Important National Juvenile Justice Documents

10-23-2009 National:

Three critically important documents from the National Juvenile Justice Network courtesy of Alisa Klein of ATSA:

Megan’s Law: Juvenile Sex Offender Registration (2009 Update)

Currently, all jurisdictions have enacted a version of “Megan’s Law,” a law that requires convicted criminal sex offenders to register with police, and permits the community to be notified of necessary and relevant information about such offenders. However, not all states apply their registration requirement to juveniles.

Thus far in the 2009 legislative session, the following 39 states permit or require adjudicated juveniles to register as sex offenders: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The following 13 jurisdictions have statutes or case law specifically requiring juveniles tried and convicted in criminal court to register: Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

In 2005, Hawaii joined Georgia and specifically excludes adjudicated juveniles from the sex offender registration requirement. For the remainder of this document: by Linda A. Szymanski, Esq., Chief of Legal Research, NCJJ


Megan’s Law: Juvenile Sex Offender Lower Age Limits (2009 Update)

Thus far in the 2009 legislative session, the following 39 states permit or require adjudicated juveniles to register as sex offenders: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Of the 39 states that permit or require juveniles to register as sex offenders, 15 set a statutory lower age limit for such registration. North Carolina sets the lower age at 11 at time of offense. Both Maryland and Virginia set the lower age at 13. Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oklahoma set the lower age at 14 at time of offense. South Dakota sets the lower age at 15.

An additional 8 states of the 39 that register adjudicated juveniles, have a statutory lower age of delinquency jurisdiction. In Massachusetts, this age is 7. The age is 8 in Arizona. Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Texas, and Wisconsin set the lower age at 10.

In most states that set a lower age limit, the age limit is attached to specified offenses. However, states like Indiana, for example, also attach additional conditions. In Indiana, a sex offender is defined as a juvenile who is at least 14 and who has committed a delinquent act that would meet the definition of specified sex offenses if committed by an adult. In addition, the court must find such a juvenile likely to be a repeat offender of such an offense by clear and convincing evidence. In making this determination, the court is required to consider expert testimony on the issue. For the remainder of this document: by Linda A. Szymanski, Esq., Chief of Legal Research, NCJJ


Megan’s Law: Termination of Registration Requirement (2009 Update)

Thus far in the 2009 legislative session, the following 39 states permit or require adjudicated juveniles to register as sex offenders: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

In 26 of these 39 states adjudicated juveniles face the possibility of lifetime sex offender registration for specified serious sex offenses: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Currently, 4 states set an age limit on juvenile sex offender registration. In North Carolina this duty terminates at age 18 if certain conditions are met. In both Idaho and Oklahoma the duty terminates at age 21, but a juvenile can be transferred to the adult sex offender registry under specified conditions. In Arizona the duty terminates for adjudicated juveniles at age 25.

The remaining 9 states set a time limit on juvenile sex offender registration, such as a specified number of years from the date of release from custody. Other states within this group of 9 permit the juvenile to petition the court for relief from registration within a specified number of years. States that set time limits are: Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington. For the remainder of this document: by Linda A. Szymanski, Esq., Chief of Legal Research, NCJJ