2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FOUR - Judiciary (§§ 1-3 — 2166) › PART II - Court Administration (§§ 301 — 536h) › Chapter 47 - Registry of Persons Convicted of Violent Sexual Crimes and Child Abuse (§§ 535-535h — 536h) › § 536b - Duties before the Registry

(a) The court with jurisdiction, during the sentencing or at the time of issuing a determination to release a person on probation or suspended sentence, or to admit such person to a diversion, treatment, or rehabilitation program established by the Corrections Administration, shall order the Department of Justice to furnish to the System the sex offender’s information, to wit: the name, aliases, physical description, date of birth, street address, driver’s license number, a photocopy of a valid driver’s license or official identification card issued by a state, social security number, photograph, the text of the provision of law defining the criminal offense or attempt thereof for which the sex offender is registered, the sex offender’s criminal history, including the date of all arrests and convictions; the status of his/her parole, suspended sentence, or supervised release; registration status; and any outstanding arrest warrants for the sex offender, and any other essential information that shall be furnished by the persons subject to the Registry, as provided in §§ 536—536h of this title. All the information compiled shall be entered within three (3) business days following the date of sentencing or, in the case of an alternative method to serve prison time, after such alternative determination is made.
Absent a court order, the Department of Justice shall notify the System. However, failure by the court to issue an order to the Department of Justice, or failure by the Department of Justice to notify the System shall not be deemed to be a waiver from offender’s duty to register, as provided in §§ 536—536h of this title.
(b) The Corrections Administration shall have the duty to notify the official charged with the responsibility of establishing and keeping a system of verification, registration, and issuance of certifications related to the Registry of Persons Convicted of Sex Offenses and Child Abuse of the Puerto Rico Police Department, in each region, about the release of a registered person for having served his/her sentence, or for being released on probation or parole, or to participate in a diversion, treatment, or rehabilitation program established by the Corrections Administration thirty (30) days prior to such release. In turn, the Administration shall notify the registered person of his/her duty to register in the Police Headquarters of the jurisdiction in where he/she resides within less than three (3) calendar days.
As soon as the pertinent official receives the information from the Corrections Administration, such official must ensure that the sex offender is duly registered in the Registry before being released. In cases where the person has been convicted of child sexual abuse, this official shall, in turn, have the duty to verify on an annual basis, five (5) days prior to the birth date of the registered person, the accuracy of all the information on the offender which appears in said Registry. The Police Headquarters that receives such information shall immediately provide the same to the other Police Headquarters or jurisdictions where the registration of sex offenders is required, and shall ensure that such information is entered into the System and that the address provided by the registered person is accurate. The Puerto Rico Police Department shall have the responsibility of establishing regulations as deemed necessary for the implementation of §§ 536-536h of this title.
(c) The Forensic Sciences Institute, as established in §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 34, known as the “Puerto Rico DNA Data Bank Act”, shall furnish the DNA record reference of the sex offender to the System.
(d) The Corrections Administration shall be required to notify the sex offender’s information to the official whose responsibilities include the establishment and maintenance of a system to review, register, and issue certifications regarding the Registry of Persons Convicted of Sex Offenses and Child Abuse of the Puerto Rico Police in each region. The Corrections Administration shall issue such notice thirty (30) days prior to releasing the person to be registered.
The Corrections Administration shall also be required to notify the aforementioned official when the sex offender shall start to benefit from the release on probation or suspended sentence, parole, or diversion, treatment, or rehabilitation program established by the Corrections Administration. This notice shall be issued thirty (30) days prior to releasing the person to be registered on parole and, in the other cases, within three (3) business days as of the determination of releasing any person on the above conditions.
Upon receiving such notice from the Corrections Administration, said official shall ensure that the sex offender is duly registered in the Registry before his/her release. The official shall further ensure that the sex offender is duly registered in the Registry while he/she is still on parole, probation, or in a diversion, treatment, or rehabilitation program established by the Corrections Administration.
