The Louisiana State Police registry page introduces the State Sex Offender and Child Predator Registry as the site that holds registration information on convicted sex offenders and child predators in Louisiana, and the conditions of use every visitor accepts explain where the information comes from: the registry is kept by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Louisiana State Police, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, but it relies on the Department of Corrections, the courts and the state and local law enforcement agencies to transmit the registration information, so the data is only as timely as those agencies submit it, may not reflect a current residence, job or school, and should be verified with the registry or with the local agency where the offender lives, works or attends school; the search covers sex offenders, sexually violent predators and child predators, and using it to threaten, intimidate or harass a registrant or a family member can bring prosecution or civil liability. The registry answers at 1-800-858-0551 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central time and by mail at P.O. Box 66614, Box A-6, Baton Rouge, LA 70896, and its registration requirements page lists the statutes behind every duty, from RS 15:541 through 15:553 and the Title 14 crimes of unlawful presence, unlawful use of a social networking website, unlawful presence or contact with a former victim, wearing masks or hoods in public, and distributing candy or gifts on Halloween and other public holidays.
Louisiana registers through the parish sheriff, in person, and puts the burden of telling the neighborhood on the offender rather than the police. RS 15:542 sends the registrant to the sheriff of every parish of residence, to the chief of police when a residence sits in an incorporated area with a police department, to the police department alone in a municipality of more than 300,000 people, to the sheriff of every parish of employment and school, to the parish of conviction for the initial registration, and to the campus police of any postsecondary institution at least one business day before the term begins. The sheriffs forward everything to the bureau electronically, the Sexual Predator Apprehension Team of the Department of Justice reviews registration histories and sets end dates, and the sheriff's office and police department for every parish are on the Louisiana parish pages.
- Search: the State Police registry after accepting the conditions of use, covering sex offenders, sexually violent predators and child predators as the sheriffs, courts and corrections report them.
- Registration: in person with the sheriff of every parish of residence, employment and school, and the city police in a municipality over 300,000, within three business days, with a $60 annual fee to each agency and renewals every three months, six months or year by offense.
- Notice: given by the offender within 21 days to every residence and business within three tenths of a mile in urban or suburban areas and one mile in rural areas, to the school superintendent, the landlord and the park superintendent, published twice in the parish's official journal and repeated every five years.
- Terms: 15 years from initial registration, 25 years for a sexual offense against a minor and life for an aggravated offense, a juvenile adjudication for the listed crimes or a second registrable conviction, with the end date set and posted by the Department of Justice.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Louisiana's own systems: the Louisiana State Police sex offender registry page, the State Police registration requirements page, RS 15:542 on registration of sex offenders and child predators, RS 15:542.1 on notification, RS 15:542.1.1 on in person periodic renewal, RS 15:542.1.2 on the duty to report changes, RS 15:542.1.4 on failure to register and penalties, RS 15:544 on the duration of registration, RS 15:544.2 on the registration end date, RS 14:91.2 on unlawful presence of a sex offender, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Who registers in Louisiana
RS 15:542 requires registration and notification from any adult residing in the state who pled guilty to, was convicted of, or received a deferred or withheld adjudication for a sex offense or a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor as RS 15:541 defines them, or an attempt or conspiracy, leaving out felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile only where the waiver described below applies; from any juvenile convicted as an adult of a sex offense or second degree kidnapping under Children's Code articles 305 or 857, simple or third degree rape excepted, including equivalent convictions elsewhere; and from any juvenile who was 14 or older at the offense and was adjudicated delinquent for aggravated or first degree rape, forcible or second degree rape, second degree sexual battery, aggravated or second degree kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated crime against nature, or an equivalent offense under another state's, military, territorial, foreign, tribal or federal law.
