If you are charged with a sex offense, you may face the requirement of sex offender registration if convicted following a trial, or as a result of a negotiated plea. If you or a loved one are facing the prospect of sex offender registration, you will likely have questions about what exactly that will mean from a practical perspective.

Sex Offender Registration Requirements

Sex offender registration procedures and requirements are governed in large part by North Carolina General Statute 14-208. We have compiled some information that may be helpful you if you have questions as to what it means to be on the Sex Offender Registry, and how being on the Sex Offender Registry may affect your day-to-day life. While this page is intended to give a broad overview of registration procedures, it is important to consult a licensed attorney as to how these may apply in your specific case.

Where Must You Register?

You must report in person to the county sherriff where you reside. If you are a nonresident student or worker, you will report in person to the sherriff of the county where you attend school or work.

When Must you Register?

  • If you are a North Carolina Resident and received a probationary sentence
    • immediately
  • If you are a North Carolina Resident and received an active sentence
    • Within three days of release from a penal institution
  • If you are Nonresident (note: whichever occurs first)
    • within three days of establishing residency in North Carolina, or
    • when you have been present in North Carolina for 15 days
  • If you are a Nonresident Student
    • When enrolled in a school in North Carolina.

Registration Procedures

At the time of initial registration, the sheriff will collect the following information:

  • Your full name, each alias, date of birth, sex, race, height, weight, eye color, hair color, drivers license number, and home address.
  • A statement indicating
    • what the your name was at the time of the conviction for the offense that requires registration;
    • what alias, if any, you were using at the time of the conviction of that offense; and
    • your name as it appears on the judgment imposing the sentence on you for the conviction of the offense.
  • The type of offense for which you were convicted, the date of conviction, and the sentence imposed.
  • A current photograph taken by the sheriff, without charge, at the time of registration.
  • Your fingerprints taken by the sheriff, without charge, at the time of registration.
  • A statement indicating whether you are a student or expect to enroll as a student within a year of registering.
    • If you are a student or expect to enroll as a student within a year of registration, then the registration form shall also require the name and address of the educational institution at which you are a student or expects to enroll as a student.
  • A statement indicating whether you are employed or expects to be employed at an institution of higher education within a year of registering.
    • If you are employed or expects to be employed at an institution of higher education within a year of registration, then the registration form shall also require the name and address of the educational institution at which you are or expects to be employed.
  • Any online identifier that you use or intend to use

If you are registering as an aggravated offender, recidivist, or sexually violent predator, then you must also include the following information a the time of registration:

  • Identifying factors
  • Offense history; and
  • Documentation of any treatment received by you for your mental abnormality of personality disorder.

Where is Your Residential Address?

In most cases, a person’s residential address is their home address. However, for people who may have multiple homes (or no home) it may be more of a nuanced inquiry. According to North Carolina Law, as established in State v. Abshire, a person’s residential address is established is determined by what “activities of life” occur at a certain location. Believe it or not, this may not necessarily be where you reside or receive mail. Moreover, if you are incarcerated while on the registry, your residential address would change to the location you are incarcerated. Just remember, you will have to change your address again within three days of your release from custody.

Mandatory Verification

There is certain information that must be updated and verified over the course of time you spend on the registry. Below is a brief synopsis of some of the information the sheriff will want to keep up to date.

Address

Once you report your home/residential address to the sheriff, you will receive a verification form in the mail. You must appear in person to the sheriff’s office within three days of receipt of this verification form. Failure to do so could result in a Class F Felony.

For regular offenders, you must verify every year on the date of initial registration, and then every six months thereafter

For sexually violent predators, aggravated offenders, and recidivists, you must verify every ninety days after your initial registration date.

Online Identifiers

You must verify whether you still use or intend to use any previously reported identifiers. Moreover, you must also report any new online identifiers you use or intend to use.

Photographs

If the sheriff thinks that your previous photograph is no longer a fair and accurate representation of what you look like, then they will ask for (and you must submit to) a new photograph.

Duty to Update Registry Information

As a component of your time on the Sex Offender Registry, you also have a duty to notify the Sheriff of certain activities or changes in your circumstances. Below are some examples:

Change of Address, Same County.

  • If a person required to register changes address, the person shall report in person and provide written notice of the new address not later than the third business day after the change to the sheriff of the county with whom the person had last registered.

