Alabama Sex Offender Regulations and Laws

The US Department of Justice has made it mandatory for every state to create a database for the sex offenders of the country in favor of safety of the community.

In Alabama, Section 13A-11-201 makes it mandatory for every sheriff office to maintain this database. Section 13A-11-202 mandates that the State Department of Public Safety maintain a record of the persons registered as sex offenders by the sheriffs of every county. This is to make sure that residents can look for Alabama sex offenders in this database.

According to Section 12-15-1 of Alabama Statute, if an Alabama resident, except for delinquent juvenile, is reported to be convicted of committing sex crimes that comply with Sections 13A-6-61 to 13A-6-65, 13A-6-68, 13A- 12-111 and 13A-12-112, 13A-12-131 and 13A-13-13, he or she needs to report to the nearest office of the local law enforcement agency.

Megan's Law

Initially this website was not accessible to the general public, and it was allowed to be accessible only to law enforcement agencies or some administrative officer of the Department of Justice. However, after the implementation of Megan's Law, it was made public. You can access the site at http://dps.alabama.gov/community/.

Sex offender registration became mandatory in the US after the case of Megan Kanka in 1994. Megan Kanka was a seven year old child who was sexually abused and brutally murdered by an unregistered sex offender, who resided across the street. After investigation and sentencing of the offender, there was a public demand for a database with the whereabouts of the sex offender to ensure safety of the community.

As a result of these, the Jacob Wetterling Act came into being, in 1994, which made it mandatory for the convicts released from prison, for sex offenses against children, to register. The registration was made mandatory because the Supreme Court had found that sex offenders are very likely to commit the same crime again, once they are released into the community.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the petition of Megan's Law to make it effective. Megan law is concurrent to the state’s law, regarding its authority to exercise the discretion to the extent of release of information to the general public. However, it forces the state's law to include both private and personal information of these sex offenders within this extent.

The databases are updated and maintained by local enforcement agencies and as per their notifications. If you find that you have not been notified about an Alabama sex offender in your vicinity, then there may be few reasons for that.

First of all, possibly he or she had committed the crime prior to 1996, before the registration became essential and had not changed addresses after that. Also, if the offender had been ascribed as a juvenile or youth sex offender, the database may not include his or her name. Also, if the offender had committed the crime outside of Alabama and some of the hearings are yet to be done, the name may not be found among the offenders. 

Because of Megan's Law, you can locate any sex offender, who has been convicted of and eventually released for rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, torture, or an incestuous relationship, where the victim is under-eighteen and the offender is above twenty years. You will need this database if you are relocating to some other area or are sending your child to a school or day care away from your residential locality. A quick run through the database can buy you peace of mind.

Alabama Sex Offenders Registration Rules

When Alabama sex offenders are released from confinement, they are required to report to the local enforcement agency within five business days. Offenders must report about any change in mailing address and the creation of a new email address, social networking, instant message contact, employment, school, etc., within thirty days.

Sex offenders are required to register every year for the rest of their lives, and sex predators need to register quarterly. If the offender is from other state, then he or she must report every year or twice a year as per the instructions. However, this registration is mandatory only if the convict has been sentenced after 1996, which is the year that Megan's Law was implemented.

The name of the convict is added only after he or she completes the tenure of imprisonment or probation. Also, if an offender has been convicted for sexual misconduct or indecent exposure, the database of Alabama Department of Public Safety does not include his or her name.

When registering, offenders must bring their proof of residence, current photograph, proof of birth date, and details of employer. This is to make sure that when someone searches for a sex offender in a particular area, he or she must get all necessary details that include blood group, DNA report, identification marks, date of sentence, offense, and date of release.

If any sex offender fails to comply with the mandate of registration, he or she may be penalized with a Class C felony, which carries with it a punishment of imprisonment of one to ten years and/or a monetary fine of $1000.

Whenever a sex offender is released from any of the prisons of Alabama, the people in and around that community are notified about it via mail and posting notices at the office of the law enforcement agency that is nearest to the residence of this offender and prominent places of the city, like community centers and amusement parks.

If you want to notify Alabama Department of Safety about any sex offender loitering in your area or any error found in the information, you can call up the office of Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) at (334) 353-1172, during the office hours from 8:00am to 5:00pm, CST (Central Standard Time).

However, for emergencies, you can call after the business hours as well. Or, you can also reach them through their official email at sexoffenders@dps.alabama.gov.

For Alabama sex offender search, you can also visit

http://www.dps.alabama.gov/Home/

. This link will navigate you to the official website of Alabama Department of Safety.