Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33 (2026)
Failure to register; reregister or comply with electronic monitoring; violations of chapter; penalties and enforcement
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1)
- (a) The failure of an offender to personally appear at a facility designated by the Department of Public Safety, or in a manner of the Department of Public Safety's choosing, including by electronic means, or to provide any registration or other information, including, but not limited to, initial registration, reregistration, change of address information, change of employment, change of name, required notification to a volunteer organization or any other registration duty or submission of information required by this chapter is a violation of this chapter. Additionally, forgery of information or submission of information under false pretenses, whether by the registrant or another person, is also a violation of this chapter.
- (b) A person commits a violation of this chapter who:
- (i) Knowingly harbors, or knowingly attempts to harbor, or knowingly assists another person in harboring or attempting to harbor a sex offender who is in violation of this chapter;
- (ii) Knowingly assists a sex offender in eluding a law enforcement agency that is seeking to find the sex offender to question the sex offender about, or to arrest the sex offender for, noncompliance with the requirements of this chapter; or
- (iii) Provides information to a law enforcement agency regarding a sex offender which the person knows to be false.
- (c) A registrant who is required to submit to electronic monitoring who does not comply with all the terms and conditions of the electronic monitoring commits a violation of this chapter.
- (2)
- (a) Unless otherwise specified, a violation of this chapter shall be considered a felony and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years, or both fine and imprisonment.
- (b) A person who is required to register under this chapter who is subsequently convicted for a registration violation under this section, upon release from incarceration, shall submit to mandatory electronic monitoring under the program established under Section 45-33-45 for a period computed by subtracting the time the person spent in actual incarceration from the five-year maximum imprisonment for the offense and the period of post-release monitoring shall not be suspended or reduced by the court or the Department of Corrections.
- (3) Whenever it appears that an offender has failed to comply with the duty to register, reregister or submit to electronic monitoring, the department shall promptly notify the sheriff of the county of the last-known address of the offender as well as the sheriff of the county of the last-known location of the offender, if different. Upon notification, the sheriff shall attempt to locate the offender at his last-known address or last-known location.
- (a) If the sheriff locates the offender, he shall enforce the provisions of this chapter, including initiation of prosecution if appropriate. The sheriff shall then notify the department with the current information regarding the offender.
- (b) If the sheriff is unable to locate the offender, the sheriff shall promptly notify the department and initiate a criminal prosecution against the offender for the failure to register, reregister or comply with electronic monitoring. The sheriff shall make the appropriate transactions into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's wanted-person database and issue a warrant for the offender's arrest. The department shall notify the United States Marshals Service of the offender's noncompliant status and shall update the registry database and website to show the defendant's noncompliant status as an absconder.
- (4) A violation of this chapter shall result in the arrest of the offender.
- (5) Any prosecution for a violation of this section shall be brought by a prosecutor in the county of the violation.
- (6) A person required to register under this chapter who commits any act or omission in violation of this chapter may be prosecuted for the act or omission in the county in which the act or omission was committed, the county of the last registered address of the sex offender, the county in which the conviction occurred for the offense or offenses that meet the criteria requiring the person to register, the county in which he was designated a sex offender, or the county in which the sex offender was found.
- (7) The Commissioner of Public Safety or his authorized agent shall suspend the driver's license or driving privilege of any offender failing to comply with the duty to report, register or reregister, submit to monitoring, or who has provided false information.
- (8) When a person required to register under this chapter is accused of any registration offense under this section, pretrial release on bond shall be conditioned on the offender's submission to electronic monitoring under the program established under Section 45-33-45.
Laws, 2000, ch. 499, § 7; Laws, 2001, ch. 500, § 6; Laws, 2004, ch. 493, § 2; Laws, 2005, ch. 353, § 4; Laws, 2006, ch. 566, § 3; Laws, 2007, ch. 392, § 6; Laws, 2011, ch. 359, § 7, eff. 7/1/2011.
Amended by Laws, 2020, ch. 477, HB 1371,§ 14, eff. 7/8/2020.
Amended by Laws, 2013, ch. 521, SB 2732, 6, eff. 1/1/2014.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2005–2026 · leading case: Garrison v. State, 950 So. 2d 990 (Miss. 2006).
Garrison v. State, 950 So. 2d 990 (Miss. 2006). “Miss.Code Ann. § 45-33-33 (2000)(Amended 2004).”
