California Sex Offender Laws and Regulations

More than 550,000 registered sex offenders have been released in the state of California and are now living amongst the residents of the state.  California was the first state in the nation to approve a law involving the registration of sex offenders. The registration of these offenders was a long-anticipated requirement for law enforcement agencies. The new set of laws, known as Megan’s Law, was released on August 24, 2004, with the intention of protecting the public, especially children, from sex offenders.

History of Sex Offender Laws

A survey says that children are most often sexually abused by individuals with whom they are acquainted. Female offenders make up about 4% of the sex offenders of the state. More sex offender statistics are available at http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/facts.

It was only after the instatement of the Child Molester Identification Line in July 1995 that information about sex offenders was made available to the public. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, also known as Megan’s Law, was named after Megan Kanka, a seven-year old girl who was sexually abused and murdered. This law has been successful in informing the public with information regarding sex offenders that was previously only available to law enforcement agencies and judicial units. The regulations and clauses of Megan's Law can be viewed at http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/sexreg.aspx.

Registration of Sex Offenders

The California Department of Justice maintains a database to keep track of the registered sex offenders of the state. This database holds the offender information that is released to the public.

There are certain procedures regarding the registration and identification of sex offenders. Offenders must initially register with local law enforcement agencies. A document of duty is entered in the registers and forwarded to the Department of Justice when the convicts are on the verge of release from jail, probation, or a mental institution. These are legal documents coding the details about the convicts so that they are strictly supervised when released into the community. Offenders are ordered to update their information annually, every five days after their birthdays, or in every 30 days or 90 days, depending on the offense and the sentence. The conditions of registration and update of information depend on the status of the convict.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation operates a website where citizens can report on sex offenders on parole. This service is located at http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Parole/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/index.html. Complaints or information can also be directed to the local police station, via telephone to 916-662-6827.

Only 25% of released offenders actually have their records online for public viewing. Certain offenders can apply for an exclusion of their records from the public files, depending on their crimes. You can conduct a search for a California sex offender at http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/disclaimer.aspx?lang=ENGLISH. Information from these databases can be categorized by state, city, county, or zip code.

If you need to contact the Sex Offender Tracking Program of the California Department of Justice, you can do so by calling 916-227-4974 or mailing the following address:

California Department of Justice
Sex Offender Tracking Program
P. O. Box 903387
Sacramento, CA 94203-3870

Presently, more than half of Californian law enforcement agencies advise schools, residents, and other public bodies to be aware of any serious sex offenders in their areas. The Megan’s Law databases are updated daily so that the information available online is accurate and current. The law is also now published in 12 different languages.