Senate Bill 384 modified the lifetime sex offender registration requirement
in current law by establishing three tiers of registration with different
durations (10 years, 20 years or lifetime) depending on the severity of
the underlying offense and on other facts such as repeat offense history
and risk scores on the SARATSO risk instrument. SB 384 established a process
by which a Tier 1 or Tier 2 registrant may petition the Superior Court
for relief from registration and removal from the State registry. The
bill sets out evidentiary and other criteria the Court must follow in
determining whether the individual qualifies for relief.
The bill provides for situations in which a Tier 3 lifetime registrant
may petition the Court to be moved to Tier 2. Juvenile sex offender registration
requirements are also modified by SB 384. The bill incudes a provision
that its changes shall not be construed to expand the 290.008 to establish
Tier 1 and Tier 2 registration periods for juveniles required to register
after release from the Division of Juvenile Justice. Based on the underlying
offense, juvenile registrants fall either into tier 1 which is 5 years
or Tier 2 which is 10 years of registration. Upon meeting performance
criteria during the registration period, the juvenile registrant may petition
the Juvenile Court in the county of residence for removal.
The criteria applied by the Juvenile Court to rule on removal are the same
criteria that apply to adult sex offense petitioners in Superior Court.
Juvenile tier registration provisions do not take effect until January 2021.