Changes to Nevada's sex offender registration system now in effect
Significant changes to Nevada’s sex offender registration system are in effect.
Assembly Bill 579 (AB 579) aligns Nevada sex offender registration laws with the federal requirements of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
While enacted in 2007, AB 579 has been on hold pending the outcome of litigation to stop implementation. On April 27, 2018, the Nevada Supreme Court denied further delay to implementation and authorized AB 579 to take effect.
AB 579’s greatest impact is in how sex offenders will be placed in tier level classifications.
An offender’s tier level classification impacts three areas: how often an offender must appear in person to verify registration information; how many years an offender must register; and whether certain tier 1 offenders are exempt from website disclosure.
AB 579 eliminates the use of subjective criteria to assign an offender’s tier.
Rather, tier levels are established by the offender’s conviction and age of the victim.
In general, if there was sexual contact and the victim was younger than 13 years of age or if the offender was convicted of a sexually violent offense, regardless of the victim’s age, an offender is placed into tier 3.
Offenders convicted of a crime in which the victim was at least 13 years of age but less than 18 years of age is placed into tier 2. All other offenders are placed into tier 1.
An offender’s new tier level identifies how often he or she must appear in person at local law enforcement agencies to provide required information. Under the new law, tier 1 offenders must report annually, tier 2 offenders must report every 180 days, and tier 3 offenders must report every 90 days.
The new tier level classification also denotes the duration a sex offender is required to register. Tier 1 offenders must register for 15 years, tier 2 offenders for 25 years, and tier 3 offenders for their lifetime.
Nevada currently has approximately 7,200+ active registered sex offenders throughout the state, which fluctuates daily due to incoming and outgoing offenders. Of those 7,200+, the approximate amount of each tier is as follows:
— Tier 1 = 1,898
— Tier 2 = 1,926
— Tier 3 = 3,391
While AB 579 is in effect, the State of Nevada Department of Public Safety is implementing AB 579 on Oct. 1, 2018. For more information, please reference Nevada Revised Statute 179D or contact the Sex Offender Registry Unit at (775) 684-6262, ext. 2, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or visit our website at www.nvsexoffenders.gov.