Understanding sex offenders classification

Registered sex offenders in New York are classified by the risk of re-offense. A court determines whether an offender is a Level 1 (low risk), 2 (moderate risk) or 3 (high risk). The court also determines whether an offender should be given the designation of a sexual predator, sexually violent offender or predicate sex offender. Offenders are required to be registered for 20 years or life. Level 1 offenders with no designation must register for twenty years. Level 1 offenders with a designation, as well as Level 2 and Level 3 offenders regardless of whether they have a designation must register for life.

The New York State Sex Offender Registry

You can be aware of Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders by visiting the New York State Sex Offender Registry. You can search by name, zip code or county to see which registered offenders are living or working in that zip code or county.

Find a particular individual on the Registry

New York’s Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is barred by law from posting information on Level 1 (low level) sex offenders, or those with a pending risk level, on their public site. Similarly, because of a lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society on behalf of some sex offenders, not all Level 2 and 3 offenders are on the registry at this time.

However, while they cannot tell you if any of these offenders are in your neighborhood or who they are by location, they can tell you if a particular individual is on the registry.

Call 1-800-262-3257 with the name and at least one other identifier (an exact address, date of birth, driver’s license number, or a social security number) and DCJS will tell you if that individual is a registered sex offender in New York.

Please note: As a result of the ongoing federal litigation in Doe v. Pataki, certain Level 2 or 3 sex offenders cannot be included in the public Subdirectory of the Registry. Additionally, as a result of this continuing litigation, additional information regarding certain Level 2 sex offenders will not be available via the DCJS 800# and law enforcement cannot perform community notification on them.

Search nationwide on the Family Watchdog web site

You can search for offenders across the country at the web site of Family Watchdog.

Get information from local law enforcement

The local law enforcement agency where the offender currently resides can, if it chooses, release community notification information on sex offenders residing in the community to “entities with vulnerable populations related to the nature of the offense.” The law enforcement agency can release information on Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 offenders through this method. Also, while the exact address of Level 3 offenders can be provided, the law provides that only an approximate address based on zip code can be provided by a law enforcement agency for Level 1 and Level 2 offenders. Your local law enforcement agency will have the NYS online Sex Offender Registry available for your use if you do not otherwise have Internet access.