U.S. Code » Title 34 » Subtitle Subtitle II— Protection of Children and Other Persons › Chapter CHAPTER 209— CHILD PROTECTION AND SAFETY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION › Part Part A— Sex Offender Registration and Notification

34 U.S.C. § 20915

Duration of registration requirement

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 34 CasesGoogle Scholar
(a) Full registration periodA sex offender shall keep the registration current for the full registration period (excluding any time the sex offender is in custody or civilly committed) unless the offender is allowed a reduction under subsection (b). The full registration period is—(1) 15 years, if the offender is a tier I sex offender;(2) 25 years, if the offender is a tier II sex offender; and(3) the life of the offender, if the offender is a tier III sex offender.(b) Reduced period for clean record(1) Clean recordThe full registration period shall be reduced as described in paragraph (3) for a sex offender who maintains a clean record for the period described in paragraph (2) by—(A) not being convicted of any offense for which imprisonment for more than 1 year may be imposed;(B) not being convicted of any sex offense;(C) successfully completing any periods of supervised release, probation, and parole; and(D) successfully completing of 11 So in original. The word “of” probably should not appear. an appropriate sex offender treatment program certified by a jurisdiction or by the Attorney General.(2) PeriodIn the case of—(A) a tier I sex offender, the period during which the clean record shall be maintained is 10 years; and(B) a tier III sex offender adjudicated delinquent for the offense which required registration in a sex registry under this subchapter, the period during which the clean record shall be maintained is 25 years.(3) ReductionIn the case of—(A) a tier I sex offender, the reduction is 5 years;(B) a tier III sex offender adjudicated delinquent, the reduction is from life to that period for which the clean record under paragraph (2) is maintained.(Pub. L. 109–248, title I, § 115, July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 595.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

This subchapter, referred to in subsec. (b)(2)(B), was in the original “this title”, meaning title I of Pub. L. 109–248, July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 590, known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. For complete classification of title I to the Code, see Short Title of 2006 Act note set out under section 10101 of this title and Tables.

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 16915 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 34 cases (21 in the last 5 years), 2017–2026 · leading case: In re State, 182 A.3d 917 (N.J. 2018).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
In re State, 182 A.3d 917 (N.J. 2018). · cites it 4× “34 U.S.C. § 20915 (a). Unlike N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(g), SORNA has no permanent lifetime registration provision for juveniles.”
Wilkerson v. State, 533 S.W.3d 755 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 3× “” See 34 U.S.C. § 20915 (b)(1). If the removal provisions of § 589.”
United States v. Templin, 354 F. Supp. 3d 1181 (D. Mont. 2019). · cites it 6× “34 U.S.C. § 20915 (a)(1). However, a defendant can seek to reduce the duration of the registration period by 5 years, 34 U.”
United States v. William Welsh, 879 F.3d 530 (4th Cir. 2018). “34 U.S.C. § 20915 . 18 bears the burden of establishing that changed circumstances warrant relief, but once a party carries this burden, a court abuses its discretion when it refuses to modify [the judgment] in light of such changes.”
United States v. Nazerzadeh, 73 F.4th 341 (5th Cir. 2023). · cites it 3× “It contends, however, that Nazerzadeh is a tier II offender, and so he is not entitled to a reduction.”
United States v. Richard Walker, 931 F.3d 576 (7th Cir. 2019). “See 34 U.S.C. § 20915 (a). In 2017, Walker was indicted for failing to register as a sex offender from June 2016 to July 2017.”
In re G.H., 190 A.3d 1059 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2018). “34 U.S.C. § 20915 (a) and (b). Congress gave the United States Attorney General the authority to promulgate regulations and guidelines regarding SORNA's retroactive application to those convicted of sex offenses prior to the legislation's enactment.”
United States v. Edward Wass, 954 F.3d 184 (4th Cir. 2020). “See 34 U.S.C. § 20915 . 6 Because the Court found that “§ 2250 does not extend to preenactment travel,” it did not reach the question of whether applying SORNA to pre-SORNA travel or to pre- SORNA offenders would violate the ex post facto clause.”
Petrovick v. State, 537 S.W.3d 388 (Mo. Ct. App. 2018). “34 U.S.C. § 20915 (a)(1). ■ The State acknowledges that Petrovick’s 15-year registration period under the federal SORNA statute began to run on November 4, 1991, the date of the circuit court’s judgment accepting his guilty plea and placing him, on probation.”
United States v. Mark Icker, 13 F.4th 321 (3rd Cir. 2021). “34 U.S.C. § 20915 (a) (noting a tier I sex offender must register for fifteen years, a tier II sex offender must register for twenty-five 15 years, and a tier III sex offender must register for life).”
State v. N.R., 451 P.3d 877 (Kan. Ct. App. 2019). “Congress chose to extend SORNA to certain juveniles—those 14 years or older at the time of their offense where "the offense adjudicated was comparable to or more severe than aggravated sexual abuse" under 18 U.”
Liana MacColl (formerly known as Liana M. Bradford) v. Missouri State High. Patrol & Boone Cnty., Missouri, Sheriff (Mo. 2023). · cites it 4× “” 34 U.S.C. § 20915 (a). Section 20915(b) sets forth circumstances for a reduced registration period.”
Show all 34 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.