Alabama Sex Offender Registry

By: Sex Crimes Lawyer Mark Polson, Criminal Defense Lawyer Birmingham AL – Offering Criminal Defense Legal Services in Alabama for Over 45 years

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) maintains a statewide sex offender lookup database of all people who have been convicted of a sex crime that qualify for inclusion in the Alabama sex offender registry. Part of the National sex offender registry effort that was launched as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act, both public and private sex offender search tools are currently available via internet search.

Criminal offenses like child sex abuse, indecent exposure, statutory rape, sexual assault and “date rape” can put a convicted offender behind bars. Even the adult sex abuse charges in Alabama are sanctioned with very tough state prison sentences, if convicted.

By way of example, you can find private web sites that feature a sex offender registry map, or search by name interface. Shelby County Alabama sheriff’s office has its own list of registered sex offenders near me, as does Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.

Beyond the county sheriff list of sex offenders in my area within that county, private companies maintain a sexual predator registry or track registered sex offenders in my area by use of interfaces to create a sex offenders map near me or sex offender list near me. These registered sex offenders’ lists are intended to alert neighbors about those national sex offender public records or sexual predators near me.

The State of Alabama sex offender list is part of the national sex offender registration and community notification act in the United States. Those who commit one sex offense are likely to re-offend, according to psychiatric journals. Plus, criminal justice records of guilty pleas and trials seem to support that claim, according to the federal Department of Justice.

From the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency sex offender public website provides this summary of the Criminal Justice Services program to track convicted sex offenders in Alabama:

• There are over 16,000 sex offenders in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sex Offender Registry.

Not all offenders are available for public dissemination due to juvenile, YOA, or out-of-state status. The Sex Offender Registry personnel are responsible for updating the site and responding to any e-mails generated from the public. Local law enforcement staff register the offenders and forward the information to our unit for entry into the ALEA state repository. The offenders are responsible for notifying local law enforcement of any changes in residency or employment.

Each year, during the offender’s birth month and every three months thereafter, the offender must report in person to local law enforcement for registration. The local law enforcement agency submits the completed registration information to ALEA for verification along with a current photograph and fingerprints.

The following link allows anyone to make an Alabama sex offender registry search.

One primary Alabama state agency oversees tracking of those who have been convicted of child molestation, child sexual abuse, or other sexual acts that violate Alabama laws. Any resident of any community can now search their neighborhood for sex offenders near me with pictures of each offender nearby.

On a county-by-county level, however, each of the local sheriffs’ offices also have the duty to monitor the compliance with state laws in Alabama that regulate sex offenders. Detailed tracking of these paroled offenders falls under the Sheriff’s oversight, for obtaining accuracy or completeness. Plus, if the probationer has CST (certified sex therapist) sessions to complete, this can be checked on to see that compliance occurs.

The county sheriff’s offices in Alabama are tasked with enforcing reporting requirements for persons listed within their respective counties. which state that the individual must come in on a periodic basis and give information about his or her activities, to deter those who would re-offend. These sex offenders have mandatory rules on regular visits, plus they cannot move without first clearing the planned relocation.

Members of the sheriff’s office or other law enforcement agencies perform random checks on these convicted felons. These highly invasive sex registry laws are sometimes challenged in court on constitutional law issues, and the laws in Alabama must be changed.

To learn more about the sex offender registration process in Alabama, it is important to contact an Alabama sex crimes attorney as soon as possible. Further, if you are facing a sex crimes charge, a Birmingham criminal defense attorney from our law firm can cover your felony case STATEWIDE.

If indicted in Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville, Auburn, Hoover, Tuscaloosa, Dothan or any other city, our Birmingham Alabama law office is ready to travel to your court. and we can build a defense to potentially lessen or dismiss the penalties you or a family member may be facing.

The primary empowering statute is Section 15-20A-43 – Registration and notification requirements mandatory

If a registered offender is moving to a new neighborhood, before he or she arrives, the local sheriff’s office will have sent out fliers and disseminated letters to neighbors. Sheriffs in Alabama will alert the neighborhood that a convicted sex offender is moving in. Plus, many other private websites list sex offenders by state. Plus, tools exist for individuals to put in an address and see details on any offenders in the area.

The sex offender registry AL may show up quickly when your neighbors search. The theory of police is that this notoriety keeps the parolee on guard against re-offense.

This allows individuals to educate their children about how they should conduct themselves if they are outside and away from their immediate supervision. That is the idea behind the sex offender registration in Alabama. Law enforcement will take the position that these people are sexual predators, and are prone to commit further crimes, thus the registry will have an impact on where they work and live in the future.