The requirements are mandatory and no court may waive or suspend them, an order doing so being null, with three narrow exceptions: on a joint motion of the district attorney and the offender, the court of conviction may waive registration for felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile where the victim was at least 13 and the offender not more than four years older, proved by clear and convincing evidence of both ages; a person convicted of carnal knowledge of a juvenile before August 15, 2001 may petition for relief when the facts would be misdemeanor carnal knowledge under today's law; and a person convicted of crime against nature before August 15, 2010 may be relieved when the offense would be crime against nature by solicitation today and did not involve a person under 17, none of the three open to anyone with more than one registrable conviction.
Registering with the sheriff: three business days, every agency, $60 a year
A registrant appears in person and gives the registering agencies every name and alias, the physical address of every residence, the name and address of the employer or, without a fixed workplace, the places and travel routes of the work, the school, two forms of proof of residence for each address such as a driver's license, a utility bill or a telephone bill or else an affidavit from an adult resident of the same address, the crime with the date, place, court, docket number, statute and sentence, a current photograph, fingerprints, palm prints and a DNA sample, every fixed and mobile telephone number, a description of every motor vehicle registered to or operated by the offender with the plate and vehicle identification number and a copy of the driver's license and identification card, given before the vehicle is driven, the Social Security number and date of birth, a physical description with scars, tattoos and marks, every email address, online screen name and other online identifier plus any static internet protocol address, given before it is used, temporary lodging information for any stay of seven days or more at least three days before departure, international travel plans at least 21 days before departure however short the trip, which the bureau sends on to the United States Marshals Service's National Sex Offender Targeting Center, and travel and immigration documents including passports.
The clock is three business days: a person establishing residence in Louisiana appears within three business days, a current resident not taken into custody at conviction gives the information to the sheriff of the parish of conviction on the day of conviction and to the sheriffs of residence, employment and school within three business days, and a person incarcerated or placed in a secure facility gives it to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or the Office of Juvenile Justice within ten days before release and then registers in person within three business days of getting out, with the sheriff of the parish where the address given to the department lies.
Knowingly giving false information is itself a failure to register. The offender pays each registering agency, except the campus police, an annual registration fee of $60 on the initial registration and on each anniversary, subject to any indigency rule of the district judges or criteria of the department; failing to pay within 30 days of initial registration is prosecuted as a failure to register, though no one is turned away from registering for not paying.
Renewals every three months, six months or year, and the 14 day rule
RS 15:542.1.1 sets the rhythm of in person renewals with the sheriff of the parish of residence: every three months from the initial registration for anyone convicted of an aggravated offense or convicted again after a prior registrable offense, whether or not the earlier one required registration at the time; every six months for anyone convicted of a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor; and once a year for everyone else, for as long as RS 15:544 requires, the sheriff forwarding each renewal to the other registering agencies and to the bureau and checking the registrant's information under RS 15:543(B) at least once a year.
A registrant who is homeless or has no fixed residence renews every 14 days with the sheriff of the parish where the person is living, with every sheriff when the person regularly lives without a fixed residence in more than one parish, and gives notice in person before leaving a parish for good; the parish of residence for such a person is the parish where the person is living homeless. A registrant who lives inside a municipality with a police department also appears there in person once a year on the anniversary of the registration start date to update the registration and pay the fee.
RS 15:542.1.2 adds the change rule: within three business days of establishing a new or additional residence, vacating the registered address with no intent to return, being away from it for more than 30 consecutive days or 30 days in a calendar year while present elsewhere, changing a name, a job or any other registered item, or being held more than 30 days after an arrest or a mental health commitment, the offender appears in person at the sheriff's office of the parish of residence, or the police department in a city over 300,000, and at the sheriff of any new parish, sends written notice with proof of residence to the agency where the old registration was kept, and gives fresh community notification for the new address; an offender about to be released after such a confinement gives the institution the intended address in writing three days before release for forwarding to the sheriff, and temporary lodging of seven consecutive days or more is reported to the sheriff in person at least three days ahead.
