statute extended the registration period by ten years three days before petitioner’s 

registration requirement expired, there was no protected liberty interest).

116 Doe v. Jindal, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100408 (E.D. La., Sept. 7, 2011); State v. Dickerson, 97 

A.3d 15 (Conn. App. 2014). California has a long line of cases litigating equal protection issues in sex 

offender registration cases, based on People v. Hofsheier, 129 P.3d 29 (Cal. 2006), which was recently

overruled in Johnson v. Cal. Dep’t of Justice, 341 P.3d 1075 (Cal. 2015).

117 See Thomas v. United States, 942 A.2d 1180 (D.C. 2008) (underlying misdemeanor charges which 

required registration upon conviction were “petty” for purposes of the Sixth Amendment, and a jury trial 

was not required); In re Richard A., 946 A.2d 204 (R.I. 2008). But see Fushek v. State, 183 P.3d 536 (Ariz. 

2008) (because of the seriousness of the consequences of being designated a sex offender, jury trial must be 

afforded when there is a special allegation of sexual motivation in a misdemeanor case).

118 Washington v. Smith, 344 P.3d 1244 (Wash. App. 2015).

119 People v. Nichols, 176 Cal. App. 4th 428 (3d Dist. 2009) (28 years to life sentence for failure to 

register under California’s three-strikes law did not violate the 8th Amendment); People v. T.D., 823 

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N.W.2d 101 (Mich. 2011) (requiring a juvenile to register was not cruel and unusual punishment),

dismissed as moot, 821 N.W.2d 569 (Mich. 2012).

120 Rosin v. Monken, 599 F.3d 574 (7th Cir. 2010) (an offender convicted in New York was promised
	

in his plea agreement that he would never have to register as a sex offender, but when he moved to Illinois

and was required to register under its laws, it was not a violation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause); see
	

Burton v. State, 977 N.E.2d 1004 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012) (State unsuccessfully argued that the Full Faith and
	

Credit clause should apply).

121 United States v. King, 431 Fed. Appx. 630 (10th Cir. 2011). 122 State v. Caton, 260 P.3d 946 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011), rev’d on other grounds, 273 P.3d 980 (Wash.
	

2012).

123 Proponents of the sovereign citizen movement “believe they are not subject to federal or state
	

statutes or proceedings, reject most forms of taxation as illegitimate, and place special significance on
	

commercial law.” U.S. v. Harding, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62471 (W.D. Va., May 1, 2013) (18 U.S.C.
	

§2250 prosecution), quoting U.S. v. Brown, 669 F.3d 10 (1st Cir. 2012). In Harding the defendant argued
	

that the federal court did not have jurisdiction over him, citing the Organic Act of 1871, the fact that his
	

name was listed in all caps on the indictment, that there was no corpus delicti for the offense, and that the
	

federal court was an ‘Admiralty Court’ because the flag in the courtroom had fringe on it. Id. at *3-*15.
	 124 131 S.Ct. 2355 (2011), on remand at 681 F.3d 149 (3d Cir. 2012), cert. granted. on other grounds,
	

133 S.Ct. 978 (2013). Thus far, Tenth Amendment challenges raised under Bond have been unsuccessful.

See U.S. v. Kidd, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 5032 (6th Cir., Mar. 11, 2013); U.S. v. Smith, 504 Fed. Appx. 519
	

(8th Cir. 2012).

125 See United States v. Reynolds, 132 S.Ct. 975 (2012).

126 t See United States v. Ogburn, 590 Fed. Appx. 683 (9 h Cir. 2015); State v. Cook, 187 P.3d 1283 

(Kan. 2008); Longoria v. State, 749 N.W.2d 104 (Minn. App. 2008).

127 In re C.P.W., 213 P.3d 413 (Kan. 2009); People v. Haddock, 852 N.Y.S.2d 441 (N.Y. App. Div. 

2008); State v. Vick, 2010 Wash. App. LEXIS 2462 (Nov. 2, 2010).

128 Christie v. State, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 10 (Jan. 9, 2008); State v. T.R.D., 942 A.2d 1000 (Conn. 

2008).

129 Petway v. State, 661 S.E.2d 667 (Ga. App. 2008) (pre-release notice of registration requirements

is not a prerequisite to the obligation to register); Barrientos v. State, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 7712 (June 

24, 2013) (primarily Spanish-speaking defendant properly convicted even when all notices were in English 

and he claimed he did not understand his responsibilities).

