Iowa Sex Offender Registry Information

Individuals convicted of any kind of sexual offense, especially against children, are known as sex offenders. The Iowa Sex Offender Registry (SOR) has been instated by law; information about this registry is available in Chapter 692A of the Code of Iowa.

Sex offenders living and working in Iowa, or attending a higher learning institution in Iowa, must be registered with the SOR. This measure ensures the safety of local communities. Information regarding registration can be found at www.iowasexoffender.com. Parents can view the information to determine whether any sex offenders are currently residing in their communities. More information about the registry can be obtained from the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) at www.dps.state.ia.us, from the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) at www.dps.state.ia.us/DCI, and from the the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) at www.nsopw.gov.

Helpful Information for the General Public of Iowa

The Iowa SOR website is updated every day at every half hour, Monday through Friday, except on holidays. This website also offers the option to sign up for e-mail notification when a sex offender moves into or out of one's neighborhood. The user specifies a watch area, and movement updates of Iowa sex offenders will be provided to the user through e-mail. Any time a registered sex offender moves within a certain distance of the user's residence, he or she will receive an e-mail alert stating that a sex offender has moved into the area. Alerts can also be based on criteria such as city, zip code, county, or even a group of registered offenders.

In addition to obtaining information from these websites, concerned parents and past victims of sex offenders can also call (515) 725-6050. Those seeking further information can also contact:

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation
Department of Public Safety Building
215 East 7th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Voice: (515) 725-6050
Fax: (515) 725-6040

If you are looking for an offender who has moved out of the state, you can search the National Sex Offender Public Registry, maintained by the U.S Department of Justice, at http://www.nsopr.gov. If you find any errors in the information provided on the website, you can report it at the Iowa Sex Offender Registry website by filling out the form at http://www.iowasexoffender.com/contact. However, you cannot report about a sex offender who is not yet listed, as the website only features information sourced from law enforcement agencies.

Iowa Sex Offender Registration

Sex offenders in Iowa are already registered with the Iowa Department of Corrections before their release from the prison facilities in which they were held. The rest of the registration formalities are completed at the Sheriff’s office. Any individual who is convicted of a sexual offense requiring registration by the state of Iowa must register with the SOR. In Iowa, sex offenders are required to register for a period of either 10 years or for life. An offender's registered term depends on the statute by which he or she is convicted. In the event that an offender’s conviction information is expunged, he or she will still be required to register with the Iowa SOR.

The files of sex offenders are maintained at the county’s Sheriff’s office; information on offenders is transferred from the sheriff's office to the DCI and the SOR. The central file as well as the database is maintained by the SOR. Juvenile sex offenders are also required to register in Iowa, but Iowa law permits a juvenile judge to suspend or modify the registration requirements for a juvenile. According to Iowa law, offenders who were below 20 years of age at the time of the offense and were convicted for Iowa 709.4(2) (c) (4) will not be displayed on the Iowa SOR website.