Mississippi Sex Offender Registration Requirements

According to Section 45-33-21 of the Mississippi State Code, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety is responsible for maintaining and updating the sex offender registry. This registry contains details about individuals who have been found guilty of committing any sexual crime that is considered a registering offense in the state. The Department of Public Safety receives the information of sex offenders from law enforcement agencies and criminal justice agencies at the county level.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety

The information contained in the sex offender registry can change quite frequently. Therefore, it is likely that the information available at the website of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety may not always include the most recent residential address, status, or any other details about a particular offender. The Department provides a sex offender search tool, available to the general public, at http://www.sor.mdps.state.ms.us/sorpublic/hpsor_search.aspx. If you have any questions regarding the Mississippi sex offender registry, or if you would like to suggest changes in an offender's information, you can get in touch with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety through e-mail at msor@mdps.stste.ms.us, via telephone at 601-987-1540, or by mailing the Department at:

Department of Public Safety
Sex Offender Registry
Post Office Box 958
Jackson, MS 39205

Which Sex Offenders Are Required to Register?

According to Mississippi State law under Section 45-33-25 (1), any offender who has been found guilty of a sex crime or an attempted sex crime must register him or herself as a sex offender. Those who have been acquitted of a sex crime by a court of law on grounds of insanity must also be registered. The statue also makes registration mandatory for offenders who have been adjudicated as delinquents for attempting or committing sex crimes. In addition to the registration requirements, the state laws of Mississippi do not allow sex offenders to live in close proximity to any public or private property that contains a school, day care facility for children, playground, park, or any other recreational area or institution or facility that may be used by children under 18.

Sex offenders who have been found guilty of a sex crime in another state must still be registered with the sex offender registry of Mississippi if they relocate to the state, regardless of whether or not their crimes are considered registering offenses in Mississippi. Similarly, if a registered sex offender moves out of the state, he or she must register as a sex offender in the new state of residence. However, his or her name will remain in the registry of Mississippi.

The Contents of a Sex Offender Record

Under Mississippi state law, sex offenders who have been found guilty of any sexual offense that is classified as a registering offense, as well as those offenders who have been released from prison or who are on probation, must register with the appropriate law enforcement agencies; they must also report to those agencies on a yearly basis. In addition, sex offenders residing in the state of Mississippi must also notify local law enforcement about any changes in their residential addresses.

Each sex offender record is quite detailed. They include personal and physical information about the offender, such as name, aliases, date of birth, age, sex, race, height, eye color, weight, hair color, any distinguishing marks, scars or tattoos, driver’s license number, state identification number, palm prints, photographs, fingerprint identification details, biological sample, level of education, employment status and address of employer, residential address, information about any vehicles owned, driver's license number, registration number and the state which approved the registration, any online usernames or identities, arresting agency, date of conviction, sentencing court, a brief description of each crime committed, and information about the victim, if available.

Registration Process for Sex Offenders

There are two components to sex offender registration in Mississippi. The first part involves the registration of the sex offender with the Department of Corrections upon release from prison; if the sex offender has not been detained or convicted, he or she must register within three days at the local sheriff’s department.

The next step requires each sex offender to contact the appropriate law enforcement unit in the state within ten days so that he or she can be issued a sex offender card. In addition, any offender relocating to Mississippi must report to the appropriate law enforcement unit within ten days of arriving in the state to report his or her new residential address. If a sex offender fails to register within the allotted time, or does not notify the appropriate law enforcement agencies about changes in status of residency, it is considered a felony offense and the individual can be punished by a prison term, fine, or suspension of driver's license.

For more details on Mississippi sex offenders, you can contact Lt. Colonel Stanley Sisk, the Director of Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, via e-mail at ssisk@mdps.state.ms.us or telephone at 601-987-1560. You can also get more information on the Mississippi sex offender registration by e-mailing msor@mdps.state.ms.us or calling 601-368-1740.