130 See United States v. Leach, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104703 (D. Ind. Nov. 6, 2009); United States 

v. Benevento, 633 F. Supp. 2d 1170 (D. Nev. 2009); State v. Bryant, 614 S.E.2d 479, 488 (N.C. 2005) (“the 

pervasiveness of sex offender registration programs [combined with additional factors in this case]

certainly constitute circumstances which would lead the reasonable individual to inquire of a duty to 

register in any state upon relocation”).

131 State v. Binnarr, 733 S.E.2d 890 (S.C. 2012) (notice of changed registration responsibilities sought

to be proven by way of an unreturned letter, without more, does not prove actual notice sufficient to 

prosecute for failure to register).

132 State v. White, 58 A.3d 643 (N.H. 2012) (defendant failed to report the creation of a MySpace 

account).

133 State v. Lee, 286 P.3d 537 (Idaho 2012).

134 State v. Peterson, 186 P.3d 1179 (Wash. App. 2008).

135 See, e.g., Cal. Penal Code §3003.5 (2012); Idaho Code § 18-8329 (2012); 57 Okla. Stat. §590 

(2012).

136 In re William Taylor, 343 P.3d 867 (Cal. 2015).

137 G.H. v. Twp. of Galloway, 951 A.2d 221 (N.J. 2008) (New Jersey law preempted municipal 

residency restrictions); People v. Diack, 26 N.E.3d 1151 (N.Y. 2015) (New York law preempts local 

residency restriction provisions); People v. Oberlander, 880 N.Y.S.2d 875 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2009) (Rockland 

County residency restriction preempted by New York state law); People v. Blair, 873 N.Y.S.2d 890 

(Albany City Ct. 2009) (Albany County residency restriction preempted by New York state law). Contra 

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United States v. King, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94582 (W.D. Okla. Oct. 9, 2009) (Oklahoma’s residency 

restrictions did not present an obstacle to complying with federal sex offender registration requirements).

138 See Commonwealth v. Baker, 295 S.W.3d 437 (Ky. 2009) (Kentucky’s residency restrictions 

exceeded the nonpunitive purpose of public safety and thus violated the Ex Post Facto clause); see also 

Duarte v. City of Lewisville, 759 F.3d 514 (5th Cir. 2014) (standing granted in challenge to residence 

restrictions suit). But see McAteer v. Riley, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26209 (M.D. Ala. March 31, 2008)

(“The court expresses no opinion today on whether McAteer could present evidence and arguments to 

establish by the clearest proof that the residency and employment restrictions violate the Ex Post Facto 

clause and leaves that question for another day”).

139 State v. Stark, 802 N.W.2d 165 (S.D. 2011) (discussing state-level loitering and safety zone 

provisions).

140 http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/MTSOR_Code.pdf. 141 For example, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) was one of the 

first tribes to implement SORNA, and met all of SORNA’s requirements in doing so, see the SMART 

Office’s Substantial Implementation Report at http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/sorna/ConfTribesUmatillaIndianReservation.pdf. CTUIR is located entirely within the State of Oregon, which falls short of 

many of SORNA’s provisions. Maxine Bernstein, Sex Offenders in Oregon: State Fails to Track 

Hundreds, THE OREGONIAN (Oct. 2, 2013), available at http://www.oregonlive.com/sexoffenders/specialpresentation/ (Oregon only posts 2.5% of its registered sex offenders on its public sex offender registry 

website).

142 See United States v. Nichols, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118129 (D. S.D., Aug. 20, 2014) (tribes have 

the inherent power to exclude outsiders from their territory).

143 Kirkaldie v. United States, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72041 (D. Mont. May 22, 2014) (domestic 

violence prosecution); United States v. First, 731 F.3d 998 (9th Cir. 2013) (admissible so long as the 

uncounseled conviction would not violate the U.S. Constitution) (possession of a firearm prosecution);

United States v. Shavanaux, 647 F.3d 993 (11th Cir. 2011) (tribal court convictions that meet the due 

process requirements of the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) may be admitted in subsequent federal 

prosecutions) (domestic violence prosecution); United States v. Cavanaugh, 643 F.3d 592 (8th Cir. 2011)

(domestic violence prosecution). But see United States v. Bryant, 769 F.3d 671 (9th Cir. 2014) (tribal court 

convictions for domestic violence, obtained without any right to counsel, may not be used in recidivist 

prosecution). There are also cases that have interpreted the above decisions, see, e.g., United States v. 

Bundy, 966 F.Supp. 2d 1175 (D. N.M. 2013) (tribal conviction did not meet the Shavanaux test) (DUI 

prosecution).

