# Legal Question regarding sex offender registration. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-sex-offender-registration/796411 "2017-09-15T17:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-sex-offender-registration/796411/1 "2017-09-15T17:28:50Z")
Here is the pertinent statute: > [@statute](#): > > Any person having a duty to register for a qualifying offense shall register upon conviction, unless that person is confined or incarcerated, in which case he or she shall register within three business days of release, transfer or other change in disposition status. Any person currently registered who is incarcerated for any offense shall re-register within three business days of his or her release. I just want some thoughts from you legal type people about this scenario. Dave is a registered sex offender who is properly registered. He is accused of DUI and taken to the police station. He is held in the county jail for 8 hours and released on his own recognizance. By virtue of the last sentence of the statute, must he re-register? Here are my thoughts: No. The term “incarceration” implies a sentence upon conviction, not the mere holding pre-trial. If it is not that broad, I would argue that a few hours versus days, weeks, or months should be a part of the analysis. If he was incarcerated, it was not “for” an offense. It was upon suspicion of committing an offense. Further, the overall purpose of the statute is so that law enforcement knows where sex offenders reside. His re-registering would be a meaningless act as his information never changed. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-sex-offender-registration/796411/2 "2017-09-16T02:02:12Z")
Agreed. Not incarcerated. Not convicted of any offence. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-sex-offender-registration/796411/3 "2017-09-16T18:43:37Z")
I used to be the Megan’s Law guy. It has to do with permanent or long term change of living arrangements. We also didn’t require notification for business trips or vacations. Probation might require that. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-sex-offender-registration/796411/4 "2017-09-17T19:24:52Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Agreed. Not incarcerated. Not convicted of any offence. So in your opinion, he was not “incarcerated” or was he not “incarcerated for an offense”? Would it make a difference if he spent a month in the county jail because he was unable to post bail? What if he served that month, but instead of posting bail, he pled guilty and was sentenced to time served? I would think that you would say that in the latter instance, he was then “incarcerated for” an offense: DUI and would have to re-register. However, his location was the same in either circumstance and it makes little sense to require registration in one instance and not the other.