The notice the offender gives: neighbors, schools, the newspaper and the house number
Under RS 15:542.1 an adult registrant, not the police, carries out community notification, and a juvenile registrant is exempt from all of it except the recreational instruction notice. The offender gives notice of the crime, the name, the residential address, a physical description and a photograph to at least one person in every residence or business within a one mile radius of the home in a rural area and a three tenths of a mile radius in an urban or suburban area, including every adult in the offender's own residence; to the superintendent of the school district, who notifies the principal of every school within a mile and may notify others, sending two clear recent photographs the offender supplies, after which each principal posts notices at the school with the photograph, the name, the address and a statement of the danger pitched to the students' age; to the lessor, landlord or owner of the residence; and to the superintendent of any park, playground or recreation district in the area, whose custodians post notices with the name, address and crime.
The offender also mails notice of the crime, the name, the jurisdiction of conviction, the description and the address to all people living within the designated area within 21 days of the conviction, of release from the initial confinement or of establishing residency, and publishes it, with a recent photograph and at the offender's expense, on two separate days within that period in the official journal of the parish and, when the sheriff or police department orders it or a local ordinance requires, in another qualifying newspaper, repeating the whole community notification every five years from the last one, with no renewal needed after an arrest or commitment of more than 30 days that ends at the same registered address unless five years have passed; a person convicted under RS 14:92(A)(7) is spared the newspaper publication.
The court may order any other notice it finds appropriate, including signs, handbills, bumper stickers or labeled clothing; the offender states under oath at sentencing where the person will live; the number of the physical address must be posted in a conspicuous place outside the residence, large and legible enough for an ordinarily observant person approaching in daylight; a registrant who gives recreational instruction to people under 17, in martial arts, dancing, theater, music or similar activities, posts a prominent notice in the building with the name, photograph, date and jurisdiction of conviction and the crime; and a registrant who creates a profile on a networking website or uses it to contact other users must state in the profile that the person is a sex offender or child predator, with the crime, the jurisdiction, the physical description and the residential address visible to other users, a rule that spares commerce, news and government sites.
Fifteen years, twenty-five years or life, and the end date letter
RS 15:544 sets three terms counted from the initial registration in Louisiana: 15 years in the ordinary case; 25 years for a person convicted of a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor; and life for a person convicted of an aggravated offense as defined in RS 15:541, a juvenile adjudicated for the offenses listed above, and anyone with a prior registrable conviction or adjudication who is convicted again, whether or not the earlier offense required registration when it happened.
A first offender pardon does not end the duty, a reversed, set aside or vacated conviction does unless it was set aside under Code of Criminal Procedure articles 893 or 894, an out of state registrant serves the longer of the home jurisdiction's period and Louisiana's, and any new incarceration other than for a misdemeanor or a felony arrest that ends without conviction restarts the period on release with no credit for the earlier years, credit being earned only while living in Louisiana in full compliance.
The 15 year period can be cut to ten, and a juvenile's lifetime period to 25 years, on a motion in the court of conviction or adjudication, or the court of the parish of residence for an out of state conviction, accompanied by proof of completing a sex offender treatment program by a registered provider or one certified by the United States Attorney General, by an offender who kept a clean record for the whole period: no conviction punishable by more than a year, no sex offense, supervision completed, treatment completed and every registration and notification duty met each year; the motion is served on the district attorney, the department, the state police, who certify the registration history, and the Sexual Predator Apprehension Team, which reviews the record, a contradictory hearing follows at least 60 days after service, the offender bears the burden of proving the clean record and that continued registration serves no purpose, the standard is clear and convincing evidence, and no one convicted of more than one registrable offense may apply; the district attorney, in turn, may move after a contradictory hearing to extend any 15 or 25 year registrant to life on a preponderance showing of a substantial risk of another offense, with relief available later on a clean record.
