The National Sex Offender Public Registry website—coordinated by the Department of Justice—enables every citizen to search the latest information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for the identity and location of known sex offenders.
Background on the National Sex Offenders Registry
Our Crimes Against Children Unit at FBI Headquarters coordinated the development of the National Sex Offenders Registry (NSOR) and continues to lead its implementation.
The FBI tracks the whereabouts and movements of certain convicted sex offenders. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) run by the FBI enables the NSOR to retain the offender's current registered address and dates of registration, conviction, and residence.
The FBI has established a national database that tracks the location and movements of each person who has been convicted of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor, has been convicted of a sexually violent offense, or is a sexually violent predator.
The legislation also made it a criminal offense for a registered sex offender to move to another state and knowingly fail to notify the FBI and authorities in the new state. Notification to the FBI and state authorities must be made within 10 days upon moving to a new state and/or establishing residence following release from prison or placed on parole, supervised release, or probation. Upon release, each sex offender is notified of their lawful duty to register with the FBI and appropriate local authorities.
The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexual Violent Offender Registration Program, enacted in 1994, provides a financial incentive for states to establish registration programs for persons who have been convicted of certain sex crimes.
Megan's Law, enacted in May 1996, amended the Wetterling Program legislation to give states broad discretion to determine to whom notification should be made about offenders, under what circumstances, and about which offenders.
You can search registry websites maintained by individual states by following the links below. Note: the information contained in the national registry and the state registries is identical; the national registry simply enables a search across multiple states.
For more information:
Visit the background on the National Sex Offender Registry webpage for details on our role in developing and maintaining the registry.
