Alabama treats all sex offenders the same. No matter the seriousness of the crime or the circumstances, every sex offender is subject to lifetime registration and notification, except juvenile sex offenders. Many argue that the lack of tiers in the Alabama sex offender registration law and the equal treatment of all sex offenders is unjust. Below we explain the Alabama sex offender laws in an easy-to-digest way.
*This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to serve as legal advice. Please consult an attorney if you need to obtain legal advice.
Alabama Sex Offender Registry Laws
The Alabama sex offender registry collects information from convicted sex offenders, monitors them, and tracks their movement. The act of registration is a lifelong requirement for adult sex offenders, while juvenile offenders have some chances of getting removed. According to the Alabama sex offender registration law, the following crimes require sex offender registration:
- First and second-degree rape
- First and second-degree sodomy
- Sexual misconduct
- Sexual torture
- First and second-degree sexual abuse and sexual abuse of a child younger than 12
- Indecent exposure
- Enticing a child for immoral purposes
- Promoting prostitution in the first and second degree
- Violation of the Alabama Child Pornography Act
- Unlawful imprisonment of a minor in the first and second degree
- First-degree kidnapping for sexual purposes
- Kidnapping a minor, except by a parent, guardian, or custodian
- Incest
- Transmitting obscene material to a child via computer
- School employee participating in a sexual or deviant sex act with a student
- School employee making sexual contact with a student
- Online, electronic, or in-person solicitation of a child
- Unlawful sexual conduct with a child
- Facilitating the travel or traveling to meet a child and committing an unlawful sex act
- First and second-degree human trafficking that involves sexual servitude
- Custodial sexual misconduct
- Any offense defined in Title I of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006
- Any attempt or committed offense that involves sexual motivation.
Once a sex offender in Alabama leaves prison, they have seven days to register with the sheriff’s office in their county of residence. The local law enforcement agencies collect the information and pass it to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency for verification. According to the Alabama sex offender registry rules, individuals must visit the local office in person and provide the following information:
- Name, including nicknames, aliases, ethnic or Tribal names
- Date of birth
- Social security number
- Address of residence
- Name and address of any educational institution the sex offender attends or intends to attend
- Name and address of any employer where the sex offender works or intends to work, including transient or day laborer information
- License plate number, registration number, or any identifier, including the permanent or frequent location where sex offender’s vehicles are kept
- Telephone and cell phone numbers used
- Email addresses and any other identifiers used in internet communication
- Current photo
- Description of physical appearance, including identifying marks
- A DNA sample collected by the probation officer, sheriff, chief of police, or other responsible agency
- Fingerprints and palm prints
- Photocopy of valid driver’s license or identification card
- Photocopy of any immigration documents, including a passport
- Any professional licensing information that allows the offender to engage in a specific occupation, trade, or business
- Full criminal history
- Any other information that the Director of the Department of Public Safety may require.
Every convicted sex offender in Alabama is punished with $250 in addition to any other fees, costs, and assessments. After the first registration, sex offenders must re-register in person each year during their birth month, within seven days of their birthday, and every three months thereafter. Each time, they must pay a $10 fee to the registration agency.
Alabama’s registration and notification schemes don’t follow the tiering structure other states have in place. Most states recognize three levels of sex offenders and have different notification requirements for each, with level three offenders facing the harshest restrictions. By contrast, every Alabama registered sex offender is subject to quartal in-person registration for life and community notification. Upon the quartal registrations, the following information isn’t required if the agency confirms that it has been collected and hasn’t been altered in the meantime:
- Current photo
- Fingerprints or palm prints
- DNA sample
- Photocopy of valid driver’s license or identification card
- Photocopy of immigration documents, including a passport.
Alabama Sex Offender Driver’s License Laws
Registered sex offenders in Alabama have a special mark on their driver’s licenses or identification cards. Anyone who checks their ID cards, from grocery store cashiers to police officers, can see their sex offender status. According to the Alabama sex offender rules, every sex offender must always have a valid driver’s license or non-driver’s ID card.
Alabama Sex Offender Notification Laws
Every Alabama registered sex offender is subject to community notification. Sexual assault statistics, however, show that sex crimes are widely under-reported, making it impossible to track all sexual predators. For those who are convicted, the local law enforcement agency informs the community in the following fashion:
- In the cities of Mongomery, Huntsville, Mobile, and Birmingham, the chief of police notify individuals who live within 1,000 feet and schools and childcare facilities within three miles of the registered sex offender’s residence.
- In all of the other Alabama cities with 5,000+ residents, the chief of police or the county sheriff notifies everyone who lives within 1,500 feet of the sex offender’s residence, including schools and childcare facilities within three miles from their residence.
- In Alabama municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents, the county sheriff notifies everyone who lives within 2,000 feet of the sex offender’s residence, and schools and childcare facilities within three miles of the declared fixed residence.
The authorities in charge of community notification prepare a flyer with essential registration information, including a current photo for all residents that live within the applicable distance from the offender and the childcare facilities and schools. The flyer is distributed by regular mail or hand-delivered to everyone within the applicable proximity.
