You asked for a description of Connecticut's sex offender registry law and about related legislation passed in the 2007 regular and special sessions.

This report is a condensed version of OLR Report 2007-R-0322. While attempting to maintain the accuracy of the information contained in that report, we have eliminated some procedural details and descriptions of some provisions that do not concern offenders once they have been released into the community.

We have also added a final section describing a law passed during the June 2007 Special Session that imposes new responsibilities of the Risk Assessment Board, including the obligation to determine the sex offenders who should be prohibited from residing within 1,000 feet of the property comprising an elementary or secondary school or a licensed center- or home-based child day care facility.

BACKGROUND

Connecticut's sex offender registry law was first passed in 1998 and extensively revised in 1999 (P. A. 98-111, P. A. 99-183, codified at CGS §§ 54-250 through 54-261). A version of the national legislative initiative known as “Megan's Law” (named in memory of seven-year old Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed by a convicted sex offender who lived next door to her family's New Jersey home), Connecticut's sex offender registry law is designed to provide law enforcement and the general public access to information about sex offenders in their communities.

The law requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to maintain a registry of offenders and to provide the general public and other law enforcement agencies with information about people required to register. It also requires DPS to (1) periodically verify the address of each person required to register, and to maintain an Internet site with registry information. The web-site, accessible through the DPS homepage, allows the general public to search the registry for offenders by town of residence, zip-code, or last name. Biographical information, including the registrant's home address, physical description, and crime (or crimes) for which he or she was convicted are posted on-line, along with the individual's photograph.

Offenders who fail to register or do not notify DPS about certain changes in their circumstances commit a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $ 5,000, or both.

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Individuals Subject to Registration

Connecticut's sex offender registry law applies to persons convicted, or acquitted by reason of insanity, of four categories of offenses: (1) criminal offenses against a victim who is a minor, (2) nonviolent sexual offenses, (3) violent sexual offenses, and (4) felonies committed for sexual purposes. It also applies to attempts, conspiracies, and criminal solicitations (CGS §§ 54-251 through -252).

People convicted of non-violent sexual offenses against minors must register for 10 years; those convicted of violent sex offenses must register for life. Judges have discretion in setting registration periods for felonies committed for sexual purposes.

The statute defines crimes against minors as:

1. risk of injury to a minor involving contact with the intimate parts of someone under age 16 (CGS § 53-21(a)(2));

2. first-degree sexual assault involving sexual intercourse with someone under age 13 (CGS § 53a-70(a)(2));

3. second-degree sexual assault involving sexual intercourse with

(a) someone age 13 to 15;

(b) someone under age 18 if the actor is the person's guardian;

(c) a student if the offender is a school employee;

(d) someone under age 18 if the actor is a coach or instructor; and

(e) someone under age 18 if the actor is age 20 or older and stands in a position of power, authority, or supervision over the person by virtue of the actor's professional, legal, occupational, or volunteer status (CGS § 53a-71);

4. promoting prostitution with someone under age 16 (first-degree) (CGS 53a-86(a)(2));

5. promoting prostitution with someone age 16 or 17 (second-degree) (CGS 53a-87(a)(2));

6. enticing someone under age 16 through interactive computer use (CGS § 53a-90a);

7. employing or promoting a minor in an obscene performance (CGS §§ 53a-196a, 53a-196b);

8. importing or possessing child pornography (CGS §§ 53a-196c through -196f);

9. first- or second-degree kidnapping, first- or second-degree unlawful restraint, or public indecency when the court finds that the victim is under age 18 (CGS §§ 53a-92, 53a-92a, 53a-94, 53a-94a, 53a-95, 53a-96, and 53a-186); and

10. attempts, conspiracies, and, criminal solicitations to commit the above criminal acts (CGS §§ 53a-8, 53a-48, and 53a-49).

A 10-year period of registration is also required of people convicted of fourth- degree sexual assault, which generally involves nonviolent sexual contact with specified vulnerable victims (CGS §§ 53a-73a, 53a-189a). (These are the only crimes listed under the category of “nonviolent sexual offenses. ”)

Lifetime registration is required of offenders convicted of the following violent offenses:

1. first-degree sexual assault, other than the portion covered under crimes against a minor (CGS § 53a-70);

2. first-degree aggravated sexual assault (CGS § 53a-70a);

3. sexual assault in a spousal or cohabiting relationship (CGS § 53a-70b);

4. second-degree sexual assault, other than the portion covered under crimes against minors (CGS § 53a-71);

5. third-degree sexual assault, other than the portion covered under crimes against minors (CGS § 53a-72a);

6. third-degree sexual assault with a firearm (CGS § 53a-72b); and

7. first-degree kidnapping with or without a firearm if the court finds that the offense was committed with the intent of sexually violating or abusing the victim (CGS § 53a-92-92a).

