Policy Text
Page 1 of 9 7/08 (REV 08/04)
Megan’s Law and Sex Offender Information
The purpose of this General Order is to set forth policy and pr ocedures for the uniform
disclosure of information to the public regarding convicted sex offenders and the use of
the Megan's Law Web Application.
I. General
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is committed to prov iding the public with
available information, as author ized by law, to help protect th em and their children from
the threat of “serious” and “hi gh-risk” sex offenders residing within Sacramento County.
The information is available th rough the "Megan's Web" applicat ion provided by the
California Department of Justice. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Technical Services D ivision shall be
responsible for maintaining the web application with the Depart ment of Justice (DOJ).
The Sheriff’s Department’s Sex Offender Registration Detail (SO RD) shall be
responsible for management of depar tment user passwords, regist rations, data entry,
as well as 290 PC violation investigations. II. Definitions
The Megan's Law Web app lication is a Departm ent of Justice (DOJ ) application
available to law enforcement th rough the Sacramento County Sher iff's Department
computer network intranet. The web based system contains on-li ne photographs and
descriptive data from the most r ecent sex registration informat ion submitted to DOJ by
law enforcement agencie s statewide. Two screen formats are ava ilable: one for public
use and one for law enforcement use.
A. DOJ establishes three classi fications of sex offenders to ge nerally
distinguish their risk-potentia l based on their criminal histor y.
1. A "serious" sex offender is a registrant whose crime of conv iction is
either a specified felony sex offense or misdemeanor child
molestation. By far the majori ty of registrants fall within th is
classification.
2. A "high risk" sex offender is a registrant who has committed a
certain number and type of crime s, including at least one viole nt
sex crime, or who has been adjudica ted a sexually violent preda tor.
Page 2 of 9 7/08 (REV 08/04) 3. “Other” sex offenders are thos e who have been convicted of
pornography, exhibitio nism, misdemeanor sexual battery, incest, or
spousal rape.
B. Sheriff's department personnel m ay identify the category of an offender by
accessing the Megan’s Web applicat ion provided by the Departmen t of
Justice, California Law Enforcem ent Telecommunications System
(CLETS), Violent Cri me Information Network (VCIN), or by contac ting the
"Sex Offender Registration Detail".
C. Under California’s Megan’s Law, only specified information o n “serious”
and “high-risk” sex offenders ma y be disclosed to the public. Information
on sex offenders classified as “ot her” or whose sex offense was
adjudicated in juvenile court is not subject to public disclosu re except as
authorized in 290.01 PC.
III. Public Access to Megan’s Law Information
A. The Sheriff’s Department will make the Megan’s Web applicati on available
to the public at the following locations:
1. Each division station house. 2. Police Departments (c ontract cities) and/or
3. Sheriff’s community service c enters for each division or pol ice
department.
Additional public viewing locati ons within Sacr amento County in clude
Folsom Police Department, Sacram ento Police Department, and the
California Department of Justice.
B. The station house commander and/ or the contract cities polic e chiefs will
be responsible for the managemen t of and public access to the M egan’s
Web application. This will inclu de the appropriate location of the computer
(American with Disabilities Ac t consideration), staffing and su pervision,
assignment of the Division’s “Me gan’s Law Administrator”, and
establishing hours of public viewing.
The division’s “Megan’s Law Admin istrator” will coordinate with SORD the
use of the “Megan’s Law” com puter and its passwords.
C. The public may apply and view the public screen of the Megan ’s Web
application upon meeting the following:
1. The applicant shall provide id entification in the form of a California
driver's license, California id entification card, or military
identification card and orders with proof o f permanent assignme nt
or attachment to a military comma nd or vessel in California,
showing the applicant to be at least 18 years of age.
Page 3 of 9 7/08 (REV 08/04) 2. The applicant shall sign a stat ement (Attachment A) stating that the
applicant is not a registered se x offender, that he or she
understands the purpose of the rel ease of information is to all ow
members of the public to protect themselves and their children from
sex offenders, and he or she understands it is unlawful to use
information obtained from the CD-RO M or other electronic medium
to commit a crime against any r egistrant or to engage in illega l
discrimination or hara ssment of any registrant.
3. Persons who are registered se x offenders will not be allowed
access to the Megan’s Web applic ation or its information.
4. A person under 18 years of age may accompany an adult applic ant
who is that person’s parent o r legal guardian,