Sexual aSSault LEGAL ADVOCACY MANUAL - Texas Association ...

What Does Registration Entail?
Registration and Public Notice
If a sex offender spends time in prison or jail, registration requirements will kick in when he or she is
released; the requirements apply immediately for offenders who are not confined, such as those who
receive deferred adjudication. Under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. § 62.051, within 7 days of a person
with a reportable conviction arriving in the city or county where he or she indends to reside for longer
than a week, a probation department, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, or the court with
relevant jurisdiction must submit a completed registration form to local law enforcement. The local law
enforcement agency may also complete and file the form itself. Another state’s laws might also require
the offender to register there if he or she lives in Texas but works or goes to school in the other state.
The registration form includes extensive identifying characteristics and information about the offender’s
crime(s). Identifying characteristics include the offender’s full name, aliases, date of birth, sex, race,
height, weight, eye color, hair color, social security number, driver’s license number, shoe size, home
address, all phone numbers, any online identifiers, recent color photograph, fingerprints, any occupational
licenses the offender has, an indication of whether the offender is or will be employed, an indication of
whether the offender is a student at any higher education institution, and the name and address of that
institution. In addition to identifying information, the registration form also includes the following
information on the offender’s crime(s): the type of offense; the name of the victim; the date of the
conviction; the punishment received; and an indication of whether the offender is discharged, paroled, or
released on supervision or juvenile probation.
If the offender has no permanent residence within 7 days, he or she must report the address of a
temporary residence to law enforcement and his or her supervision officer. Even if the offender is
homeless, the offender still must describe the location or locations where he or she will reside. Offenders
must continue to report weekly until they obtain a permanent residence, although homeless offenders
must report every 30 days. Finally, any time an offender moves, he or she must report the new residence
to local law enforcement no later than 7 days before the move. That information will then be forwarded to
the offender’s new local law enforcement agency.
Within 3 days of receiving an offender’s registration, a local law enforcement agency is directed to forward
the form to the Texas Department of Public Safety. If the offender lives on campus at a college, the law
enforcement agency should also forward the registration to campus security. The offender must also
report physically to the local law enforcement agency to sign the registration form and verify that all the
information is complete and accurate. In addition, the local law enforcement agency should take a DNA
specimen from the offender for Department of Public Safety records.
For crimes involving child victims, the local law enforcement agency should also provide the offender’s
information to the superintendant of the public school district where the offender resides, as well as any
private school administrators in that district. School officials must receive the offender’s information if
the victim was under 17, the offender is a student at a high school, or if the offender’s crime was sexual
performance by a child (Tex. Penal Code § 43.25) or possession or promotion of child pornography
(Tex. Penal Code § 43.26). School officials cannot see the offender’s driver’s license number, telephone
number, social security number, or any information that would identify the offender’s victim(s).
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