RS 15:544.2 makes the end date official: at least 14 years after the initial registration or the latest release for a 15 year registrant, and at least 24 years for a 25 year registrant, the state police and the sheriffs upload the registration history, the Department of Justice or its Sexual Predator Apprehension Team reviews the criminal and registration history, posts a prospective end date with the details relied on to the offender's registry file and sends written notice within 30 days; the offender may ask the department for review within 45 days in writing to the Office of the Attorney General, SPAT Unit, Post Office Box 94005, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-9005, with the identifying details, the offense and court, the reasons, a copy of the latest offender contract signed at the sheriff's office and a verifying affidavit, may petition for injunctive or declaratory relief under RS 15:544.1 within 180 days, and on completing the term receives, on request, a formal letter that the duty has ended; the team also decides whether a Louisiana conviction is a 15 year, 25 year or lifetime registration when the question arises, a decision binding unless a court overturns it on a petition filed within 180 days, and no end date is calculated for anyone incarcerated or living out of state.
The 1,000 foot rules of unlawful presence
RS 14:91.2 defines the crime of unlawful residence or presence of a sex offender for a person convicted of a sex offense against a victim under 13: being physically present in, on or within 1,000 feet of the school property of any public or private elementary or secondary school, or in a school vehicle, when people under 18 are present; establishing a residence within 1,000 feet of such a school, an early learning center, a residence where a registered family child care or in home provider cares for children, or a residential home under RS 46:1403; being present within 1,000 feet of a public park or recreational facility, an early learning center, a child care residence or a residential home; establishing a residence within 1,000 feet of a public park or recreational facility; being present on public library property or loitering within 1,000 feet of it; and loitering between 6 and 9 a.m. or 2 and 5 p.m. within 500 feet of a place commonly used to pick up or drop off children for school when a child is present and the attire, school supplies, athletic equipment or the time of day give reasonable grounds to believe children are waiting.
For a person convicted of an aggravated offense against a victim under 15 or of child sexual abuse materials involving a victim under 15, the crime covers presence within 1,000 feet of an early learning center, a child care residence or a residential home, and establishing a residence within 1,000 feet of those or of a playground, a public or private youth center, a public swimming pool or a free standing video arcade. Permission from the public school superintendent or the private school principal or headmaster lifts the school ban, with 24 hours' notice to the principal, check in and check out at the office and direct supervision near children; a public library may regulate or ban access under a plan its governing board was required to adopt by January 1, 2013, and an offender who follows the plan, or who is reporting to a police station or courthouse near a library, commits no offense.
A violation carries a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment with or without hard labor for up to a year, or both.
Penalties: two to ten years without parole
RS 15:542.1.4 punishes a failure to register on time, to give any required information, to renew and update on schedule, to prove residence, to report a change of address or other information, or to give community notification, and the knowing provision of false information, with a fine of up to $1,000 and imprisonment at hard labor for not less than two nor more than ten years without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence on a first conviction, and with a $3,000 fine and five to twenty years at hard labor without benefit on any later one.
Failing to pay the $60 annual fee is punished by up to $500, up to six months, or both, a second failure being treated as a failure to register; the adult who signed the affidavit of residence must write to the registering agency within three days whenever the offender has been gone 30 days or leaves to live elsewhere, on pain of up to $500 and six months; and possessing an altered or counterfeit version of the special driver's license or identification card that RS 32:412(I) and 40:1321(J) require of sex offenders, or failing to carry one, draws the same two to ten years as a failure to register.
Reading a Louisiana result
A record on the State Police registry means a registrant reported by a sheriff, a court or the corrections department, with the renewal rhythm and the term following the offense, three months and life for an aggravated or repeat offender, six months and 25 years for an offense against a minor, a year and 15 years for the rest, and with the offender's own notice, the newspaper publication and the posted house number due within 21 days of arrival; a missing name may mean a person still incarcerated, living out of state or past an end date the Department of Justice has posted.
The sheriff of the parish of residence holds the registration contract and the fee receipts, the bureau in Baton Rouge holds the file, and the Attorney General's Sexual Predator Apprehension Team holds the end date and every review.
Questions about the Louisiana sex offender registry
Related Louisiana records
Louisiana's other public records are covered on this site in the Louisiana arrest records guide for what a booking makes public, the Louisiana inmate search guide for the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the parish jails, the Louisiana court records guide for the clerks of court, and the Louisiana parish pages for every sheriff and police department.