As Amended
SEC. 45-33-33. Failure to register; penalties and enforcement.
(1) The failure of an offender to provide any registration or other information, including, but not limited to, initial registration, reregistration or change of address information, as required by this chapter, is a violation of the law. Additionally, forgery of information or submission of information under false pretenses is also a violation of the law.
(2) Unless otherwise specified, a violation of this chapter shall be considered a felony and shall be punishable by a fine not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for not more than five (5) years, or both fine and imprisonment.
(3) Whenever it appears that an offender has failed to comply with the duty to register or reregister, the department shall promptly notify the sheriff of the county of the last known address of the offender. Upon notification, the sheriff shall attempt to locate the offender at his last known address.
(a) If the sheriff locates the offender he shall enforce the provisions of this chapter. The sheriff shall then notify the department with the current information regarding the offender.
(b) If the sheriff is unable to locate the offender, the sheriff shall promptly notify the department and initiate a criminal prosecution against the offender for the failure to register or reregister. The sheriff shall make the appropriate transactions into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's wanted-person database.
(4) A first violation of this chapter may result in the arrest of the offender. Upon any second or subsequent violation of this chapter, the offender shall be arrested for such violation.
(5) Any prosecution for a violation of this section shall be brought by a prosecutor in the county of such violation.
SOURCE: Laws, 2000, ch. 499, § 7; Laws, 2001, ch. 500, § 6, SB 2986, eff from and after July 1, 2001.
PREVIOUS VERSIONS: Pre-2001