RS 15:544

§544. Duration of registration and notification period A. Except as provided for in Subsection B of this Section, a person required to register and provide notification pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall comply with the requirement for a period of fifteen years from the date of the initial registration in Louisiana, or the duration of the lifetime of the offender as provided in Subsection E of this Section, unless the underlying conviction is reversed, set aside, or vacated, except for those convictions that were reversed, set aside, or vacated pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Article 893 or 894, or a similar provision of federal law or law from another state or military jurisdiction. The requirement to register shall apply to an offender who receives a pardon as a first-time offender pursuant to Article IV, Section 5(E)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana and R.S. 15:572(B)(1). B.(1) A person required to register pursuant to this Chapter who was convicted of a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor as defined in R.S. 15:541 shall register and maintain his registration and provide community notification pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter for a period of twenty-five years from the date of initial registration in Louisiana, or the duration of the lifetime of the offender as provided in Subsection E of this Section, unless the underlying conviction is reversed, set aside, or vacated, except for those convictions that were reversed, set aside, or vacated pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Article 893 or 894, or a similar provision of federal law or law from another state or military jurisdiction. The requirement to register shall apply to an offender who receives a pardon as a first-time offender pursuant to Article IV, Section 5(E)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana and R.S. 15:572(B)(1). (2) Any of the following persons required to register pursuant to this Chapter shall register and provide notification for the duration of their lifetime, even if granted a first offender pardon, unless the underlying conviction is reversed, set aside, or vacated, except for those convictions that were reversed, set, aside, or vacated pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Article 893 or 894, or a similar provision of federal law or law from another state or military jurisdiction: (a) A person required to register pursuant to this Chapter who was convicted of an aggravated offense as defined in R.S. 15:541. (b) A juvenile adjudicated for the enumerated offenses in R.S. 15:542(A)(3). (c) A person with a prior conviction or adjudication for an offense for which registration is required by the provisions of this Chapter, whether or not the prior offense required registration at the time of commission or conviction, who subsequently is convicted of or adjudicated for an offense which requires registration under the provisions of this Chapter. C. A person who is required to register pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 15:542.1.3 shall register and maintain his registration and provide community notification pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter for the period of registration provided by the jurisdiction of conviction or for the period of registration provided by the provisions of this Section, whichever period is longer. D.(1) If an offender begins the period of registration and notification and is subsequently incarcerated for any reason other than a misdemeanor arrest or a misdemeanor conviction or for a felony arrest which does not result in a conviction, then the period of registration and notification shall begin anew on the day the offender is released from incarceration, with no credit for the period of time in which the offender complied with registration and notification requirements prior to his incarceration. (2) An offender required to register pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall receive credit only for the period of time in which he resides in this state and is in compliance with all registration and notification requirements of this state. E.(1) The registration period of fifteen years established in Subsection A of this Section may be reduced to a period of ten years if the offender maintains a clean record for the entire ten-year period of registration upon motion to be relieved of the sex offender registration in the court of conviction for those convicted in Louisiana, or the court of the parish of residence for those convicted under the laws of another state, or military, territorial, foreign, tribal, or federal law which have been determined to be comparable to a Louisiana offense requiring a fifteen-year registration period by the bureau pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 15:542.1.3. The court shall consider a motion filed pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection only if the motion is accompanied by documentation of completion of an appropriate sex offender treatment program as described in Subparagraph (3)(d) of this Subsection. (2) The lifetime registration period established in Paragraph (B)(2) of this Section may be reduced to a period of twenty-five years if the offender was adjudicated delinquent for the offense which requires registration and maintains a clean record for twenty-five years upon motion to be relieved of the sex offender registration in the court of adjudication for those adjudicated in Louisiana, or court of the parish of residence for those adjudicated under the laws of another state, or military, territorial, foreign, tribal, or federal law. The court shall consider a motion filed pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection only if the motion is accompanied by documentation of completion of an appropriate sex offender treatment program as described in Subparagraph (3)(d) of this Subsection. (3) For purposes of this Subsection, an offender maintains a "clean record" by: (a) Not being convicted of any offense for which imprisonment for more than one year may be imposed. (b) Not being convicted of any sex offense. (c) Successfully completing any periods of supervised release, probation, or parole. (d) Successfully completing an appropriate sex offender treatment program by a registered treatment as provided in R.S. 24:936 or an appropriate sex offender treatment program certified by the Attorney General of the United States. (e) Complying with all sex offender registration and notification requirements in Louisiana each year for the prescribed period of time pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter. (4) The following procedures shall apply to the provisions of Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection: (a) The district attorney, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the office of state police, and the Sexual Predator Apprehension Team of the Department of Justice shall be served with a copy of the motion and documentation related to the successful completion of the appropriate sex offender treatment program as required by Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection. Upon receipt of the motion and documentation, the following shall occur: (i) The office of state police shall issue a certification of the offender's history of registration in Louisiana to the court in which the motion was filed. The certification issued by the office of state police shall be admissible and shall be deemed prima facie evidence of the offender's history of registration in Louisiana. (ii) The Sexual Predator Apprehension Team of the Department of Justice shall conduct a review of the offender's registration, notification, and criminal history and shall determine whether the offender maintained a clean record as defined by Paragraph (3) of this Subsection. (iii) The district attorney shall review the facts of the underlying sex offense for which the offender is required to comply with the provisions of this Chapter to determine if an objection to the motion is warranted based on continued concerns for public safety. (b) The court shall order a contradictory hearing to be held not less than sixty days after the date of service of the motion to determine whether the offender is entitled to be relieved of the registration and notification requirements pursuant to the provisions of Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police, and the Department of Justice shall be given notice of the hearing date and shall have a right to oppose the granting of relief if either determines that the offender does not meet the criteria of having maintained a clean record as defined by Paragraph (3) of this Subsection. (c) The provisions of Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection shall not apply to any person who was convicted of more than one offense which requires registration pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter. (d) The offender has the burden of proving that he has maintained a clean record, as defined by the provisions of Paragraph (3) of this Subsection, for the requisite period of time and that continued registration and notification will no longer serve the purposes of this Chapter. (e) The court may grant the motion, relieving the offender of the duty to register and give notice pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, only if the offender shows, by clear and convincing evidence, that he has maintained a clean record, as defined by the provisions of Paragraph (3) of this Subsection, for the requisite period of time and that future registration and notification will not serve the purposes of this Chapter. F.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A or Paragraph (B)(1) of this Section, the court, upon motion of the district attorney, and after a contradictory hearing, shall have the authority to order a person required to register and provide notification pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter to register and notify for the duration of the lifetime of the offender upon a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the offender poses a substantial risk of committing another offense requiring registration pursuant to this Chapter. The district attorney and the offender may enter into a plea agreement requiring the offender to register and provide notification for the duration of the lifetime of the offender without a contradictory hearing. (2) Whenever the registration and notification period of a sex offender has been increased to lifetime pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, upon maintenance of a clean record for the minimum time period applicable to the offense of conviction as provided by the provisions of Subsection A or Paragraph (B)(1) of this Section, the offender may petition the court in the jurisdiction of conviction, or if convicted under the laws of another state, or military, territorial, foreign, tribal, or federal law, in the jurisdiction of the offender's residence, to be relieved of the registration and notification requirements of this Chapter. The district attorney shall be served with the petition, and the matter shall be set for contradictory hearing. Upon a finding by clear and convincing evidence that the offender has maintained a "clean record" as defined in this Section and that the offender does not pose a substantial risk of committing another offense requiring registration pursuant to this Chapter, the court may order that the offender be relieved of the obligation to register and notify pursuant to this Chapter. Acts 1992, No. 388, §1, eff. June 18, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 928, §1; Acts 1999, No. 594, §2; Acts 2006, No. 24, §1; Acts 2007, No. 460, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 462, §1, eff. June 25, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 816, §1; Acts 2010, No. 149, §1; Acts 2010, No. 400, §1; Acts 2011, No. 318, §1, eff. June 28, 2011; Acts 2012, No. 129, §1, eff. May 14, 2012; Acts 2017, No. 307, §1.