West Virginia Sex Offender Registry: The State Police Website, the Ten Year and Lifetime Terms, the Birth Month Report and the $125 Fee

Written by SearchSystems.net from West Virginia's own systems: the West Virginia State Police sex offender registry disclaimer, West Virginia Code section 15-12-2 on registration, fees and definitions, section 15-12-3 on changes in registry information, section 15-12-4 on the duration of registration, section 15-12-5 on distribution and disclosure of information, section 15-12-8 on failure to register and penalties, section 15-12-10 on address and online information verification, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

The offenses that bring the duty

Section 15-12-2 applies the article to anyone convicted of, or of an attempt at, or found not guilty by reason of mental illness, intellectual disability or addiction of an offense under the article on filming sexually explicit conduct of minors, the article on sexual offenses, the repealed section on sexual assault of a spouse, the article on child pornography and the use of minors, the sections on sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust, the abduction subsection of section 61-2-14, the sections on detention in a house of prostitution, procuring, indecent exposure, prostitution, the solicitation sections and section 61-8-32, the computer solicitation section 61-3C-14b where it relates to those offenses, and the human trafficking sections 61-14-2, 61-14-5 and 61-14-6, with trafficking under the first of those counting only when it involved sexual servitude; an equivalent conviction under another state's law, the United States Code or the Uniform Code of Military Justice that requires proof of the same essential elements brings the same duty, and so does any criminal conviction where the sentencing judge made a written finding that the offense was sexually motivated, meaning that one of the purposes was someone's sexual gratification.

A sexually violent offense is first or second degree sexual assault, the repealed spousal sexual assault offense or first degree sexual abuse, or a similar provision elsewhere; a sexually violent predator is a person convicted of or found not guilty by reason of mental illness, intellectual disability or addiction of a sexually violent offense who suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder making the person likely to commit predatory sexually violent offenses, a predatory act being one directed at a stranger or at a person with whom a relationship was established or promoted primarily for victimization, and a determination made under section 15-12-2a.

Back to the topics

Registering with the State Police: what the trooper takes

A registrant appears in person at the detachment covering the county of residence and provides, at a minimum, the full name with every alias, nickname and other name used; the address where the person lives or intends to live and the address of any habitable real property owned or leased that the person regularly visits, with no post office box accepted in place of a physical address, plus the name and address of the employer or place of occupation and of any anticipated future employer, and the name and address of any school or training facility attended or expected to be attended; the Social Security number; a full face photograph taken at registration; a brief description of the crimes of conviction; fingerprints and palm prints; the make, model, color and plate of any motor vehicle, trailer or motor home owned or regularly operated, trailer covering travel trailers, fold down camping trailers and house trailers; the internet accounts with every screen name, user name or alias used online; every telephone and electronic paging device number, residential, work and mobile; a photocopy of a valid driver's license or government issued identification card, a tribal card included; photocopies of any passport and immigration documents; a photocopy of any professional licensing information; and the make, model, serial number and a photograph of any unmanned aerial vehicle owned or operated.

A person having the duty registers upon conviction unless confined, in which case the registration comes within three business days of release, transfer or other change in disposition status, and a registrant incarcerated for any offense re-registers within three business days of getting out. Before any release, the Commissioner of Corrections, a regional jail administrator, a city official or sheriff running a jail, the Secretary of the Department of Health Facilities or the releasing or supervising parole or probation officer collects the same information, tells the person of the duty and sends written notice to the State Police within three business days; the sentencing court, within 72 hours of entering the commitment or sentencing order, transmits to the registry everything required for registration plus the victim's sex, age at the time of the offense and relationship to the perpetrator, none of which relieves the registrant of anything.

The person signs a statement in open court acknowledging the requirements, which the court explains and satisfies itself the defendant understands, and that signed statement is prima facie evidence of knowledge; anyone who never signed one is informed by the State Police whenever they learn the duty applies. For a sexually violent predator the notice also carries the identifying factors and physical characteristics, the history of the offense and documentation of any treatment received for the mental abnormality or personality disorder.

Back to the topics

Ten years or life

Section 15-12-4 keeps a registrant under the article, except during periods of incarceration or confinement, until ten years have elapsed since release from prison, jail or a mental health facility or since being placed on probation, parole or supervised or conditional release, a ten year period that an early release from supervision does not shorten. Registration runs for life instead when the person has one or more prior qualifying convictions or findings of not guilty by reason of mental illness, intellectual disability or addiction; when the court, on the prosecuting attorney's motion, finds by clear and convincing evidence that the qualifying offense involved multiple victims or multiple violations; when the offense was a sexually violent offense; when the person has been determined under section 15-12-2a to be a sexually violent predator; or when the qualifying offense involved a minor or a person the registrant believed or perceived to be a minor.

A person whose conviction for the offense that required registration is overturned petitions the court and has the name removed from the registry.

Back to the topics

Changes within ten business days

Section 15-12-3 gives a registrant ten business days to inform the State Police of a change of residence, address, place of employment or occupation, motor vehicle, trailer or motor home information, or school or training facility, and of any other change in the information the article requires, in the manner the superintendent's procedural rules prescribe; a registrant moving between West Virginia counties informs the detachment responsible for covering the county of residence within the same ten business days.

