What It Means To Be A Registered Sex Offender In California

Those who are convicted of sexual assault and/or other sex-related offenses will almost always be required to register as a sex offender with the state of California. In addition to whatever conditions the court imposes during probation, or after completion of a sentence, there are requirements specific to being in the California Sex Offender Registry.
 

What Is A Sex Offender Registry?

A sex offender registry is (usually) a searchable database of all registered sex offenders in a given area. There is a National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) that lists convicted offenders in every state in the US.

Additionally, the state of California maintains its own database through the department of justice that can be searched by name, address, city, zip code, county, or by showing registered offenders near the user’s current GPS location.

Who Is Required To Register?

Persons convicted of specified sex crimes are required by law to register as sex offenders with a local law enforcement agency. Offenders required to register will be notified in writing before going on probation or being released from jail.

Once released and notified, an offender has five working days to register with the appropriate agency in their community.

After that, registered sex offenders are required to update their information annually with local law enforcement. This update must occur within five working days before or after the registrant’s birthday.
 

What Information Is Publicly Displayed?

In the interests of public safety, quite a bit of information about a registered sex offender is publicly available in the California Sex Offender Registry. Information includes, but is not limited to:

• Full name and known aliases
• Home address
• Weight, height, hair color, etc.
• Date of birth
• A description of the offense(s) committed
• Year of last conviction
• A photograph of the offender, if available

It is important for those convicted of a sex crime to understand that all of this information is available to anyone who wishes to view it, at any time, free of charge. Appearing in a sex offender registry can (and often does) have a serious social stigma that makes it difficult to reintegrate into the local community.