These flyers can also be found at prominent places in sheriff’s offices, the closest police stations to the sex offender’s residence, local newspapers, electronic outlets, and other distribution methods. In the case of a homeless sex offender, notification will be made by displaying the flyer in the sheriff’s office, the nearest police station, in local newspapers, and posted on the internet.
Alabama Sex Offender Residency Restrictions
Modern-day landlords use tenant screening checks to select reliable tenants. Naturally, when a sex offender status shows up on the background check, landlords often choose not to lease, making it extremely hard for sex offenders to find stable housing.
The Alabama sex offender rules regarding housing further require sex offenders to register their place of residence immediately after the release of incarceration, and update this information every time they change their residence, accept a volunteering or job position, or attend school. They can’t spend three consecutive days outside their reported residence either without notifying the authorities.
Sex offender laws in Alabama also forbid adult sex offenders to reside or loiter within 2,000 feet of schools, childcare facilities, or resident camp facilities unless otherwise specified by the law. According to Alabama sex offender laws, living in 2,000 feet proximity to their victims or immediate family members of the victims is prohibited for sex offenders unless the local law states otherwise. Residing or overnight visits with minors are also against the Alabama sex offender registry rules unless the sex offender is a parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, or stepsibling of the minor. In the following cases, however, the sex offender is not allowed to share residence with a minor:
- The sex offender’s parental rights are terminated by law
- The offense involved the sex offender’s children, stepchildren, grandchildren, siblings, or minors living with the offender
- The sex offender has been convicted for a crime involving a child, no matter if the child was related or shared residence with the offender
- The sex offender has been convicted of forcible compulsion against a minor.
Violation of these restrictions is a Class C felony. Sex offenders can, however, receive residency restrictions relief in case of terminal illness, immobility, or medical conditions that require placement in a residential health care facility.
Alabama Sex Offender Work Restrictions
Sex offenders in Alabama have to be extra careful when accepting a job if they manage to pass the employment background checks in the first place. According to the Alabama sex offender registry laws, they are not allowed to maintain employment or volunteer positions in schools, childcare facilities, mobile vending businesses catering primarily to children, or any other businesses and organizations that primarily serve children.
According to Alabama sex offender laws, registered sex offenders can’t work or volunteer at any place 2,000 feet from schools and childcare facilities. Sex offenders convicted for crimes against children are further not allowed to accept employment or volunteer within 500 feet of a park, playground, athletic field or facility, or any other business or organization that focuses on educating, caring for, or entertaining minors. Due to the multiple restrictions and the challenges of passing a criminal background check, many sex offenders are jobless or need to travel often and accept the lowest paying jobs to make ends meet regardless of their educational background and skills.
Anyone knowingly violating Alabama’s work-related sex offender laws will face a Class C felony.
Alabama Sex Offender Travel Laws
When bouncing from one place to another, even for short, few-day visits, sex offenders must report their location to the local law enforcement agency. The following travel laws apply to registered sex offenders in Alabama:
- When a sex offender in Alabama intends to leave their county and place of residence for three consecutive days, they must notify the sheriff in each county of residence and sign a travel notification document. This is a document prescribed by the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency that collects the dates of travel, destinations, lodging information, and other relevant information to monitor the movement of a registered sex offender.
- If a sex offender intends to travel to another county, they must report in person to the sheriff of each county they plan to visit. The travel notification document must be completed 21 days before the travel date. Only in cases such as the death of a family member, or a personal medical emergency, do Alabama sex offender laws allow offenders to report immediately before travel. The sheriff of each county should directly pass the collected information to the United States Marshals Service and the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.
- Upon return to the county of residence, the sex offender must again report in person to the sheriff’s office with the travel notification documents and provide the required registration information.
Violations of the Alabama sex offender travel laws will result in a Class C felony.
Failure to Register on the AL Sex Offender Registry
Failure to register knowingly will result in an arrest warrant and a Class C felony. This means up to 10 years in prison and $15,000 in fines.
Alabama Sex Offender Laws FAQs
Where can sex offenders live in Alabama?
Sex offenders in Alabama must comply with the offender residency restrictions. They can establish residence only in areas that are at least 2,000 feet away from childcare facilities, schools, resident camp facilities, their victims, or the immediate family of their victims. Depending on the reason for conviction, sex offenders might not be able to live with minors.
What is a SORNA violation in Alabama?
The federal Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act, also known as the Megan’s Law in Alabama and the Alabama Community Notification Act, govern the laws and restrictions that convicted sex offenders must follow. Failure to respect these rules is a SORNA violation in Alabama that will result in a new felony.
Can you be removed from the sex offender registry in Alabama?
The sex offender registry in Alabama is a lifetime sentence for convicted adult sex offenders. The statute, however, permits the removal from the Alabama sex offender registry for younger sex offenders. Juvenile sex offenders subject to lifetime registration can petition for removal after 25 years from the date of release from the offense, while those not subject to lifetime registration can get off the list ten years from the date of first registration.
Can sex offenders live in apartments in Alabama?
Alabama sex offender laws state that a sex offender can live in an apartment, but they can’t share accommodation with other sex offenders in Class 1 municipalities. Sex offenders generally have greater chances of becoming homeless due to the residence restrictions and other challenges from having their name on the Alabama sex offender registry.
