What is Megan’s law?

How the framework fits together

• The Jacob Wetterling Act (1994) required states to create sex offender registries for law enforcement.
• Megan's Law (1996) required community notification — the registries became public.
• The Adam Walsh Act / SORNA (2006) set a national three-tier classification, standardized registration periods and created the national public website, though states implement it unevenly and many have not fully adopted it.
• International Megan's Law (2016) added passport markings and advance notice of international travel for certain registrants.

What is published, and for how long

Typically name, photograph, address or general location, offense of conviction, physical description and sometimes vehicle information. Under SORNA, tier one offenders register for 15 years, tier two for 25 and tier three for life, with in-person verification at set intervals — yearly, every six months or every three months. States may publish all tiers or only the higher ones, and some classify people by an individual risk assessment rather than by offense.

How to use the registry

Each state runs its own searchable website, and the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW.gov), run by the Department of Justice, searches all of them at once by name or address. The information is meant for public safety. Using it to harass, threaten or commit a crime against a registrant is itself illegal, and several states print that warning on their sites.

Duties of a registrant

Registrants must report their residence, employment, school enrollment and, in many states, vehicles and online identifiers, and must update them within a short window — often three business days — after any change. Moving to another state triggers registration there. Failing to register or update is a separate crime, a felony in many states and under federal law when interstate travel is involved, punishable by up to ten years in federal prison.

Related restrictions

Many states and cities add residency or presence restrictions near schools, parks and daycare centers, along with employment limits and internet-identifier reporting. These are state and local rules, not part of the federal law, and they differ enormously from one city to the next — in some places they make large areas effectively off-limits for housing.

Legal challenges

The Supreme Court upheld public registration in Smith v. Doe (2003), treating it as civil and regulatory rather than punishment, so it could apply to people convicted before the law passed. Since then several state supreme courts — including those of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maine and Oklahoma — have struck down retroactive application of newer, harsher schemes under their own constitutions, finding them punitive. Federal courts have also struck down specific provisions, such as some residency restrictions and bans on social media use. That is why the answer to “does this apply to my old conviction?” is state-specific.

Getting off the registry

Some states allow a petition to be removed after a period without new offenses, particularly for lower tiers or for juvenile adjudications; others allow relief only when the conviction is set aside or pardoned. Romeo and Juliet provisions in many states also remove or shorten registration for consensual teenage relationships. The process usually requires a court petition and evidence of rehabilitation.

Where to get help

Registration rules are technical, change often, and carry serious penalties for mistakes. Anyone facing a sex-offense charge should know the registration consequences before accepting a plea, and registrants moving, changing jobs or seeking removal should consult a criminal defense lawyer familiar with the registry law of each state involved.

Juveniles on the registry

States differ sharply on juveniles. Some never publish juvenile adjudications, some require registration only for serious offenses committed at 14 or older, and some allow juveniles to petition for removal after a few years. SORNA requires registration for juveniles 14 and older adjudicated for the most serious offenses, but many states have declined to adopt that part of the federal law. Families should ask a juvenile defense lawyer how their state treats this before any admission is made.