Social scientists state that a person may commit these offenses multiple times over the course of their life. They say that this is a pattern of behavior that occurs multiple times. Putting people on a registry helps public agencies that deal with children’s schools and churches. These entities can go to the sex offender registry in Alabama (by county of residence) and see whether any individual applying to work at these institutions has ever been on the sex offender registry in AL.

Each offense will define whether an individual is obligated to register on the sex offender registry in Alabama. Most, if not all, sexual offenses have registration requirements.

There is only one limited circumstance that discusses the length of time an individual must remain on the registry. This deals with younger offenders. That statute allows for their removal from the sex offender registry in the state of Alabama.

However, this is a lifetime sentence for an adult. Once they are on the registry, they do not ever come off. Other states like Louisiana and Texas have much more invasive and comprehensive laws that mandate periodic polygraph testing (lie detector) for those already on the list and living in those states. These laws have been legally challenged as being cruel and unusual punishment.

If a person is convicted of one of the qualifying offenses, then the person is obligated to register on the AL sex offender registry and is required to report. Alabama imposes three obligations for an individual to comply with state laws.

First, is that state sex offenders must register if living in this State. He or she must report to the sheriff’s department where that sex offender lives.

Second, the sex offender must notify of any intended move and make certain that the location is an approved location. This occurs when an offender moves and he or she does not come into the county sheriff’s office to report the new address. This individual, for example, may have moved a block away from an elementary school.

Even though this probationer may not have been convicted of any crime with a child at or near a school, moving too close to ANY school, in Alabama, is a violation of the sex registry law. The criminal laws in Alabama requires the individual to always make their presence known to the sheriff’s office.

Third, if the sex offender registers but then does not report, it is a new and different crime. This separate crime for failure to report once a person is a registered sex offender will be prosecuted.

The public can get information about the sex offender registry in TWO primary ways. When a sex offender moves or changes their address, a community notification is posted. This is part of a law that obligates the sheriff to notify the public of this updated information, to be vigilant about potential sex criminals in the neighborhood.

Sometimes, this takes the form of a flier on a telephone pole or a letter in the mail to homes within a certain proximity of the moving address. This notification process “revisits” the person’s sex crime history. Hence, a sentence for sex crimes can create lifelong problems for the individual convicted.

So, sex crime laws in Alabama call for both a community notification and periodic reporting on a convicted sex offender’s new location. The length of time that this must occur is established by the sentencing judge. Typically, a sex offender must report their location for a lifetime.

Felony criminal offenses are broken down in the state of Alabama into three categories or “classes:” The MOST serious are categorized as Class A, such as murder. A conviction in Alabama of a class A felony brings 10 to 99 years in an Alabama state prison.

Class B comes next and carries from two years to no more than twenty (20) in the state penitentiary. Multiple sex crimes in Alabama fall into this category.

Class C felonies are the lowest bracket for prison time and can be as short as one year and a day, and up to ten (10) years, when sentenced. Several sex crime offenses in Alabama fall into this category.

The laws on sex offender registration are extensive. Thus, all that can be provided are links to the various Alabama code sections, set forth below:

• Section 15-20A-3 – Applicability
• Section 15-20A-6 – Allegation of sexual motivation
• Section 15-20A-7 – Registration information – Required
• Section 15-20A-8 – Registration information – Public registry website
• Section 15-20A-14 – Adult sex offender – Requirements upon entering state
• Section 15-20A-15 – Adult sex offender – Travel
• Section 15-20A-19 – Adult sex offender – Sexually violent predator
• Section 15-20A-20 – Adult sex offender – Electronic monitoring
• Section 15-20A-21 – Adult sex offender – Community notification
• Section 15-20A-22 – Adult sex offender – Registration fee
• Section 15-20A-24 – Adult sex offender – Relief from registration and notification
• Section 15-20A-25 – Adult sex offender – Relief from employment restriction
• Section 15-20A-35 – Youthful offender treated as juvenile or adult
• Section 15-20A-43 – Registration and notification requirements mandatory
• Section 15-20A-45 – Penalties

As this page clearly shows, being indicted or arrested for a sex crime justifies immediately finding the best Alabama criminal defense attorney near me for a FREE consultation. Fighting such cases to try to prevent a permanent stigma and ostracism by neighbors is critical. If you are charged with violating the sodomy laws, or facing a sexual battery offense, get legal help BEFORE it is too late. Sex crimes lawyer Mark Polson brings DECADES of legal experience to every case he defends.

CONTACT US
Law Office Phone: (205) 871-8838
Polson & Polson, P.C.
Address: 2824 Central Avenue #150
Birmingham, AL 35209
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