Back to the topics

Who is told, and what the public may see

Section 15-12-5 gives the State Police five business days after any notification to distribute a copy of the notification statement to the supervisor of every county and municipal law enforcement office and any campus police department where the registrant lives, owns or leases regularly visited habitable property, works or attends school or a training facility, to the county superintendent of schools for each of those counties, to the child protective services office that investigates child abuse and neglect there, to all community and religious organizations that regularly serve youths there, to the individuals and organizations providing day care for youths or day care, residential, respite or other supportive services for mentally or physically incapacitated or infirm people there, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and to the State Police detachments for the counties of occupation, property, school and training.

Registry information is not subject to the state Freedom of Information Act and may be disclosed only as the article allows. When a person has been determined a sexually violent predator, the State Police notify the prosecuting attorney for each county of residence, property, employment or school, and the prosecutor and the State Police run a community notification program publishing the offender's name, photograph, place of residence, the location of regularly visited property owned or leased, the county of employment and the place of school or training, together with the legal rights and obligations of the offender and the community; no victim's name is ever released, victim information goes out only so far as the prosecutor and State Police find necessary to educate the public about the nature of sexual offenses, telephone and paging numbers are never released, the same program may be run for a lifetime registrant, and notification may be repeated when the prosecutor finds it appropriate.

The State Police also maintain and make available to the public at least quarterly the list of everyone registered for life, without victim information or telephone numbers and by a method the superintendent chooses. A county resident may petition the circuit court for an order releasing information about people registered in that county under section 15-12-2, and the court weighs whether the information is relevant to public safety and whether that relevance outweighs confidentiality, may limit secondary dissemination, and may never release victim identity or telephone numbers.

The State Police may furnish registration information to authorized law enforcement, campus police and governmental agencies in the United States and abroad on a request stating that the records are for law enforcement purposes, to federal, state and local agencies conducting preemployment checks, and to the Division of Motor Vehicles; public officials, employees and agencies are immune from civil liability for damages under the section except for gross negligence or bad faith.

Back to the topics

The birth month report and the verification cycle

Section 15-12-10 requires every registrant, including those with no change since the initial registration or the last verification, to report in the month of the registrant's birth, or, for a sexually violent predator, in January, April, July and October, to the State Police detachment responsible for covering the county of registration, and to answer every verification inquiry and informational request, including requests for online information, meaning the internet accounts, screen names, user names and aliases that section 15-12-2 collects.

The State Police verify the addresses of registered sexually violent predators every ninety days and of all other registrants once a year, and may require registrants to submit new fingerprints and photographs periodically as part of the verification, the method being set by the superintendent's internal management rules.

Back to the topics

The $125 fee

Section 15-12-2 charges a registrant an annual fee of $125, to be paid to the State Police between January 1 and June 30 of each year, with a written receipt for every payment and a receipt stating that the annual fee has been satisfied once it is paid in full. The State Police remit the fees to the state treasurer for credit to the State Police account and may use them first to enhance mental health services for current and former State Police employees, by hiring or contracting mental health professionals and holding educational seminars, meetings, trainings or conferences on the mental health issues that affect people employed in law enforcement, and then for any other use essential to the general operations of the State Police.

Failing to pay the fee or to provide proof of payment may not be treated as a violation of supervised release, a registrant who must register under both this article and the child abuse registry article pays only one $125 fee, and written notice served by certified mail at the last address given, stating that the fee has not been paid, may be recorded thirty days after receipt in the office of the county clerk where the registrant lives, where it has the effect of a judgment and is indexed in the judgment lien docket, the State Police releasing the lien within thirty days of full payment and giving the registrant written verification.

Back to the topics

Penalties

Section 15-12-8 counts every separate item of changed information that a registrant knowingly fails to register as its own offense. For a ten year registrant, knowingly giving materially false information, refusing to give accurate information, knowingly failing to register or knowingly failing to report a change is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $250 to $10,000, up to a year in jail, or both, a second offense is a felony of one to five years in a state correctional facility and a third or later offense a felony of five to twenty-five years.

For a lifetime registrant the same conduct is a felony of one to five years, and a second or later offense a felony of ten to twenty-five years. For a registrant who must register as a sexually violent predator it is a felony of two to ten years for a first offense and fifteen to thirty-five years for a second or later one. A registrant under probation, parole or any sanction short of confinement who knowingly refuses to register or fails to report a change is subject to immediate revocation and return to confinement for the remainder of the suspended or unserved sentence.

A person who knows or has reason to know that a sex offender is not complying and who, intending to help the offender elude a law enforcement agency, withholds information about the noncompliance and whereabouts, harbors or conceals the offender or helps another do so, or gives the agency information known to be false, commits a misdemeanor with the same $250 to $10,000 fine and up to a year in jail, or a felony of one to five years where the offender's own violation would be a felony.

Back to the topics

Reading a West Virginia result

An entry on the State Police site means a registrant who reports to a detachment in the birth month, or quarterly as a sexually violent predator, and whose address the troopers verify once a year or every ninety days; the site carries no risk level, since the State Police assess none, and never shows a registrant's telephone or paging numbers. A missing name may belong to someone whose ten years have run, whose conviction was overturned and removed by court order, or whose record is still being verified or processed.

The detachment covering the county holds the registration and the changes, the State Police registry in Charleston holds the central file and the fee account, the prosecuting attorney runs any community notification for a sexually violent predator, and a circuit court can order the release of information about a ten year registrant when public safety outweighs confidentiality.

Back to the topics

Questions about the West Virginia sex offender registry

Back to the topics

Related West Virginia records

West Virginia's other public records guides on this site are the West Virginia arrest records guide for what a booking makes public, the West Virginia inmate search guide for the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the regional jails, the West Virginia background check guide for the State Police criminal history records, and the West Virginia county pages for every detachment, sheriff and police department.