SB 1836 has made its way through the Arizona Legislature, and was approved by the Governor on June 30, 2021. This Bill allows for some relaxation of the sex offender registration requirements, authorizing a Petition to Terminate Registration in certain cases. Termination only applies to registrants who are now 35 years of age or older and were under 22 years old at the time the offense was committed. The Victim must have also been at least 15 years old. There are also several other requirements that must be met, including that the registrant did not violate any sex offender probation terms. Unfortunately, sex offender probation is extremely onerous, and many people get violated for small infractions that should not bar them from having their registration terminated. This new law also applies to situations where undercover officers pose as a teenager, often referred to as “sting operations.”
While this new law is a step in the right direction for Arizona, it leaves a lot of people who have proven that they are rehabilitated, without any remedy to have their sex offender registration removed, as it only applies to individuals under 22 at the time of their offense. Furthermore, this law was clearly an acknowledgement that young adults and teenagers engage in consensual sexual activity with each other, but then requires those defendants to wait at least 13 years after conviction in order to have this registration removed. Hopefully this new law is a first of many in this area.
If you have any questions, Castillo Law is available to take your call at 480-206-5204 or 602-795-6701.