People v. Carmony, 2005 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2601 (Cal. Ct. App. 2005). “279, § 25; Miss.Code §§ 45-33-33(2), 99-19-81; Mo.Rev.”
Williams v. State, 169 So. 3d 932 (Miss. Ct. App. 2014). “did then and there wilfully, unlawfullyf,] and felo-niously fail to register or re-register as a sex offender with the Department of Public Safety, contrary to and in violation of [Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33 ..., and against the peace and dignity of the State of…”
Antonio Vashon Smith v. State of Mississippi, 196 So. 3d 986 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “failing to argue that, under Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33(4) (Rev.2015), an individual may, but is not required to, be arrested for the first violation of his duty to register as a sex offender.”
Donald Allen Caves v. State of Mississippi, 179 So. 3d 1175 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “Caves appeals the conviction entered against him on April 9, 2014, by the Pearl River County Circuit Court for failure to register as a sex offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33 (Supp.2014). 1 The trial court sentenced Caves as a habitual offender…”
Bradshaw v. State, 671 S.E.2d 485 (Ga. 2008). “5 (c); Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33 (2); Mo. Ann. Stat.”
Gonzalez v. Duncan, 551 F.3d 875 (9th Cir. 2008). “279, § 25; Miss. Code Ann. §§ 45-33-33 (2); Mo. Ann.”
Donald Williams, Jr. v. State of Mississippi, 167 So. 3d 252 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33 . Mississippi law also states that “[u]pon any change of address, including temporary lodging, an offender required to register under this chapter is required to personally appear at a Department of Public Safety [d]river’s [Ijicense [sjtation not…”
Holder v. State, 137 So. 3d 884 (Miss. Ct. App. 2013). “Holder was placed in custody on December 1, 2008, and the State filed a petition to revoke Holder’s sentence, noting that he was in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33(l)(a) (Rev.2011). 1 ¶ 4.”
Ralph Garrison v. State of Mississippi (Miss. 2005). “Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33 (2000)(Amended 2004).”
William Joe Rasberry v. State of Mississippi (Miss. Ct. App. 2025). “5 2015) and Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33 (Rev. 2015).3 Section 45-33- 25(1)(a) provided in part that “[a]ny person having a permanent or temporary residence in this state .”
Winters (N.D. Miss. 2026). “On October 1, 2020, a “Petition to Revoke Post Release Supervision and Impose Suspended Sentence” was filed in Winters’ 2019 failure to register case for his repeated failure to register in violation of Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33 and for “being at the campgrounds at Grenada…”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33(1)(a) — 1 case
Donald Allen Caves v. State of Mississippi, 179 So. 3d 1175 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “Caves appeals the conviction entered against him on April 9, 2014, by the Pearl River County Circuit Court for failure to register as a sex offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33 (Supp.2014). 1 The trial court sentenced Caves as a habitual offender…”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33(2) — 5 cases
People v. Carmony, 2005 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2601 (Cal. Ct. App. 2005). “279, § 25; Miss.Code §§ 45-33-33(2), 99-19-81; Mo.Rev.”
Garrison v. State, 950 So. 2d 990 (Miss. 2006). “Miss.Code Ann. § 45-33-33 (2000)(Amended 2004).”
Bradshaw v. State, 671 S.E.2d 485 (Ga. 2008). “5 (c); Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33 (2); Mo. Ann. Stat.”
Donald Allen Caves v. State of Mississippi, 179 So. 3d 1175 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “Caves appeals the conviction entered against him on April 9, 2014, by the Pearl River County Circuit Court for failure to register as a sex offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33 (Supp.2014). 1 The trial court sentenced Caves as a habitual offender…”
Doe v. Hood, 345 F. Supp. 3d 749 (S.D. Miss. 2018).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33(4) — 1 case
Antonio Vashon Smith v. State of Mississippi, 196 So. 3d 986 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “failing to argue that, under Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33(4) (Rev.2015), an individual may, but is not required to, be arrested for the first violation of his duty to register as a sex offender.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-33(l)(a) — 1 case
Holder v. State, 137 So. 3d 884 (Miss. Ct. App. 2013). “Holder was placed in custody on December 1, 2008, and the State filed a petition to revoke Holder’s sentence, noting that he was in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 45-33-33(l)(a) (Rev.2011). 1 ¶ 4.”
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