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Colorado Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Requirements

By Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer for Juvenile Crimes – H. Michael Steinberg

Colorado Special Offender Registries – Juvenile Sex Offender Registration

The Colorado Sex Offender Registration Act applies to juveniles adjudicated delinquent or who received a deferred adjudication in Colorado for any act that constitutes unlawful sexual behavior.

Here is the LAW: § 16-22-103(4), § 16-22-102(3)

…..

(4) The provisions of this article shall apply to any person who receives a disposition or is adjudicated a juvenile delinquent based on the commission of any act that may constitute unlawful sexual behavior or who receives a deferred adjudication based on commission of any act that may constitute unlawful sexual behavior; except that, with respect to section 16-22-113(1) (a) to (1) (e),

[BUT May petition to discontinue the duty to register IF]

… a person may petition the court for an order to discontinue the duty to register as provided in those paragraphs, but only if the person has not subsequently received a disposition for, been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for, or been otherwise convicted of any offense involving unlawful sexual behavior. In addition, the duty to provide notice to a person of the duty to register, as set forth in sections 16-22-105 to 16-22-107, shall apply to juvenile parole and probation officers and appropriate personnel of the division of youth corrections in the department of human services.

Upon adjudication, the court must inform the juvenile of the obligation to register. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 16-22-104(1)(a)(II)

**OR the Judge – Court Can Exempt The Juvenile From Having To Register As A Sex Offender**

However, a court may choose to exempt an individual from the registration requirements if registration would be “unfairly punitive” and if the individual would not pose “a significant risk to the community.”

Here is the LAW in this area – Colo. Rev. Stat. § 16-22-103(5)(a) This law lays out the procedures and requirements to avoid the registration requirement

“Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, if, pursuant to a motion filed by a person described in this subsection (5) or on its own motion, a court determines that the registration requirement specified in this section would be unfairly punitive and that exempting the person from the registration requirement would not pose a significant risk to the community, the court, upon consideration of the totality of the circumstances, may exempt the person from the registration requirements imposed pursuant to this section if:

(I) The person was younger than eighteen years of age at the time of the commission of the offense;

and

(II) The person has not been previously charged with unlawful sexual behavior;

and

(III) The offense, as charged in the first petition filed with the court, is a first offense of either misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact, as described in section 18-3-404, C.R.S., or indecent exposure, as described in section 18-7-302, C.R.S.;

and

(IV)The person has received a sex offender evaluation that conforms with the standards developed pursuant to section 16-11.7-103(4) (i), from an evaluator who meets the standards established by the sex offender management board, and the evaluator recommends exempting the person from the registration requirements based upon the best interests of that person and the community;

and

(V)The court makes written findings of fact specifying the grounds for granting such exemption. One of the express considerations in determining whether exemption is appropriate is whether the offender was under the age of eighteen at the time of the unlawful sexual behavior.

How Often Do Juveniles Need To Register?

The Sex Offender Registry is maintained by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Colo. Rev. Stat. § 16-22-110(1) and registrants must submit the standard CBI sex offender registration form at least once per year and at other times required by statute.

The CBI form requires disclosure of basic demographic information, aliases, distinguishing characteristics such as scars and tattoos, addresses, next of kin, social security and driver’s license numbers, vehicle information, electronic communication identifiers, and employment and education information.

Here is the LINK Colorado Department of Public Safety, Colorado Bureau of Investigations, State of Colorado Sex Offender Registration Form,

The Colorado Sex Offender Registry

The registry is available to the public, and entries include the basic demographic information, distinguishing characteristics, aliases, address, electronic identifiers, relevant convictions, and comments.//Colorado Department of Public Safety, Colorado Bureau of Investigations, Sex Offender Registry,

The CBI is required to share detailed information with law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)

The new requirements placed on juveniles under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) are among the most controversial of the Act. SORNA is a portion of the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act, signed into law in 2006. States lose 10 percent of the federal Byrne Justice Assistance Grant if they are not in compliance by July 27, 2011.

SORNA requires juveniles at least 14 years of age adjudicated delinquent for a crime comparable to or more severe than an aggravated sexual abuse crime as defined in federal law to register as sex offenders.

When comparing current juvenile sex offender registry laws with what is required under the Act, at least 37 states have statutory law requiring sex offender registration of some juveniles adjudicated delinquent for qualifying offenses.

Those states are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Among these states, approximately ten require registration if the juvenile is determined to have committed a specified sex offense, generally including violent sex offenses, sex offenses against children, and kidnapping. Existing laws would meet the juvenile requirements under SORNA. Of these states, seven have been found to be compliant with the Act in its entirety (Delaware, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota and Wyoming); these states’ registries are obviously OK under SORNA.

In at least 27 states and one territory, sex offender registration law requires that juvenile adjudicated delinquent must register if they commit a sex offense for which an adult in the same jurisdiction would be required to register. These states could possibly meet SORNA requirements. Ten other states (Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin) give courts discretion to weigh fact-specific circumstances to determine whether registration will be required of an adjudicated juvenile. Offense alone would not automatically trigger registration requirement and courts are allowed to determine if circumstances specific to the young person and the case make registration necessary in the public interest. These provisions would likely be a barrier to the SORNA juvenile provisions required of states.

A total of fifteen jurisdictions, (Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico) do not require any adjudicated juveniles to register as a sex offender. (While juveniles who are transferred to and convicted in adult court usually are treated as adults also for purposed of sex offender registration.) These jurisdictions would likely face a barrier to compliance unless their laws are changed.

Please call On Colorado Special Offender Registries – Juvenile Sex Offender Registration

H. Michael Steinberg has been a Colorado criminal law specialist attorney for 40 years. For the First 13 years of his career, he was an Arapahoe – Douglas County District Attorney Senior prosecutor. In 1999 he formed his own law firm for the defense of Colorado criminal cases.

In addition to handling tens of thousands of cases in the trial courts of Colorado, he has written hundreds of articles regarding the practice of Colorado criminal law and frequently provides legal analysis on radio and television, appearing on the Fox News Channel, CNN and Various National and Local Newspapers and Radio Stations. Please call him at your convenience at 720-220-2277

If you have questions about Colorado Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Requirements in the Denver metropolitan area and throughout Colorado, attorney H. Michael Steinberg will be pleased to answer those questions and to provides quality legal representation to those charged in Colorado adult and juvenile criminal matters.