2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 54 - Criminal Procedure › Chapter 969 - Registration of Sexual Offenders › Section 54-251. - Registration of person who has committed a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor or a nonviolent sexual offense.

(a) Any person who has been convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor or a nonviolent sexual offense, and is released into the community on or after October 1, 1998, shall, within three days following such release or, if such person is in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, at such time prior to release as the commissioner shall direct, and whether or not such person's place of residence is in this state, register such person's name, identifying factors, criminal history record, residence address and electronic mail address, instant message address or other similar Internet communication identifier, if any, with the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, on such forms and in such locations as the commissioner shall direct, and shall maintain such registration for ten years from the date of such person's release into the community, except that any person who has one or more prior convictions of any such offense or who is convicted of a violation of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 53a-70 shall maintain such registration for life. Prior to accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere from a person with respect to a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor or a nonviolent sexual offense, the court shall (1) inform the person that the entry of a finding of guilty after acceptance of the plea will subject the person to the registration requirements of this section, and (2) determine that the person fully understands the consequences of the plea. If any person who is subject to registration under this section changes such person's name, such person shall, without undue delay, notify the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in writing of the new name. If any person who is subject to registration under this section changes such person's address, such person shall, without undue delay, notify the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in writing of the new address and, if the new address is in another state, such person shall also register with an appropriate agency in that state, provided that state has a registration requirement for such offenders. If any person who is subject to registration under this section establishes or changes an electronic mail address, instant message address or other similar Internet communication identifier, such person shall, without undue delay, notify the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in writing of such identifier. If any person who is subject to registration under this section is employed at, carries on a vocation at or is a student at a trade or professional institution or institution of higher learning in this state, such person shall, without undue delay, notify the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection of such status and of any change in such status. If any person who is subject to registration under this section is employed in another state, carries on a vocation in another state or is a student in another state, such person shall, without undue delay, notify the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection and shall also register with an appropriate agency in that state, provided that state has a registration requirement for such offenders. During such period of registration, each registrant shall complete and return forms mailed to such registrant to verify such registrant's residence address and shall submit to the retaking of a photographic image upon request of the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the court may exempt any person who has been convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of a violation of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 53a-71 from the registration requirements of this section if the court finds that such person was under nineteen years of age at the time of the offense and that registration is not required for public safety.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the court may exempt any person who has been convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of a violation of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 53a-73a or subdivision (2), (3) or (4) of subsection (a) of section 53a-189a, from the registration requirements of this section if the court finds that registration is not required for public safety.
(d) Any person who files an application with the court to be exempted from the registration requirements of this section pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this section shall, pursuant to subsection (b) of section 54-227, notify the Office of Victim Services and the Victim Services Unit within the Department of Correction of the filing of such application. The Office of Victim Services or the Victim Services Unit within the Department of Correction, or both, shall, pursuant to section 54-230 or 54-230a, notify any victim who has requested notification of the filing of such application. Prior to granting or denying such application, the court shall consider any information or statement provided by the victim.
(e) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a class D felony, except that, if such person violates the provisions of this section by failing to notify the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection without undue delay of a change of name, address or status or another reportable event, such person shall be subject to such penalty if such failure continues for five business days.
(P.A. 98-111, S. 2; P.A. 99-183, S. 2, 13; P.A. 01-211, S. 1; May 9 Sp. Sess. P.A. 02-7, S. 79; P.A. 05-146, S. 5; P.A. 06-187, S. 34
–
36; 06-196, S. 292; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4, S. 90; P.A. 11-51, S. 134; P.A. 15-211, S. 5; 15-213, S. 4.)