144 State v. Atcitty, 215 P.3d 90 (N.M. 2009).

145 United States v. Begay, 622 F.3d 1187 (9th Cir. 2010), abrogated on other grounds, United States 

v. DeJarnette, 741 F.3d 971 (9th Cir. 2013).

146 State v. John, 308 P.3d 1208 (Ct. App. Ariz. 2013).

147 Supplemental Guidelines, supra note 7 at 1637-38.
	 148 United States v. Nichols, 775 F.3d 1225 (10th Cir. 2014); United States. v. Forster, 549 Fed. Appx.
	

757 (10th Cir. 2013); United States v. Murphy, 664 F.3d 798 (10th Cir. 2011); Carr v. United States, 2014
	

U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21262 (M.D. Tenn., Feb. 20, 2014); United States v. Nichols, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS

160804) (D. Kan. Nov. 12, 2013).

149 t U.S. v. Lunsford, 725 F.3d 859 (8 h Cir. 2013); Ward v. U.S., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160392 

(N.D. Fla., Nov. 14, 2014).

150 The Canadian Province of Alberta maintains a website listing high-risk sex offenders:
	

www.solgps.alberta.ca/SAFE_COMMUNITIES/COMMUNITY_AWARENESS/SERIOUS_VIOLENT_O
	

FFENDERS/Pages/default.aspx, and Saskatchewan maintains a listing of certain high-risk offenders which
	

includes information about certain sex offenders: http://www.justice.gov.sk.ca/PN-List. South Korea,
	

http://www.sexoffender.go.kr, and the Province of Western Australia,
	

https://www.communityprotection.wa.gov.au, also have public websites where information about sex
	

offenders is posted.
	

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151 There is a disclosure scheme in place in the United Kingdom authorizing law enforcement to 

provide details of certain sex offenders, http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/child-sex-offenderdisclosure. 

152 Available at http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/GlobalOverview.pdf. In 2013, GAO did a full review of

the Registered Sex Offender International Tracking System which is in development by a working group 

spearheaded by the SMART Office. GAO-13-200, REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS: SHARING MORE 

INFORMATION WILL ENABLE FEDERAL AGENCIES TO IMPROVE NOTIFICATIONS OF SEX OFFENDERS’ 

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL (2013), available at http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/652194.pdf.

153 The fact that a person has been convicted of a sex offense involving children can result in the 

revocation of a person’s Ham radio license. FCC Reverses ALJ’s Decision, Revokes Convicted Sex 

Offender’s Ham License, ARRL.ORG, http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-reverses-alj-s-decision-revokesconvicted-sex-offender-s-amateur-radio-license (Nov. 13, 2014). In at least one state, there is a statutory 

presumption against any registered sex offender being granted unsupervised visitation, custody, or 

residential placement of a child. 13 DEL. CODE ANN. §724A. 

154 t See BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (Abr. 6 h ed., 1991) at p. 288. 

155 Balentine v. Tremblay, 554 Fed. Appx. 58 (2d Cir. 2014).

156 Bushra v. Holder, 529 Fed. Appx. 659 (6th Cir. 2013) (conviction for failure to register is a crime 

involving moral turpitude). Contra Mohamed v. Holder, 769 F.3d 885 (4th Cir. 2014); Efange v. Holder, 

642 F.3d 918 (10th Cir. 2011); Plascencia-Ayala v. Mukasey, 516 F.3d 738 (9th Cir. 2008), overruled on 

other grounds by Marmolejo-Campos v. Holder, 558 F.3d 903 (9th Cir. 2009).

157 Meyer v. Nat’l Tenant Network, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6797 (N.D. Cal., Jan. 17, 2014).

158 Santos v. State, 668 S.E.2d 676 (Ga. 2008) (registration requirements unconstitutionally vague);

Rodriguez v. Maryland, 108 A.3d 438 (Md. Ct. App. 2015) (weekly registration requirement for homeless 

offenders not unconstitutional); State v. Crofton, 2008 Wash. App. LEXIS 1283 (June 2, 2008) (weekly

registration requirement for homeless offenders permissible).

159 See Saiger v. City of Chicago, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83206 (N.D. Ill., June 19, 2014) (permitting 

plaintiff’s Due Process claim to proceed); Derfus v. City of Chicago, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68844 (N.D. 

Ill. May 20, 2014); Beley v. City of Chicago, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90070 (N.D. Ill., June 27, 2013);

People v. Wlecke, 6 N.E.3d 745 (Ill. Ct. App. 2014) (offender who lacked identification and was turned 

away from registering could not be convicted for failure to register).

