Frequently Asked Questions

• Are all sex offenders required to register with their local police department?
• What is the National Alert Registry?
• How does the National Alert Registry notification process work?
• What does a subscriber do when the National Alert Registry sends an offender notification?
• If a subscriber moves, how is his/her National Alert Registry membership affected?
• Can additional addresses be searched by the National Alert Registry?
• Will the National Alert Registry eliminate sex crimes and sexually motivated abductions?
• How does the National Alert Registry deal with the various ways states provide information?
• How current and accurate is the information provided by the National Alert Registry?

Are all sex offenders required to register with their local police department? Sex offenders who have been released from custody since Megan's law went into effect in 1996 are required to register with their local police department. Also, sex offenders who were on parole or probation on the effective date of the law, as well as offenders who have been found to be repetitive and compulsive by experts and the courts - regardless of the date of sentence - are required to register. Some registrants must verify their addresses annually; others must verify their addresses every 90 days.

What is the National Alert Registry? Since Megan's law was passed, it is required by law for all sexual offenders to register with their local police department. Unfortunately, budgetary restraints make it almost impossible for this vital information to be passed out to each parent in every community. The National Alert Registry was designed to bring this information directly to you. When you subscribe to the National Alert Registry full service, it uses your zip code to notify you if a sexual offender has moved into your community. The notification includes a complete profile of the sexual offender.

How does the National Alert Registry notification process work? The National Alert Registry performs an exact address search as soon as new data is received from your locality. The profile will include any information that your state makes available. This normally includes name, address and criminal offense, but may also include a photo and demographic profile, when available.

What does a subscriber do when the National Alert Registry sends an offender notification? Always use the information responsibly. Talk to you children and reinforce safety precautions about staying away from strangers. Ask your children to tell you where they will be at all times. Tell your children where the sex offender lives, what he or she looks like and what to do if they encounter or are approached by that person. Explain to your children the importance of staying away from locations where sex offenders live and to treat them as strangers. If you believe a crime is being committed, contact your local law enforcement agency immediately.

If a subscriber moves, how is his/her National Alert Registry membership affected? Since your membership only requires an e-mail address for you to be advised of new listings, you will just need to make sure that you update your National Alert Registry account information in the event the move necessitates your obtaining a new e-mail address.

Can additional addresses be searched by the National Alert Registry? Absolutely. Contact the National Alert Registry customer support team for the latest details.

Will the National Alert Registry eliminate sex crimes and sexually motivated abductions? The National Alert Registry alone is not going to eliminate sex crimes or sexually motivated abductions. Reducing the prevalence of sex crimes can be effectively accomplished by being aware of any sexual offenders living in your area, harsher criminal sentencing, effective sex-offender treatment programs and abduction prevention educational programs.

How does the National Alert Registry deal with the various ways states provide information? Because of Megan's law and each state's decision process, some states have not released address details. California (CA) and New Jersey (NJ) are such states. The location information contained in the National Alert Registry database for CA and NJ is that of the courts. There are also a number of states that have not released address information. Those states are: Arkansas, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. The database of the National Alert Registry is updated constantly and as soon as new information is available from a state, that information will be added to the database.

How current and accurate is the information provided by the National Alert Registry? The National Alert Registry receives all its information from individual states and local court systems and then it is compiled and plotted. National Alert Registry relies totally upon the accuracy of that state and local information for distribution and has no mechanism available to verify its accuracy. Updates are received from individual jurisdictions at varying intervals. Upon receipt of the information, the National Alert Registry compiles it into a useful format for distribution to members. The time interval from receipt to distribution is usually less than two weeks, but upon occasion may exceed that time frame.