Sex Offender Registration for Out-of-State Offenses

There are about 25,000 people on North Carolina’s sex offender registry. Over 8,000 of them are registered for crimes committed in other states or in federal court. There are issues. There are two pathways to registration in North Carolina for an out-of-state crime: substantial similarity and registration required in another state. Substantial similarity. An out-of-state conviction is a reportable conviction in North Carolina if it is “substantially similar to an offense against a minor or a sexually violent offense.” G.S. 14-208.6(4)b. A version of the same rule applies for federal convictions, including convictions by court martial. G.S. 14-208.6(4)c. What is the process for evaluating substantial similarity? No statute or appellate case gives a comprehensive answer. Is in an element-to-element comparison, like what we use when we score out-of-state convictions for prior record level points? Probably, see State v. Springle, 244 N.C. App. 760 (2016), but we don’t know for sure. At a minimum we know the inquiry must go beyond the name of the offense alone. Sexual battery in North Carolina is a misdemeanor; sexual battery in Florida (Fla. Stat. 794.011) is basically rape. Whatever approach we use should take into consideration not only the substantive elements of the crime, but also the effective date language that made North Carolina’s version of the offense reportable. For instance, crimes similar to our sexual battery should only be reportable if they were committed on or after December 1, 2005, when that crime was made reportable here. Even if you settled on an approach for evaluating [...]