How to Use a National Sex Offender Registry

These statistics, for the year 1994, provided by the Office of Justice Programs of the United States Department of Justice are grim: on any given day, there were about 234,000 sex offenders housed in corrections agencies and of 9,691 male sex offenders released from 15 state prisons, 5.3% were re-convicted for a new sexual crime within the next three years. These numbers have only increased in recent times. The National Sex Offender Registry is an attempt to locate these dangerous criminals and inform the public about them so that they may adopt adequate precautionary measures.

National Sex Offender Registry Laws

On May 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Megan’s Law. Henceforth all US states were bound to adhere to its guidelines: all sex offenders have to register with the state law enforcement body and every state has to make public, private and personal information on sex offenders registered within its jurisdiction.

On July 2006, President Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which henceforth required the U.S Justice Department to create and maintain a central repository of sex offenders across all US jurisdictions. This database should also be accessible to the public. The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) thus came into being.

Apart from these laws, the US Congress has also passed other law that mandates states to monitor registered sex offenders within their vicinity: the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Act and the Pam Lychner Sex Offender Tracking and Identification Act.

Accessing National Sex Offender Registry Information

The NSOPW, coordinated by the U.S. Department of Justice is the central database containing details of sex offenders in all the 50 states of USA, Puerto Rico, Guam, the District of Columbia, and participating tribes. It is a collaborative effort between these US jurisdictions and the federal government to allow the public search for a sex offender against a number of parameters. The website is also a good resource to find out if there are sex offenders residing in your locality.

You may access information posted on the National Sex Offender Registry here: http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Conditions.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1. To conduct a search, visit the website, read the terms and conditions of using the information hosted here, click the “I Agree” button, fill out the search form, and then click “Search.” The records on this website are maintained and updated regularly. The information is only limited to what each jurisdiction provides. So it is always a good idea to cross-check the information that you obtain from this site with the corresponding jurisdiction.

Information about sex offenders are also maintained by each individual state. Links to these state sex offender registries can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/registry.htm.

A search result obtained from the National Sex Offender Registry is likely to contain these details about the convicted individual: full name, aliases, primary residence address, a mug shot, detailed description of the physical characteristics including scars and tattoos, offense details, and conviction information.

Before you allow an unknown individual to enter your life, allow him access to your family and children; run a check on the National Sex Offender Registry. This is the best you can do to protect yourself and your family from a violent criminal.