Sex Offenders

Megan's Law, signed by President Clinton in May 1996, amends the Jacob Wetterling Act to require states to release relevant information concerning registered child molesters and sexually violent offenders when necessary to protect the public. You can learn more about Megan's Law and other sex offender legislation by visiting the Legislative History of Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification section of the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking website.

You can locate state sex offender registry sites on the National Sex Offender Public Website.

To obtain information about or locate sex offenders in a specific area, please visit the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), a Department of Justice website which allows you to conduct a nationwide search of sex offender registries using a number of different search options. NSOPW enables every citizen to search the latest information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and participating tribes for the identity and location of known sex offenders.

Also visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Registry webpage where you can view state-specific registry websites.

For additional information about sex offenders, visit the Sex Offenders Special Feature.

Information on the impact of residency restrictions placed upon sex offenders is available in Evaluation of Sex Offender Residency Restrictions in Michigan and Missouri, a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant report, and Residency Restrictions: What's Geography Got to Do with It?, a resource produced by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and NIJ.

Additional information is available on the Sex Offender Registration, Notification and Residency Restrictions section of the NIJ site and the Justice System: Sex Offender Registries and Sex Offenders Special Feature sections of our site.