Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

The offense of failing to comply with a legal requirement, imposed on a person previously convicted of a qualifying sex offense, to register their current address and other identifying information with law enforcement and to keep that registration updated, typically on a periodic basis and whenever the registrant moves, changes employment or, in some jurisdictions, travels internationally. In the United States, sex offender registration was established at the federal level by the Jacob Wetterling Act of 1994 and expanded by Megan's Law in 1996 and by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, whose Title I, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, set minimum national standards a state must meet. Failure to register is prosecuted as a distinct offense, separate from the underlying sex offense that created the registration requirement, and can itself result in a new felony conviction and additional prison time, independent of any punishment already served for the original offense.