Anyone convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of one of the above-stated crimes and released into the community must register with the public safety commissioner. The person must continue to register even if he or she moves out-of-state. A judge may require a person to register if the judge finds that he or she committed a felony to engage in sexual contact or intercourse without the victim's consent.

Registration in Connecticut is also required of people convicted in another jurisdiction of a crime that is substantially similar to one that requires registration in Connecticut (CGS § 54-253).

MECHANICS OF REGISTRATION

A convicted offender or person found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect must register his or her name, identifying factors, including a photograph, criminal history record, and residence address with the commissioner of DPS within three days of his or her release into the community (CGS § 54-251 through -254). The most recent photograph of the offender, taken by either DPS, the Department of Correction (DOC), another law enforcement agency, or the Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Department, is included in the registry, and DPS must retake the offender's photograph at least once every five years (CGS § 54-257(d)).

DPS maintains sex offender registration records for 10 years following the offender's release into the community. Lifetime registration is required, however, if the offender is convicted of a second offense, a sexually violent offense, or has sexual intercourse with a child under age 13 when the offender was at least two years older than the victim (CGS § 54-251).

Offender Registration Obligations Upon Release Into Community

Registered sex offenders must notify the DPS commissioner, in writing and without undue delay, when they move or change their names (CGS § 54-251 through-54). Failure to provide the notice within five business days of a status change is a class D felony. If the registrant is moving out of state, Connecticut law requires him or her to register with the appropriate agency in the new state if the sex offense is one covered under the state's registration laws.

DPS Verification Procedure

DPS verifies the reported residence of registered sex offenders by sending non-forwardable verification forms to the listed address every 90 days. Offenders must return the forms to DPS within 10 days. If they do not, DPS must notify the local law enforcement agency. That agency, in turn, must apply for an arrest warrant (CGS § 54-257(c)).

INFORMATION SHARING

DPS Use of Registration Information

Upon receipt of offender registration information, DPS enters it into the registry and notifies the local police department or State Police barracks that has jurisdiction over the area where the registrant resides or plans to reside (CGS § 54-257(a)). If a registrant is a student or works at a school in Connecticut, DPS must notify law enforcement with jurisdiction over the school's location. DPS also notifies appropriate agencies in other states when notified that a Connecticut registrant has moved there. It also provides all registration and conviction data, photographs, and fingerprints to the FBI for inclusion in its national sex offender registry.

Public Access to Registry

In most cases, the sex offender registry is a matter of public record. DPS makes the registry available to the public both in hard copy form at local police stations and State Police headquarters and over the Internet on the DPS web-site (http: //www. ct. gov/dps/).

Any agency that provides public access to the sex offender registry (regardless of form) must post a warning that states: “Any person who uses information contained in this registry to injure, harass or commit a criminal act against any person included in the registry or any other person is subject to criminal prosecution” (CGS § 54-259). This warning is also posted on the home page of the sex offender registry website.

2007 LEGISLATION—RISK ASSESSMENT BOARD OBLIGATIONS

PA 07-4 (JUNE SPECIAL SESSION)

§ 99 — Risk Assessment Board

By law, the Risk Assessment Board must develop a risk assessment scale and use it to assign a risk level of high, medium, or low to each registered sex offender based on his or her likelihood to reoffend. It must also submit a report to the Judiciary Committee on its findings and recommendations on (1) the sex offenders who should appear on the Internet and the detailed information that should accompany the posting and (2) the need for additional restrictions on this population, including civil commitment.

The act requires the board to use the risk assessment scale to determine the sex offenders who should be prohibited from residing within 1,000 feet of the property comprising an elementary or secondary school or a licensed center- or home-based child day care facility.

It extends, from February 1, 2007 to October 1, 2007, the deadline for the board to submit its report. It expands the information the board must include in the report by requiring recommendations on whether a person found guilty of an offense in another state that would require registration in this state must register in Connecticut if final judgment was never entered in the other state.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2007