The Sex Offender Registry

The U.S. has been working since 1994 to create an effective sex offender registry. Beginning with the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Act, 42 U.S.C. §§14071, et seq. ("Wetterling Act") in 1994, Congress began requiring state implementation of a sex offender registration program. Today, all 50 states have a registry, in 1996 the Wetterling Act was supplemented by Megan’s Law, a federal law mandating state community notification regarding released sex offenders; however offenders were getting “lost” in the system once they move and remain undetected due to the inconsistencies among state laws regarding what is an offense. In July 2006 The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was signed into law (“Walsh Act”). The Walsh Act removes disparities among the state registration laws eliminating the ability for offenders to slip through the loopholes when moving from state to state; additionally each state must create a publicly accessible and searchable website that provides consistent information about offenders in the registry.

There are currently more than three quarters of a million registered sex offenders in the United States. “Sex offenders pose an enormous challenge for policy makers: they evoke unparalleled fear among constituents; their offenses are associated with a great risk of psychological harm; an d most of their victims are children and youth.” ⁽¹⁶⁾Policy makers must address the issue of sexual abuse and offenders, they are confronted with the following:

• Most sex offenders are not in prison, and those who are tend to serve limited sentences.
• Most sex offenders are largely unknown to people in the community, this is often because sex crimes are under reported and under prosecuted.
• Sex offenders have a high risk of re-offending. Our penal system is set up to imprison, not to reform or re-educate.
• While community supervision and oversight is widely recognized as essential, the system for providing such supervision is overwhelmed, the system is conflicted between continued monitoring of people who have ‘paid their debt to society’ and what are seen as blanket heinous crimes that cannot ever be repaid.
• The registry is part of someone’s permanent record, yet sex crimes differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Details of the crime, age of offender and victim, are often left off only stating the law/ section of penal code that was violated.
• Many times different offenders will be listed as violating the same law, yet their sentences vary widely. Without listing any information about the crime it is very difficult to know how ‘dangerous’ an offender may or may not be.

704,777 Registered Sex offenders in the United States

Top 5 states (per 100,000 people):

1. CA 118,692 (323)
2. Texas 59,015 (243)
3. Florida 52,639 (287)
4. NY 29,518 (151)
5. Oregon 21,760 (574)

Top Five per 100,000 (Total number of registered sex offenders):

1. Oregon 574/100,000 (21,760)
2. Delaware 465/100,000 (4,064)
3. Vermont 396/100,000 (2,461)
4. New Hampshire 333/100,000 (4,379)
5. California 323/100,000 (118,692)

The registry is a tool to protect people, in most places it gives comprehensive information about an offender and their crimes. However, it doesn’t always give the full story - we have listed offenders as young as 7 on the list and youth for crimes like hitting classmates of the opposite sex on the behind alongside rapists and child pornographers. Sexual abuse offenses should be reported and prosecuted and we must work to keep our children safe from predators - but we must be wary of an all encompassing unwieldy list. This is an important tool, but it cannot replace prevention.

Search the The National Sex Offender Registry

In compliance with Megan’s Law each state has its own registry website. Additionally some territories and Indian Tribes also have sites. Links to all are listed below.

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• Washington, DC
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming


• Guam
• Puerto Rico


• Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
• Kaw Nation
• Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
• Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
• Southern Ute Indian Tribe