History: P.A. 99-183 amended Subsec. (a) to make provisions applicable to any person convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of “a nonviolent sexual offense”, require a person to register “whether or not such person's place of residence is in this state”, add exception requiring any person who has one or more prior convictions of any such offense or who is convicted of a violation of Sec. 53a-70(a)(2) to maintain registration for life, revise provision re changing address to and registering in another state, add provision requiring a person who regularly travels into or within another state or temporarily resides in another state to notify the Commissioner of Public Safety and register with an appropriate agency in that state if that state has a registration requirement, add provision requiring registrants to submit to the retaking of a photographic image upon request and make technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality, added new Subsec. (b) to authorize the court to exempt any person convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of violation of Sec. 53a-71(a)(1) from the registration requirement under certain circumstances, added new Subsec. (c) to authorize the court to exempt any person convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of violation of Sec. 53a-73(a)(2) from the registration requirement under certain circumstances, and redesignated former Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (d), effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 01-211 added new Subsec. (d) requiring any person who files an application to be exempted to notify the Office of Victim Services and the Department of Correction of the filing of such application, requiring said office or department, or both, to notify any victim who has requested notification of the filing of such application and requiring the court to consider any information or statement provided by the victim prior to granting or denying such application and redesignated existing Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (e) and amended same to specify that penalty is for a violation of “subsection (a)” of this section; May 9 Sp. Sess. P.A. 02-7 amended Subsec. (a) to make requirement that a person subject to registration under this section notify the commissioner and register with an appropriate agency in another state applicable if such person “is employed in another state, carries on a vocation in another state or is a student in another state” rather than if such person “regularly travels into or within another state or temporarily resides in another state for purposes including, but not limited to employment or schooling” and to add provision requiring any person subject to registration under this section who is employed at, carries on a vocation at or is a student at a trade or professional institution or institution of higher learning in this state to notify the commissioner of such status and any change in such status, effective August 15, 2002; P.A. 05-146 amended Subsec. (d) to specify that it is the “Victim Services Unit” within the Department of Correction to which a person gives notice of the filing of an application and which notifies any victim who requested notification of the filing of the application; P.A. 06-187 amended Subsec. (a) to require person in custody of Commissioner of Correction to register at such time prior to release as commissioner directs, require person who changes such person's name to notify commissioner in writing of new name without undue delay, replace requirement that person who changes such person's address register new address in writing with commissioner within five days with requirement that such person notify commissioner in writing of new address without undue delay, reposition provision re notification of employment, vocational or student status at trade or professional institution or institution of higher learning in this state and of any change in such status, require that such notification be made “without undue delay”, and require that notification person must give re employment, vocational or student status in another state be given “without undue delay”, amended Subsec. (c) to include a violation of Sec. 53a-189a(a)(2) and amended Subsec. (e) to add exception that person who fails to notify commissioner without undue delay of change of name, address or status or another reportable event is subject to penalty if such failure continues for five business days, effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 06-196 changed effective date of P.A. 06-187, S. 34
–
36 from July 1, 2006, to October 1, 2006, effective June 7, 2006; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4 amended Subsec. (a) to require registration of person's “electronic mail address, instant message address or other similar Internet communication identifier, if any,” and require registrant who establishes or changes such an identifier to notify Commissioner of Public Safety in writing of such identifier without undue delay; pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “Commissioner of Public Safety” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 15-211 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re 10-year registration period to start from date of person's release into the community; P.A. 15-213 amended Subsec. (c) to add reference to Sec. 53a-189a(a)(3) or (4).
Because statute imposes strict liability, actual notice to defendant and mens rea are not elements of the offense and therefore trial court's instructions were not constitutionally deficient. 286 C. 191. “Residence” means the act or fact of living in a given place for some time, but does not include temporary stays; “undue delay” means unwarranted or excessive postponement; legislature did not intend to adopt a bright-line definition for undue delay applicable to every situation but, rather, intended to make allowance for vagaries of individual conditions; “without undue delay” does not always mean within 5 business days. 306 C. 149.
Trial court erred when concluding that a finding of homelessness always constitutes a change of address. 148 CA 760.
Subsec. (a):
Court's failure to advise defendant of registration requirement prior to defendant's
Alford
plea does not render defendant exempt from registration requirement. 296 C. 305.
Absent clear expression of legislative intent, provisions do not apply to violations before effective date of section. 99 CA 358. Residence means any place of abode or dwelling place, however temporary it may be; court rejected defendant's claim that, due to the fact he was homeless, it was impossible for him to comply with the statutory requirement that he provide a residence address for registration purposes. 112 CA 458. Manifest injustice found where court not only failed to inform defendant that he would be required to register as a sex offender, but also failed to correct defendant's mistaken belief that by entering guilty plea pursuant to Sec. 53-21(a)(2), he would avoid such registration requirement. 127 CA 760. Because there was sufficient evidence supporting defendant's conviction of kidnapping in the second degree and because victim was under 18 at time offense was committed, Subsec. mandates defendant, upon release, register as a sex offender for a period of 10 years. 147 CA 598.
Subsec. (b):
Under the “may exempt” language in Subsec., even when the two enumerated factors are satisfied in a given case, the court still may decline to grant the registry exemption. 281 C. 5. Phrase “may exempt” means that a court may exercise its discretion to grant an exemption from registration once an individual has been convicted of violation of Sec. 53a-71(a)(1), regardless of whether the individual's obligation to register has commenced, as long as the two criteria set forth in Subsec. are satisfied, and therefore defendant retained statutory right to file application for exemption after having been placed on registry for approximately 7 years; plain language of Subsec. indicates that individual's right to seek exemption arises upon entry of judgment of conviction and continues throughout his or her obligation to register; Subsec. contains no provision imposing a temporal limitation on individual's statutory right to file application for exemption from registration. 320 C. 426.
Trial court's determination of whether to exempt individual from registration requirements under Subsec. is properly reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. 86 CA 186. Subsec. permits a court to grant defendant's request for an exemption from the registration requirements after the obligation to register has commenced, where the registration was made a special condition of probation and the court finds that defendant's later rehabilitated status justifies modification. 147 CA 465.