Change of Address, Different County

  • If the person moves to another county, the person shall also report in person to the sheriff of the new county and provide written notice of the person’s address not later than the tenth day after the change of address. Upon receipt of the notice, the sheriff shall immediately forward this information to the Department of Public Safety. When the Department of Public Safety receives notice from a sheriff that a person required to register is moving to another county in the State, the Department of Public Safety shall inform the sheriff of the new county of the person’s new residence.

Change of Address, Different State

  • If a person required to register intends to move to another state, the person shall report in person to the sheriff of the county of current residence at least three business days before the date the person intends to leave this State to establish residence in another state or jurisdiction. The person shall provide to the sheriff a written notification that includes all of the following information: the address, municipality, county, and state of intended residence.
    • If it appears to the sheriff that the record photograph of the sex offender no longer provides a true and accurate likeness of the sex offender, then the sheriff shall take a photograph of the offender to update the registration.
    • The sheriff shall inform the person that the person must comply with the registration requirements in the new state of residence. The sheriff shall also immediately forward the information included in the notification to the Department of Public Safety, and the Department of Public Safety shall inform the appropriate state official in the state to which the registrant moves of the person’s notification and new address.

Intent to Change Address to Different State, and then Later Decision to Stay in State

  • A person who indicates his or her intent to reside in another state or jurisdiction and later decides to remain in this State shall, within three business days after the date upon which the person indicated he or she would leave this State, report in person to the sheriff’s office to which the person reported the intended change of residence, of his or her intent to remain in this State. If the sheriff is notified by the sexual offender that he or she intends to remain in this State, the sheriff shall promptly report this information to the Department of Public Safety.

Change of Academic Status

  • If a person required to register changes his or her academic status either by enrolling as a student or by terminating enrollment as a student, then the person shall, within three business days, report in person to the sheriff of the county with whom the person registered and provide written notice of the person’s new status. The written notice shall include the name and address of the institution of higher education at which the student is or was enrolled. The sheriff shall immediately forward this information to the Department of Public Safety.

Change of Employment Status

  • If a person required to register changes his or her employment status either by obtaining employment at an institution of higher education or by terminating employment at an institution of higher education, then the person shall, within three business days, report in person to the sheriff of the county with whom the person registered and provide written notice of the person’s new status not later than the tenth day after the change to the sheriff of the county with whom the person registered. The written notice shall include the name and address of the institution of higher education at which the person is or was employed. The sheriff shall immediately forward this information to the Department of Public Safety.

Change of Online Identifier

  • If a person required to register changes an online identifier, or obtains a new online identifier, then the person shall, within 10 days, report in person to the sheriff of the county with whom the person registered to provide the new or changed online identifier information to the sheriff. The sheriff shall immediately forward this information to the Department of Public Safety.

Change of Name

If a person required to register changes his or her name pursuant to Chapter 101 of the General Statutes or by any other method, then the person shall, within three business days, report in person to the sheriff of the county with whom the person registered to provide the name change to the sheriff. The sheriff shall immediately forward this information to the Department of Public Safety. Moreover, a change of name by any method requires you to report in person within three business days of the name change.

Temporary Out-of-County Employment

  • Notice Required. – A person required to register under G.S. 14-208.7 shall notify the sheriff of the county with whom the person is registered of the person’s place of employment and temporary residence, which includes a hotel, motel, or other transient lodging place, if the person meets both of the following conditions:
    • Is employed or carries on a vocation in a county in the State other than the county in which the person is registered for more than 10 business days within a 30-day period, or for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year, on a part-time or full-time basis, with or without compensation or government or educational benefit.
    • Maintains a temporary residence in that county for more than 10 business days within a 30-day period, or for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year.
  • Time Period. – The notice required by subsection (a) of this section shall be provided within 72 hours after the person knows or should know that he or she will be working and maintaining a temporary residence in a county other than the county in which the person resides for more than 10 business days within a 30-day period, or within 10 days after the person knows or should know that he or she will be working and maintaining a temporary residence in a county other than the county in which the person resides for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year.
  • Notice to Department of Public Safety. – Upon receiving the notice required under subsection (a) of this section, the sheriff shall immediately forward the information to the Department of Public Safety. The Department of Public Safety shall notify the sheriff of the county where the person is working and maintaining a temporary residence of the person’s place of employment and temporary address in that county. 

Incarceration/Custodial Confinement.

If a person is incarcerated in, or is in the custody of, a local, State, private, or federal correctional facility, they must notify the official in charge of the facility of their sex offender status, and once again meet all verification or registration requirements no later than 10 days after their release from confinement or custody.