Sexual aSSault LEGAL ADVOCACY MANUAL - Texas Association ...

In addition, regardless of level of the offense, registration violations will enhance one level for each repeat
violation. For example, if an offender’s first violation was a second degree felony, his next violation will
be a first degree felony, carrying the same possible range of punishment as any other offense at that level.
Registration violators have received life prison sentences for violations at the first degree felony level.
10-Year Registration
Requirement
Lifetime Registration
with Annual Verification
Lifetime Registration
with 90-day Verification
First Violation
State jail felony
Second degree felony
First degree felony
Repeat Violation
Third degree felony
First degree felony
First degree felony
Registration Exemption for Consensual Sex between Some Minors
and Young Adults
In some narrow circumstances, young adults aged 17 or 18 can petition to be entirely excused from
registration. Article 62.301, Code of Criminal Procedure, sets out the rules on who is eligible to petition.
To be eligible, a young adult offender must satisfy 3 conditions:
1) He or she must have only one reportable conviction (other than adjudications of delinquent conduct).
2) That single conviction must have been for one of the following offenses: sexual assault, aggravated
sexual assault, continuous sexual abuse of a child, indecency with a child, or sexual performance
by a child.
3) At the time of the offense the offender must have been aged 17 or 18, and the victim must have
been older than 13.
If those three conditions are true, then the young adult is eligible to petition the court to be excused from
registration. For the petition to be successful, the young adult must persuade the judge of two things in court:
1) The conduct occurred with the victim’s consent, AND
2) Granting the offender an exemption would not threaten public safety.
If the judge finds that most of the evidence supports those two conclusions, then she or he has authority
(but is not required) to issue an order excusing the young adult from registering as a sex offender.
Subchapter H of Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, governs the court process for petitioning for
and granting the exemption.
In addition, juvenile sex offenders younger than 17 can petition a court for registration exemption at any
time and for any reason.
In practice, the likelihood that a court will grant a juvenile’s or young adult’s petition for exemption
depends largely on geography. Courts in certain counties tend to grant such petitions liberally, while
successful petitions are extremely rare in others.
75