Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 45 - PUBLIC SAFETY AND GOOD ORDER (§§ 45-NEW-NEW — 45-51-NEW-006) › Chapter 33 - REGISTRATION OF SEX OFFENDERS (§§ 45-33-1 — 45-33-63) › Section 45-33-49 - Disclosure to public; guidelines for sheriffs as to notification; certain registry information to be available online; participation in Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public website; notification of schools and day care centers

(1)
Records maintained pursuant to this chapter shall be open to law enforcement agencies which shall be authorized to release relevant and necessary information regarding sex offenders to the public.
(2)
The identity of a victim of an offense that requires registration under this chapter shall not be released.
(3)
A sheriff shall maintain records for registrants of the county and shall make available to any person upon request the name, address, place of employment, crime for which convicted, date and place of conviction of any registrant, and any other information deemed necessary for the protection of the public. The sheriffs shall be responsible for verifying their respective registries annually against the department's records to ensure current information is available at both levels.
(4)
(a)
Upon written request, the department shall provide to any person the name, address, photograph, if available, date of photograph, place of employment, crime for which convicted, date and place of conviction of any registrant, hair, eye color, height, race, sex and date of birth of any registrant, and any other information deemed necessary for the protection of the public.
(b)
(i)
The Department of Public Safety shall maintain an Internet website in a manner that will permit the public to obtain relevant information for each sex offender in the registry as required in this subsection (4). The website shall permit the public to obtain relevant information for each offender by a single query for any given name, zip code, municipality, county or geographic radius set by the user.
(ii)
The Department of Public Safety shall participate in the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public website. The information required to be displayed on the public registry website includes the offender's name and all known aliases; a current photograph; a physical description; the offender's residential addresses including the offender's permanent address and any address at which the offender habitually lives; employer address; school address; the current sex offense for which the offender is registered; criminal history of any other sex offenses for which the offender has been convicted; a description of the offender's vehicle including license tag number; and the offender's status if designated as noncompliant or an absconder because of failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter.
(iii)
The public website shall not display the identity of a victim of an offense that requires registration under this chapter or the registered sex offender's social security number, travel or immigration document numbers, Internet identifiers, telephone numbers, or any arrests not resulting in conviction.
(5)
The Department of Education, the Mississippi Private School Association and the Department of Health shall notify all schools and licensed day care centers annually regarding the availability upon request of this information.
(6)
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent law enforcement officers from notifying members of the public exposed to danger of any circumstances or individuals that pose a danger under circumstances that are not enumerated in this section.
(7)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent law enforcement officers from providing community notification of any circumstances or individuals that pose or could pose a danger under circumstances that are not enumerated in this chapter.
Laws, 2000, ch. 499, § 15; Laws, 2001, ch. 500, § 11; Laws, 2011, ch. 359, § 12, eff. 7/1/2011.