§ 15:544 — Duration of registration and notification period

§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.

Legislative History

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.