Megan's Law

New Jersey Megan's Law Attorneys

Megan's Law can be devastating to you, your reputation and your family.  Our team of tough, smart attorneys can help you with numerous Megan's Law issues.  If you have received a Tier hearing notice, we can fight for you to keep your Tier to a 1.  If you have been Tiered as a 2 or a 3, we can file a motion re-tier you to get the Tier reduced.  We can also work to vacate your plea to remove all consequences of the conviction, including Megan's Law.  Finally, we can also file a motion to terminate your obligation to register. 

Regardless of your conviction, we will never look down upon you.  We will treat you with respect and provide you with the best service at all times.  We will review your situation from the top to the bottom and leave no stone unturned to help you achieve the results you desire.  

What is Megan's Law?

On October 31, 1994, the New Jersey Legislature enacted the Registration and Community Notification Laws (RCNL), N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1 to N.J.S.A. 2C:7-11, also known as Megan's Law. Megan's Law requires certain convicted sex offenders to register with law enforcement authorities, and it provides for varying levels of community notification based upon the degree of risk posed to the offender's community. Megan's Law also applies retroactively to adults convicted, prior to the enactment of Megan's Law, of a narrow set of offenses when the individual's conduct was characterized by a pattern of repetitive and compulsive behavior.

Megan's Law requires registration by sex offenders with local law enforcement authorities or the State Police. The registrant must provide his or her name, fingerprints, social security number, age, race, sex, and date of birth, height, weight, hair and eye color, address of legal residence, address of current temporary residence, and date and place of employment. The registrant also must provide certain information related to the crime or crimes which required the registration. The law also provides that registrants who change their address must re-register, and persons moving to or returning to New Jersey from another jurisdiction must register, if required by law. Sex offender registration requirements also apply to persons who are required by law in another jurisdiction to register as a sex offender, and either are enrolled on a full-time basis in any public or private educational institution in New Jersey, including any secondary school, trade, or professional institution, institution of higher education or other post-secondary school, or who are employed or carry on a vocation in New Jersey on either a full-time or part-time basis, consecutive days or an aggregated period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year. An individual who fails to register as required under the law may be charged with a fourth degree crime.

Can I terminate my obligation to register?

Fifteen years after conviction or release from a correctional facility, whichever is later, a registrant may make application to the Superior Court to terminate the obligation to register. The registrant must provide proof that no offense has been committed within those 15 years and that he or she is not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others. However, under N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2g, a registered sex offender who has been convicted of, adjudicated delinquent, or acquitted by reason of insanity for more than one sex offense as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2b or who has been convicted of, adjudicated delinquent, or acquitted by reason of insanity for aggravated sexual assault or sexual assault involving physical force or coercion cannot petition the Superior Court to terminate the registration obligation. The Supreme Court held in In the Matter of Registrant J.G., 169 N.J. 304 (2001) that the Megan's Law registration and community notification orders for juvenile delinquents who commit a sexual offense when under the age of 14 will terminate at age 18, if after a hearing held on motion of the juvenile, the Court determines by clear and convincing evidence that the delinquent is not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others.

What is a Tier?

The prosecutor in the county in which the registrant resides assigns the registrant a tier using the Registrant Risk Assessment Scale (RRAS).

The RRAS is designed to provide a method of determining what risk of re-offense a registrant poses to the community: high, moderate, or low.

The RRAS consists of four main categories: the seriousness of the registrant's offense, the registrant's offense history, personal characteristics of the registrant, and community support available to the registrant. These four categories provide for a total of 13 separate criteria. These criteria are evaluated and assigned a point score. The combined points from all criteria determines the final score for tiering purposes: Tier 1 is below 37 points; Tier 2 is 37-73 points and Tier 3 is 74-111 points. The tier assignment determines which groups or individuals in the community receive notice. A Tier 1 assignment is designated low risk and law enforcement will be notified of the registrant's presence in the community and provided certain identifying information about the registrant. A Tier 2, moderate risk, classification normally requires notification to law enforcement, schools and community organizations. A Tier 3, high risk, classification normally requires notification to law enforcement, schools, community organizations, and members of the public likely to encounter the registrant.

What is a Tier hearing?

After the prosecutor assigns a registrant to a tier, the registrant is then notified by the Prosecutor's Office as to their proposed tier classification and scope of community notification. The registrant has 14 days from the date of the notice to object to the prosecutor's decision as to tier assignment or scope of community notification.

The judge reviews the prosecutor's proposed tier assignment, scope of notification and/or inclusion on the Sex Offender Internet Registry. If the registrant requests a hearing, the judge hears arguments from the prosecutor and registrant/or counsel. The judge then determines the registrant's tier, scope of notification, and/or inclusion on the Sex Offender Internet Registry. Notification will not proceed until after the judge makes a determination and an order is entered as to the registrant's tier, scope of notification and/or inclusion on the Sex Offender Internet Registry.

What is the Sex Offender Internet Registry?

On July 23, 2001, P.L. 2001, c. 167 was enacted. The law, codified at N.J.S.A. 2C:7-12 to -19, provides for the establishment of the Sex Offender Internet Registry.

Under N.J.S.A. 2C:7-13, the State Police are to develop and maintain the Sex Offender Internet Registry. N.J.S.A. 2C:7-14 provides that the Attorney General is to "strive to ensure the information contained in the Sex Offender Internet Registry is accurate, and that the data is revised and updated as appropriate in a timely and efficient manner." The Website address for the Registry is www.njsp.org.

Tier 1 registrants or Tier 2 registrants whose scope of notification has been determined to be low will not be included on the Sex Offender Internet Registry.

Tier 2 registrants whose scope of notification has been determined to be moderate are included on the Sex Offender Internet Registry. However, if a Tier 2 registrant's sole offense which makes him/her subject to Megan's Law is within one of the three exceptions under N.J.S.A. 2C:7-13(d), the offender will not be included on the Sex Offender Internet Registry. The exceptions are that the sex offense was (1) committed while the offender was a juvenile, (2) anincest offense or (3) an offense where the victim consented to the offense but was underage. The prosecutor can still try to include the registrant on the Sex Offender Internet Registry despite him/her falling within one of the exceptions by establishing by clear and convincing evidence that, given the particular facts and circumstances of the offense and the characteristics and propensities of the offender, the risk to the general public posed by the offender is substantially similar to that posed by other moderate risk offenders who do not fall under the exceptions. See N.J.S.A. 2C:7-13(e). N.J.S.A. 2C:7-13 provides that all offenders whose risk of re-offense is high or for whom the Court has ordered notification in accordance with N.J.S.A. 2C:7-8c(3) will be listed on the Sex Offender Internet Registry.