In all 50 states, the District of Columbia, many US territories, and some Indian tribal nations maintain publicly available registries of individuals who have been convicted of a variety of prurient crimes including sexual assault, voyeurism, public indecency, and underage pornography.
While many states already had criminal registries (California’s started in 1947), today’s sex offender registries follow several acts of Congress which mandated their creation and established guidelines for state-based registries.
In 1993 Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, mandating “any person who is convicted of a State criminal offense against a victim who is a minor to register a current address with law enforcement officials of the State for 10 years after release from prison, parole, or supervision.”
In 1996, Congress amended the Wetterling Act with Megan’s Law, named after Megan Kanka, an adolescent girl who was raped and murdered by a twice-convicted offender in Hamilton Town, New Jersey. This law required states to make the registries public; previously only law enforcement had access to the registries. Although every state had free reign over how and when the information was distributed, every state established a publicly searchable website. The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, created in 2005, allows for national searches.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 allowed state courts to require registration for a broader range of crimes against a minor, including kidnapping, false imprisonment, solicitation, conspiracy to commit a sexual offense, or “a criminal offense that has an element involving a sexual act.” States could apply registration laws retroactively to offenders charged before registrations existed in their state. The law established harsher penalties for failing to register, or for individuals who commit any crime–sexual or not–while on the registry. According to a 2011 CNN article, many states saw their registries grow by as much as 500%.
The act also created a three-tiered system based on level of offense, rather than the previous system which considered a person’s risk of re-offense, and stipulated minimum periods of registration for each. Tier 1 sex offenders are required to register for 10–15 years; tier 2 for 25 years and tier 3 offenders must register for 25 years to life. It also gave judges the ability to order an offender to civil commitment, during which they receive, often involuntary, psychiatric treatment.
In Illinois, where Downstate is set, a registrant must provide:
a current photograph
current address
current place of employment
telephone number, including cellular telephone number
employer's telephone number
school attended
all email addresses
instant messaging identities
chat room identities
other Internet communications identities that the registrant uses or plans to use
all URLs registered or used by the person
all blogs and other Internet sites maintained by the registrant or to which they have uploaded any content or posted any messages or information
license plate numbers for every vehicle registered in their name
their age at the time of the commission of the offense
the age of the victim at the time of the commission of the offense
any distinguishing marks located on their body
Any changes in an offender’s registration must be made within three days with the law enforcement agency who has jurisdiction. An offender must register any and all places they reside for three or more days in a calendar year. If traveling out of state for work or school, they must also register with local law enforcement anywhere they will be for three or more days, as well as inform their own registering agency. All registrations are in person and incur an annual $100 fee. Law enforcement will validate all information regularly.
In addition to registering, individuals convicted of a sexual offense against a child (generally someone under 18), are restricted from residing within 500 feet of a school, playground, or any facility providing programs or services exclusively directed toward people under age 18, unless they owned the property prior to July 7, 2000.
It is unlawful for registrants to knowingly be present in any public park building or on the real property comprising any public park, nor can they be present in any school building or property, or loiter within 500 feet of school property without the permission of the superintendent or school board, or in the case of a private school the principal unless they are a parent of a child at that school and attending to school business, such as a parent-teacher conference.
There are no Illinois laws which prohibit a person convicted of a sexual offense against a child from being around children, unless it is at a park, school, or any location designed exclusively for people under the age of 18.
Registrants may face restrictions on employment, particularly in professions that involve working with vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities. People with felony convictions may be barred from getting or renewing licenses and certifications required for certain professions, including those needed for government jobs.
In addition to restrictions placed on people required to register, individuals who are on parole or supervised release will be subject to conditions determined by the Parole Board. This may include not using the internet, social media, and alcohol or other legal substances, not possessing firearms, not leaving the state, regularly reporting to a parole officer, and compliance with regular home and workplace visits and searches.
Supporters of registries state that by increasing a community’s awareness of individuals with criminal convictions, its members will be able to take steps appropriate to prevent harm. They also contend that offenders may be less likely to reoffend since they are subject to both real and perceived heightened scrutiny.
Criticism of sex offender registries include a lack of data proving their effectiveness in deterring future crime, their cost and susceptibility to error, and the harm and disruption to rehabilitation they can create for their registrants, including difficulties finding homes, jobs, and communal acceptance.
Several court cases have held that punishing individuals who fail to register does not violate their Fifth Amendment right against “double jeopardy,” maintaining that the requirement to register is not punitive but merely administrative.
In 2008, the US Supreme Court decided 5-4 in Kennedy vs. Louisiana to strike down Louisiana’s statute allowing for the death penalty in child sex abuse cases, saying that such a sentence was disproportionate to the crime and unconstitutional under the 8th Amendment, which includes the right to be free from “cruel and unusual punishments.”
In 2023, the Florida legislature passed a law that provides for the death penalty for child sexual abuse in defiance of Supreme Court precedent. The following year, Tennessee did too. State legislators in Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina, and South Dakota have introduced bills that would allow for the death penalty in sexual assault against minors cases.
Presently, legislators and activists in many states are attempting to create similar registries for a variety of crimes, including domestic abuse, animal abuse, and drug and alcohol offenses.
—Chad Dexter Kinsman