Pennsylvania Megan's Law Registry: The State Police Website, the Tiers and Who Gets Notified

Written by SearchSystems.net from Pennsylvania's own systems: the Pennsylvania State Police Megan's Law website terms and conditions, the Megan's Law website frequently asked questions, the Megan's Law registration details page, the Megan's Law community notification page, the Megan's Law Section contact page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

What a Pennsylvania entry shows

An entry carries some or all of the following: the name and every known alias; the year of birth rather than the full date; the street address, city, municipality, county, state and ZIP Code of every residence and intended residence; for a transient, the temporary habitat or place of abode, a shelter or a park for example, and where known a list of the places the person eats, frequents and spends leisure time; the name and address of any school where the person is enrolled; the fixed location of employment, or the general areas of work when there is no fixed location; photographs; a physical description with gender, height, weight, eye color, hair color and race; identifying marks including scars, birthmarks, tattoos and amputations; the license plate number and description of any vehicle owned or operated; whether the registrant is currently compliant; whether the victim was a minor; a description of the offense that triggered registration and a list of other convictions that would require it; the date of conviction where available; the date the person became active in the registry and the date of the latest update; and, when the address can be mapped, a map of where the person lives, works and studies.

A registrant drops off the site for three reasons: the person died, the person no longer lives, works or attends school in Pennsylvania, or the required period of registration ended. The State Police FAQ asks anyone who believes a registrant is not complying to call local police and the Megan's Law Section at 1-866-771-3170, and warns that a person who knowingly helps a non-compliant offender elude the police, by withholding information, harboring or concealing the offender or feeding the police false information, commits a felony of the third degree.

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The tiers: 15 years, 25 years or life

For an offense committed on or after December 20, 2012 the registration details page sorts the listed crimes into three tiers. Tier I, with 15 years of registration, takes unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, interference with the custody of children by someone other than a parent or guardian, luring a child into a vehicle or structure, the first two grades of trafficking in individuals, patronizing a victim of sexual servitude, certain grades of institutional sexual assault, indecent assault under section 3126(a)(1), corruption of minors under 6301(a)(1)(ii), sexual abuse of children under 6312(d), invasion of privacy, and the federal crimes of video voyeurism, possessing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors, misleading domain names and images, coercion and enticement, transporting minors and using interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor.

Tier II, with 25 years, takes the higher grade of trafficking, involuntary servitude, statutory sexual assault under 3122.1(a)(2), further grades of institutional sexual assault, sexual assault by a sports official or a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit, indecent assault under 3126(a)(2) through (6) or (8), promoting prostitution of a minor under 5902(b.1), obscene materials and performances involving minors, sexual abuse of children under 6312(b) and (c), unlawful contact with a minor, sexual exploitation of children and the federal child sex trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor or ward, child exploitation and transportation crimes.

Tier III, for life, takes kidnapping of a minor, rape, statutory sexual assault under 3122.1(b), involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, institutional sexual assault under 3124.2(a.1) and (a.4)(2), aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault under 3126(a)(7), incest under 4302(b) and the federal aggravated sexual abuse and sexual abuse crimes, plus anyone with two or more Tier I or Tier II convictions and anyone convicted of a sexually violent offense before December 20, 2012 and of another offense after it.

Each tier also covers attempts, conspiracies and solicitations, comparable military convictions and similar offenses under the law of another state or country.

An offense committed before December 20, 2012 falls into the older classes. Ten year registration covers kidnapping of a minor, luring a child and institutional sexual assault committed between January 26, 2005 and December 20, 2012, indecent assault graded as a misdemeanor of the first degree or higher, incest with a victim aged 12 to 17, promoting the prostitution of a minor, obscene materials with a minor victim, sexual abuse of children, unlawful contact with a minor and sexual exploitation of children; lifetime registration covers two or more of those ten year offenses, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, incest with a victim under 12 and every Sexually Violent Predator.

An out of state offender whose crime is not on any Pennsylvania list but requires registration where it happened registers in Tier I for the other jurisdiction's period if the offense was on or after December 20, 2012, and otherwise for ten years or the other jurisdiction's period, whichever is greater.

Juveniles have not registered in Pennsylvania since December 29, 2014, when the state Supreme Court struck down the juvenile provisions in In re J.B., with one exception: a Sexually Violent Delinquent Child, found delinquent for an act that would be rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault or incest if committed by an adult and found by the court to need commitment for involuntary treatment, registers for life.

A Sexually Violent Predator is an adult in any tier whom a court, after an evaluation by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, finds to have a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes predatory sexually violent offenses likely; the designation also carries over from another state, a foreign country or a court martial, and it means lifetime registration plus community notification.

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Reporting in person, by phone and online

Every registrant appears in person at an approved registration or verification site on a schedule set by class: Tier I, ten year and lifetime registrants once a year, Tier II twice a year, Tier III, Sexually Violent Predators and Sexually Violent Delinquent Children four times a year, and transient registrants every month, with a verification form completed and a new photograph taken at each visit. The list of approved sites sits under Community Tools, and the State Police asks registrants to telephone a site first to make sure it is open to the public.

A Tier II or Tier III registrant who has stayed in full compliance for the first three years, with no conviction in that time for an offense punishable by more than a year, may make the extra periodic visits by calling the telephonic verification line at 1-855-791-1990 within three business days of the date the State Police designates, while still appearing in person once a year on the registration anniversary; the phone call only verifies what is on file and cannot add or change anything, and a conviction under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4915.1 ends the privilege.

