New York Sex Offender Information

The Sex Offender Registration Act or SORA requires any person who is convicted of a sex crime to register himself or herself with the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). The Division of Criminal Justice Services not only maintains the sex offender registry of New York, it also makes the information contained in the registry available to the police, various law enforcement agencies and the general public.

Upon release from conviction or probation, the sex offenders need to register with the DCJS.  A failure to register would result in a felony charge against the sex offender for which he may be subjected to a term in prison for a period of one year or more. Before re-entering into the public domain, the sex offenders have to face a court hearing that is held by the sentencing court.

The court hearing is responsible to determine the risk factor that the sex offender poses to the community and also assign a designation and registration period for the offender. The basis of the registration period, designation and the risk level is based on the nature of the crime committed, age of the victim and the use of any weapons or substances such as drugs and alcohols.

The risk levels assigned to the sex offenders by the sentencing court in New York State are Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. The level of risk assigned to a particular sex offender depends on whether the court finds the offender capable of re-committing a sexual offense in the future and the severity of the crime committed in the first place.

A Level 3 of risk indicates a maximum risk, Level 2 indicates a moderate risk and Level 1 implies a low risk. The general public can access the details of the sex offenders that fall under Level 2 and Level 3 from the public website of the Division of Criminal Justice Services. But the police and the law enforcement agencies have access to information on all the three risk levels.

The designation attached to the sex offenders in New York State are “sexually violent” offender, “sexual predator” and “predicate” sex offender.

The registration period for a sex offender is based on the designation attached to the offender and the level of risk that the offender poses to the general public. Sex offenders who have been designated any of the three designations; irrespective of the risk level attached to them require registering for life. Level 1 sex offenders require registering for a period of 20 years while sex offenders who have been assigned risk levels 2 and 3 have to register with the DCJS for life.

To find out if a person is registered with the sex offender registry of the New York State, you can either call at the 1-800-262-3257 information line or visit the public website of the Division of Criminal Justice Services at: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor/

In general the Sex Offender Registration Act or (SORA) cannot sanction where the sex offenders can reside in the state of New York except when a sex offender is on probation or on parole; it might restrict the area in which he or she can reside. In addition, the local laws prevalent in a particular, town, village or county in New York State can also put a restriction on the movements of a sex offender or determine where he or she can take up residency in.

Contents of a Sex Offender Registration Form

A form for sex offender registration contains information such as the last name, first name or any other aliases that is known to be used by the offender, the arresting agency, the sentencing court, information on date and place of arrest. It also includes personal details such as race, sex, age or age range, weight, height, hair color, eye color, any distinguishing marks or tattoos that the offender has,  vehicle used by the offender, driving license, model or make of the vehicle, registration details of the vehicle and the state that approved of the registration of the vehicle, color of the vehicle, residential address of the offender, employment status, address of the workplace, nature of the crime committed by the offender with brief description of each crime, information about the victim if available such as the age of the victim and the injury or assault that the victim was subjected to.

The sex offender has to notify the Division of Criminal Justice Services about any change of residency. In addition the offender is also required to report to a particular law enforcement officer or unit assigned to him or her at least once on an annual basis. The residential address of the sex offender is not released to the general public unless there is a chance that the sex offender may come in direct contact with children.

Conducting a Search for Sexual Offenders through the Public Registry

To conduct a search for the sexual offenders by using the public registry in New York State you need to provide information on any one of the search criteria such as the zip code, county or the last name of the offender whose records you need to look up.

If you choose to conduct a search by using the zip code you need to key in the correct zip code. Once you key in the desired zip code, the directory will reveal all the sex offenders that reside in that area.

If you choose to conduct a search for registered sex offenders by using the county name, all you need to do is just type in the county name and the search directory will show all the sex offenders living in that particular county.

If you choose to look up for a sex offender in New York State by using the last name option, all you need to do is enter the last name of the offender whose records you are looking for. But since multiple offenders may share a common last name, you may require using additional search criteria to make sure that the name revealed by the search directory is of the individual you are looking for.

For information on the registered sex offenders in New York or if you want to suggest any change or correction to the information in the sex offender registry, you can contact at the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Sex Offender Registry, 4 Tower Place, Albany, New York 12203. Phone (Main Line): 518-457-3167. Phone (Database Search): 800 - 262- 3257. Email: infodcjs@dcjs.state.ny.us. Website: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor/