Opinion ID: 852361
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Initial Sex Offender Registration Act

Text: The Indiana General Assembly adopted its first version of Megan's Law in July 1994. Referred to as Zachary's Law, [4] the Act required persons convicted of certain sex crimes to register as sex offender[s]. Act of March 2, 1994, Pub.L. No. 11-1994, § 7 (codified as Indiana Code §§ 5-2-12-1-5-2-12-13) (current version at Indiana Code §§ 11-8-8-1-11-8-8-22). The Act contained both registration and notification provisions, i.e., sex offenders were required to take affirmative steps to notify law enforcement authorities of their whereabouts, and that information was then disseminated to the public. In 1994, eight crimes triggered status as a sex offender and the statute applied only to offenders who resided or intended to reside in Indiana. Ind.Code §§ 5-2-12-4, -5 (1994). Registration involved providing limited information to law enforcement agencies where the offender resided and updating that information if the offender moved to a new municipality or county in Indiana. Id. at -8. Notification involved the distribution of a paper registry, updated twice per year and sent automatically to a few select agencies. Id. at -11. Other entities could receive the registry on request, but the home addresses of the registrants were withheld. Id.