On October 6, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 384 into law. SB384 restructured the universal life registration requirement for sex offenders under California Penal Code § 290. Although SB 384 will not come into effect until January 1, 2021, here is what you need to know.
Under the new Penal Code § 290, sex offenders will be classified into three different tiers, each with different required periods of registration. Tier 1 requires registration for 10 years, tier 2 for 20 years, and tier 3 for life. Pursuant to Penal Code §290(e), as added by SB 384, the minimum time period for the completion of the required registration will commence on the date of release from incarceration or placement. Individuals who were adjudicated for a registerable offense in juvenile court will be placed in two different tiers of 5 and 10 years.
Tiers will be determined pursuant to the offense of conviction, the defendant’s risk assessment score and level, and other criteria specified in Penal Code §§ 290 through 290.024.
Tier One: Mandatory Minimum Registration of 10 years
Tier one offenders are offenders required to register for a minimum of ten years following their release from custody. This category will be comprised of defendants convicted of any misdemeanor described in Penal Code § 290(c), or any felony listed in subdivision (c) that is not a serious or violent felony as described in Penal Code §§ 667.5(c) or 1192.7(c).
Tier Two: Mandatory Minimum Registration of 20 years
Tier two offenders are offenders required to register for a minimum of 20 years following their release from custody. This category includes defendant convicted of any felony described in Penal Code § 290(c), that is also a serious or violent felony as described in Penal Code §§ 667.5(c) or 1192(c). This tier will also regroup individuals convicted of incest, sodomy where the victim is incapable of giving consent, lewd acts with a child under 14, and penetration with a foreign object upon a child under 14 accomplished using force, fear, or intimidation. A defendant may also be classified as a tier two offender for a violation of Penal Code §647.6, also known as annoying a child, if it is a second or subsequent conviction for that offense.
Tier Three: Mandatory Life Registration
Tier three offenders are offenders required to register for life. This category is reserved for defendants convicted of the most serious sexual offenses. These offenses include, among others, rape, assault with intent to commit a serious sex crime, procurement of child under 16 years for lewd or lascivious act, lewd acts with a child under 14 when the defendant is at least 10 years older than the victim, forcible sodomy or oral copulation, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child who is 10 years of age or younger, solicitation to commit rape, sodomy or oral copulation by force or violence, and pimping and pandering with a minor.
A defendant may also be categorized as a tier three offender if (1) the defendant was committed to a state mental hospital as a sexually violent predator, (2) the defendant is assessed to be high-risk for re-offending, (3) the defendant is considered to be a habitual sex offender, or (4) the defendant has been sentenced to life in prison for an offense listed in Penal Code § 667.61.
Pursuant to new Penal Code § 290.5, tier one and tier two offenders will be able to file a petition in the Superior Court for termination of their sex offender registration requirement at the end of the mandated minimum period. The petition will have to be served on the registering law enforcement agency and the district attorney’s office. Once received, the state will have 60 days to review the request and decide whether to seek a hearing or not. If a hearing is requested, the prosecution will be entitled to present evidence “regarding whether community safety would be significantly enhanced by requiring continued registration.” Penal Code § 290.5(a)(3). If no hearing is requested, the petition should be granted as long as the petitioner has fulfilled all other requirements, including current registration.
In addition, new Penal Code § 290.5(b) provides for possible early termination of the registration requirement for a limited class of tier two and three offenders. A tier two offender may be eligible for early termination after 10 years of registry if (1) the offender was under 21 years of age at the time of the offense; (2) the offense involved no more than one victim of 14 to 17 years of age; and (3) the registerable offense is not listed in Penal Code §§ 667.5 and 236.1, with the exception of a lewd act with a minor under 14.
Similarly, a person required to register as a tier three offender based solely on his or her risk level may petition the court for termination of the registry after 20 years.
For more information on SB 384, contact Wegman & Levin today at (818) 980-4000 and schedule a free consultation!
