Sex Offender Registration FAQ

When is it required?

A defendant is required to register his/her name on the Sex Offender database when he or she is convicted of a sex offense or other certain offenses. The offenses which require registration if convicted are below:

1. Kidnapping of a Minor
Abduction of a Child
2. Felonious Restraint of a Minor
3. First Degree Rape
4. Rape of a Child; Adult Offender
5. Second Degree Rape
6. First Degree Sex Offense
7. Sex Offense with a Child; Adult Offender
8. Second Degree Sex Offense
9. Sexual Battery
10. Attempted Rape or Sex Offense
11. Intercourse and Sex Offense with Certain Victims
12. Statutory Rape or Sex Offense of a Person Who is 13, 14, or 15 Years of Age, Where the Defendant is at Least Six Years Older
13. Subjecting or Maintaining a Person for Sexual Servitude
14. Incest Between Near Relatives
15. Employing or Permitting a Minor to Assist in Offenses Against Public Morality and Decency
16. Felony Indecent Exposure
17. First Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
18. Second Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
19. Third Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
20. Promoting Prostitution of a Minor
21. Participating in Prostitution of a Minor
22. Taking Indecent Liberties with a Child
23. Solicitation of a Child by Computer to Commit an Unlawful Sex Act
24. Parent or Caretaker Committing or Permitting an Act of Prostitution With or By a Juvenile
25. Committing or Allowing a Sex Act to be Committed Upon a Juvenile by a Parent or Guardian

What’s required?

A person who is a State resident and who has a reportable conviction is required to maintain registration with the sheriff of the county where the person resides. If the person is a resident of North Carolina, the person must register:

1. Within 10 days of release from a penal institution or arrival in a county to live outside a penal institution; or
2. Immediately upon conviction for a reportable offense where an active term of imprisonment was not imposed

If the person moves to North Carolina from outside this State, the person shall register within 10 days of establishing residence in this State, or whenever the person has been present in the State for 15 days, whichever comes first. Registration shall be maintained for a period of at least 10 years following the date of initial county registration.

What is satellite monitoring and what does it entail?

The satellite monitoring program is a real time monitoring system that tracks the offender’s every move to ensure that they are where they are supposed to be at any given time throughout the day. There are two frequencies of monitoring; passive and active. Passive is where the offender only may be monitored once throughout the day. Active is where the offender is monitored real time and every move he makes is tracked. The program is designed to monitor two categories of offenders. The first type of offender that the program is designed to monitor are those classified as a sexually violent predator, a recidivist or one who was convicted of an aggravated offense. The second type of offender that the program is designed to monitor are those convicted of an offense involving the physical, mental or sexual abuse of a minor and after a risk assessment it has been determined that this individual would require the highest possible level of supervision. One year after the offender has served his sentence requiring satellite monitoring, he may request termination of the satellite based monitoring. This request is to be made to the Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission.

How can you be removed from the database?

The period of registration required shall be discontinued only if the conviction requiring registration is reversed, vacated or set aside, or if the registrant has been granted an unconditional pardon of innocence for the offense requiring registration.