New California Bill To Make A Tier Based Registration System for Sex Offenders

Persons convicted of certain human trafficking acts and sex offenses for the purpose of committing or attempting to commit offenses, such as extortion, or sex offenses, are required by existing law to register with local law enforcement agencies while attending school, working, or residing in the state.

The current law requires the Department of Justice to make all information available to the public on a website concerning registered sex offenders. The information includes whether the offender was later incarcerated for another felony, among other things. It also allows an offender to file an exclusion application from the internet and establish the requirement for that.

Based on specified criteria, the bill will establish three tiers of registration; for periods of a minimum of ten years, twenty years, and life, respectively,  based on conviction of specified sex offenses, with five and ten year periods for tiers one and two.

Sex offenders will be divided into three tiers:

• Tier 1: Non-violent sex offenders/misdemeanor or would remain on the list for 10 years.
• Tier 2: Violent or some serious offenses committed by those with prior convictions would remain on the registry for 20 years.  
• Tier 3: Sexual violent predators who will remain on the list for the rest of their lives.

Procedures leading to termination from the sex offenders' registry will be established in the bill. California Senator Scott Wiener, (who introduced the bill) stated, “If someone, particularly the lower level offenders, if they've lived a clean life for 10, 20, even 30 years, there's no point in keeping them on the registry,”

Tier one and two offenders will be required to file a petition at the expiration of their minimum registration period under specified conditions and the bill would authorize the district attorney to request a hearing on the petition if the petitioner hasn't fulfilled the requirement of successful tier completion, as specified.

California has over 100,000 people registered as sex offenders.

It's important to have the best legal advocate defending you when you are facing a sex crime charge, considering the length of time you may be on a registry.  The Law Offices of Seth P. Chazin has served the San Francisco Bay Area in criminal defense in sex crime cases for over 25 years and can provide the most effective defense on your behalf. If you need help, call us at 1 800-499-9902 to schedule a free legal consultation.