A registrant whose offense was on or after December 20, 2012 registers at sentencing and then has three business days to appear in person after any change in name or alias, any start, change or end of a residence, including becoming transient, of employment or of enrollment as a student, any new or dropped telephone number including a cell phone, any vehicle, watercraft or aircraft owned or operated with its plate, registration numbers and storage address, any temporary lodging with its dates, any email, instant message or other internet identifier, and any occupational or professional license; travel outside the United States must be reported in person at least 21 days ahead with the dates, destinations and temporary lodging.

A registrant whose offense was before December 20, 2012 registers at release from prison or at the start of probation or parole, and may report a change of residence, employment or school on the State Police online form instead of appearing, provided the Megan's Law Section receives it within three business days; the online option never replaces a scheduled verification visit. An out of state offender registers within three business days of taking a residence, becoming transient, taking a job or enrolling in school in Pennsylvania.

The clock stops while a registrant is recommitted for a parole violation or serving a new sentence, and a natural disaster or evacuation relieves no one of the duty.

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Active community notification: who hears about a Sexually Violent Predator

Active community notification exists only for a Sexually Violent Predator, a Sexually Violent Delinquent Child and an offender convicted in another state who is subject to notification there. The State Police prepares a flyer with the person's name, the address or addresses where the person lives, the offense, a statement that a court made the designation and a photograph, never anything that could reveal the victim, and sends it with instructions to the police department with primary jurisdiction over the municipality, or over the place where a transient registrant is lodged, a shelter or a park included.

The chief law enforcement officer then notifies the neighbors, meaning everyone who lives or works within 250 feet of the residence or the 25 most immediate residences and places of employment, whichever is greater; the director of the county children and youth agency; the superintendent of every school district and the head of every private and parochial school through grade 12 in the municipality and within a one mile radius; the licensee of every certified day care center and licensed preschool and the operator of every registered family day care home in the municipality; and the president of every college, university and community college within 1,000 feet.

The notification page adds that the Megan's Law Section supplies the same notice on request.

The victim of a Sexually Violent Predator or Sexually Violent Delinquent Child receives written notice from the Office of Victim Advocate within 72 hours after the registrant registers, reports a change of address or becomes transient, giving the name and the addresses; the victim may release the office from that duty in writing and may reinstate it the same way. Victims of other registrants are notified under the Crime Victims Act, and the Office of Victim Advocate answers at 1-800-563-6399.

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Where a registrant may live, and children left in their care

Megan's Law itself puts no limit on where a registrant lives; a restriction on living near a school, park or day care comes only from the conditions set by a federal, state or county probation or parole office or from a court order, which can also bar contact with particular people. The one statutory limit is on group homes: no more than five Sexually Violent Predators may live in a group based home at one time, and a home that breaks the rule faces a civil penalty of $2,500 to $5,000.

Since December 31, 2014 the Child Protective Services Law has counted it as child abuse to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly leave a child unsupervised with a person, other than the child's own parent, who is known or should be known to be a Tier II or Tier III registrant whose victim was under 18, a Sexually Violent Predator, a Sexually Violent Delinquent Child or a lifetime registrant under section 9799.55(b); a report goes to the Department of Human Services child abuse hotline at 1-800-932-0313, which brings in the county children and youth agency or the police, and an immediate danger goes to 911.

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Penalties for the registrant

Refusing to comply is a felony of the third degree for Tier I and ten year registrants and a felony of the second degree for Tier II, Tier III, lifetime, Sexually Violent Predator and Sexually Violent Delinquent Child registrants, and the grade rises with a second conviction. Giving inaccurate information when registering, updating or verifying is a felony of the second degree for Tier I and ten year registrants and a felony of the first degree for the rest, which is why the State Police tells registrants to check their information before leaving the registration site.

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Email notifications and tracking

Anyone may open a free account under Community Tools and Email Notifications, name up to five Pennsylvania addresses with a label for each, a home, a child's school or a playground, and set a radius of up to five miles; the system emails when a registrant updates a residence, employment or school within that radius, and for a transient registrant when the mailing address, employment or school changes. The alert covers only updates made after the address was entered, never the registrants already there, and a registrant whose address cannot be mapped produces no alert, so the mile radius search remains the way to list everyone around an address.

A signed in user can also track a specific registrant through the icon below the photograph on the physical description tab. The site and the alert emails update daily, notice goes by email only, and the maps come from a mapping service refreshed about every six months, so a new street may not show.

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Reading a Pennsylvania result

A hit on the State Police site means a current registrant, with the tier or class fixed by the offense date and the crime, the compliance flag, the latest update date and whether the victim was a minor; no hit can mean a completed period, a move out of state or a death. Active notification follows only the Sexually Violent Predator designation, and residence limits come from supervision, not from the registry, so the probation or parole office answers that question.

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Questions about the Pennsylvania sex offender registry

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Related Pennsylvania records

Pennsylvania's other public records have their own guides here: Pennsylvania arrest records for what a booking makes public, Pennsylvania inmate search for the state prison and county jail lookups, Pennsylvania court records for the docket sheets, and the Pennsylvania county pages for every sheriff and police department.