Major changes could be in store for California’s sex offender registry under a bill in that state’s legislature, which has support of a wide range of organizations, including law enforcement and victims groups, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle.California currently has lifetime registration, with more than 100,000 people on the list.
SB421 by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would allow most sex offenders to come off the registry 10 to 20 years after they are released from prison, so long as they have not committed another serious or violent felony or sex crime.
The bill, which already has passed the Senate, would remove lifetime registry requirements for even violent offenders. Offenders who have committed rape, lewd acts with children or forcible sodomy would be able to petition the court 20 years after their release to be removed from California’s sex offender registry.
Offenders who committed misdemeanor battery, indecent exposure and felony possession of child pornography would be allowed to petition for removal from the registry after 10 years if they keep clean records.