The court may assign one of the following three risk levels.
The risk level governs the amount and type of information which can be
released as community notification. (Note: In
the interim period between registration and the risk level hearing, the
offender's risk level may be referred to as "pending" and information
about the offender may only be released in accordance with the standards
for a low risk offender).
Level 1 (low risk of repeat offense), or
Level 2 (moderate risk of repeat offense), or
Level 3 (high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety exists).
The court also determines whether an offender should be given the designation of a sexual predator, sexually violent offender or predicate sex offender. (these links open in a separate browser window)
This designation governs the duration of the registration.
Those offenders who had a hearing on or after March 11, 2002 are registered
for 10 years unless they have been given one of the above designations.
If the offender has been designated a sexual predator, a sexually violent
offender or a predicate sex offender, he or she must register for life.
Level 1 and 2 offenders who had a determination proceeding prior to
March 11, 2002 are registered for 10 years. Level 3 offenders who had
a determination proceeding prior to March 11, 2002 are registered for
life unless relieved of the duty to register by the sentencing court
after having been registered for a minimum of 13 years.
The local law enforcement agency where the offender currently
resides, can, if it chooses, release information on sex offenders
residing in the community to “entities with vulnerable populations
related to the nature of the offense.” The law enforcement agency
can only release information on level 2 and level 3 offenders through
community notification. Therefore, there is no community notification
for sex offenders whose status is Pending, or level 1. Also, while
the exact address of level 3 offenders can be provided, the law provides
that only an approximate address based on zip code can be provided
for level 2 offenders. Please note that a federal court injunction
currently prohibits the release of information through this method
concerning sex offenders who committed their crime prior to January
21, 1996 and were assigned a risk level prior to January 1, 2000.