160 See People v. Deluca, 176 Cal. Rptr. 3d 419 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2014) (even though shelter had 

limited hours, it counted as a ‘residence’ for the purposes of registration); State v. Allman, 321 P.3d 557 

(Co. Ct. App. 2012) (offender used his car as a residence when working away from ‘home’ during the 

week, was a ‘residence’ for purposes of the statute); Branch v. State, 917 N.E.2d 1283 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009)

(homeless defendant was successfully prosecuted for failure to register when he failed to inform authorities 

that he had left a shelter); Milliner v. State, 890 N.E.2d 789 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008) (offender kicked out of

house by wife and staying with friends had to update his registration every time he moved); Tobar v. State, 

284 S.W.3d 133 (Ky. 2009) (when offender did not notify authorities of leaving homeless shelter, 

conviction for failure to register was proper); State v. Samples, 198 P.3d 803 (Mont. 2008) (when offender 

failed to notify authorities of leaving shelter, conviction was proper); Commonwealth v. Wilgus, 40 A.3d 

1201 (Pa. Super. 2009) (where defendant was unable to rent a room at his intended residence he had a duty

to inform registry officials of a change of address); Breeden v. State, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 2150 (March 

26, 2008) (offender who moved out of hotel into car in parking lot of hotel properly convicted and 

sentenced to 55 years). But see Commonwealth v. Bolling, 893 N.E.2d 371 (Mass. App. 2008) (offender 

did not need to update his address when he found a friend willing to take him in for a few days); State v. 

Dinkins, 339 Wis.2d 78 (2012) (offender was charged with failure to register, prior to release from 

incarceration, for failure to provide a residence address, and this was not permissible).

161 Lamberty v. Delaware, 108 A.3d 1225 (Del. 2015).

162 United States v. Pendleton, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85347 (D. Del. Sept. 18, 2009).

163 State v. Edwards, 87 A.3d 1144 (Conn. Ct. App. 2014).

164 Nikolaev v. State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 2246 (Tex. Ct. App., Feb. 27, 2014).

165 42 U.S.C. § 13663; see also Denial of Admission and Termination of Assistance for Criminals and 

Alcohol Abusers, 24 C.F.R. 982.553(a)(2) (2015); When Must I Prohibit Admission of Sex Offenders?, 24 

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C.F.R. §5.856 (2001); To What Criminal Records and Searches Does this Subpart Apply?, 24 C.F.R.
	

§5.901 (2001); What Special Authority is there to Obtain Access to Sex Offender Registration
	

Information?, 24 C.F.R. §5.905 (2001), 24 C.F.R. 960.204(a)(4); Denial of Admission for Criminal

Activity or Drug Abuse by Household Members (2001). HUD issued guidance in 2012 describing the
	

duties of owners, agents, and public housing authorities with regards to admitting registered sex offenders.
	

State Registered Lifetime Sex Offenders in Federally Assisted Housing,
	

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=12-28pihn12-11hsgn.pdf. This guidance was drafted
	

in part as a response to an Inspector General’s report which had been issued in 2009. HUD SUBSIDIZED AN
	

ESTIMATED 2,094 TO 3,046 HOUSEHOLDS THAT INCLUDED
	

LIFETIME REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS, AUDIT REP’T NO. 2009-KC-0001 (Aug. 14, 2009),

https://www.hudoig.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/Internal/2009/ig0970001.pdf.

166 ‘Section 8’ is the common shorthand reference to the housing assistance provisions contained in

the United States Housing Act of 1937, ch. 896, Title I, § 8 (Sept. 1, 1937), as amended.
	 167 Miller v. McCormick, 605 F.Supp.2d 296 (D. Me. 2009).

168 Johnson v. California, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101623 (C.D. Cal. July 25, 2011).

169 Henley v. Housing Auth. of New Orleans, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62255 (E.D. La. May 1, 2013).

170 Tristan v. State, 393 S.W. 3d 806 (Ct. App. Tex. 2012). Contra Dingman v. Cart Shield USA,
	

LLC, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93551 (S.D. Fla., July 3, 2013) (failure to register not proven to involve a
	

dishonest act or false statement).

171 t Statute addressed in U.S. v. Walizer, 600 Fed. Appx. 546 (9 h Cir. 2015). In Alleyne v. United 

States, 133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013), the Supreme Court concluded that “any fact that increases the mandatory 

minimum is an ‘element’ that must be submitted to the jury.” Id. 

172 t U.S. v. Hardeman, 704 F.3d 1266 (9 h Cir. 2013). 

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