Provided, That in the case of the diversion, treatment, or rehabilitation programs established by the Corrections Administration, once the offender meets the conditions imposed by the court, and the latter orders the stay of the criminal action, as provided under the laws pertaining to such programs, the System shall eliminate the offender from the Registry herein established.
In all these instances, the Corrections Administration shall advise the offenders on their duty to also furnish their information to the Police Headquarters of the region where they live within a term of three (3) business days after their release. The Police Headquarters that receives such information shall immediately provide the same to other Police Headquarters or jurisdictions where the sex offender is required to register and shall ensure that the information is registered in the System as well as the accuracy of the address furnished by the registered person. The Puerto Rico Police shall be charged with the responsibility to establish the regulations necessary for the implementation of §§ 536—536h of this title.
(e) The Corrections Administration shall also advise the sex offender on his/her duty to notify any changes in his/her name, street address, work address, or change in his/her student or employee status to the Police Headquarters of the jurisdiction where he/she resides, works, or studies within three (3) business days after such change occurs. The Police Headquarters that receives said information shall immediately remit it to other Police Headquarters or jurisdictions where the sex offender is required to register and shall ensure that the information is registered in the System.
(f) The court, as part of the sentence and while the person is subject to the Registry, shall notify the sex offender who was convicted of a specified offense against a minor, as defined herein, on the prohibition to establish his/her residence within five hundred (500) feet or less from any elementary, intermediate, or high school, or a child day care establishment duly certified and licensed by the corresponding agencies. This prohibition shall remain in effect while the information of the person remains in the registry.
(g) The Corrections Administration, or other agency to which the offender is subject, shall state in writing that the offender was advised on the prohibition to establish a residence, as well as on his/her duty to notify any change of name, street or work address, or his/her student or employee status pursuant to subsections (d), (e), and (f) of this section. Such document shall be read and signed by the person required to register. A copy thereof shall be retained by the Corrections Administration or other agency to which the offender is subject, another copy shall be remitted to the System which shall made it electronically available in its database to the corresponding Police Headquarters, the Sex Crimes Division of the Puerto Rico Police, and another copy shall be handed to the convict. If the person fails to comply with the prohibition to establish a residence or the requirement to notify the changes of name, street or work address, or his/her student or employee status, the offender shall be subject to § 536h of this title. The Corrections Administration shall be responsible for keeping the records updated through the corresponding data entry, such as: date of notice, release date, address, and other essential data that shall be furnished by those persons subject to registration in the Registry, as provided in §§ 536—536h of this title.
(h) The Police, the Department of Justice, the Corrections Administration, the Parole Board, the Office of Pretrial Services, and the General Court of Justice shall provide the System with the corresponding information as necessary to comply with the purposes of §§ 536—536h of this title.
(i) Before granting them entry into Puerto Rico, sex offenders of other states, territories, or jurisdictions shall be evaluated by the Corrections Administration through its Probation Office. Once the Corrections Administration remits the information required in subsection (g) of this section to the System, and all the necessary data is entered in therein, the information shall be immediately available through computer terminals configured for the telecommunications network to be used by the Police Headquarters of the jurisdiction where the person shall reside.
The System shall immediately provide the Federal Bureau of Investigations with the information about the name, street and mailing address, fingerprints and palm prints, photographs, and any additional information compiled, as well as any change in the name, address, and student or employee status of the offender, if any. The Police Headquarters shall notify and update, through the computer terminals configured for the telecommunications network of the System, all the corresponding records in the Registry regarding the changes in the name, street address, and student or employee status of the persons registered, as provided in §§ 536—536h of this title. If the registered person is transferred to the United States, the System shall notify the designated agency in such place to manage a registry similar to that created under §§ 536—536h of this title, if any, within three (3) days following the receipt of the information.
History —Sept. 9, 2004, No. 266, § 4; Nov. 16, 2009, No. 140, § 1; Nov. 16, 2009, No. 140, § 1; May 3, 2011, No. 69, § 1; July 29, 2011, No. 163, § 1; Dec. 14, 2011, No. 243, § 3.