FAC tries to make as much information about registration requirements as possible available on our site, www.floridaactioncommittee.org. Additionally, there are several online resources where you can find the information you are looking for.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who administers the registry, has a “Frequently Asked Question” page which answers a lot of the questions about the state-wide registry. That page can be found here: http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/FAQ.jsp
In most cases, it’s not sufficient to stop at the State-wide level, as most Counties and Cities have their own ordinances which impose separate and additional requirements. To find those ordinances, you can go to Municode (https://www.municode.com/library) click on the map of Florida and then search for your county. When it retrieves that county’s ordinances, do a keyword search for “sexual offender” as most relevant ordinances contain that phrase in the title.
Checking the County ordinances is not sufficient, as the Cities within each county often have their own ordinances which impose separate and additional requirements. Those can be found in Municode as well, for the most part.
It is important to note that Municode does not contain all County or City ordinances. If you don’t find your municipality on the list, search for the County/City name and “ordinances” and some are available online through the municipality’s portal. If all of the above fail, call the County/City clerk’s office and ask them to provide you a copy of the ordinances, as they the custodian of these public records.
Additionally, you can call the Registration office in your county to ask questions. A list of all the registration offices and their corresponding location, contact information and hours of operation can be found here: https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/Documents/REREGISTRATIONLOCATIONS1.pdf
We are consistently being advised that information reported when calling local registration offices is notoriously inaccurate. It’s not provided maliciously, there’s just a lack of information and the rules evolve so frequently that it’s tough to keep up. As complicated as these requirements are for you to figure out, they are for the officers too. Be sure to write down the name or any officer who gave you information that you relied on. It might not help in court, but it can’t hurt.
Finally, the guidance above should not be relied on as legal advice and is no substitute for an attorney’s legal opinion. These rules can be very difficult to understand, so it’s important that you only rely on the interpretation of someone who has the expertise and authority to tell you definitively what is required.
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