Section 290.46 - Internet web site(a)(1) On or before the dates specified in this section, the Department of Justice shall make available information concerning persons who are required to register pursuant to Section 290 to the public via an internet website as specified in this section. The department shall update the internet website on an ongoing basis. All information identifying the victim by name, birth date, address, or relationship to the registrant shall be excluded from the internet website. The name or address of the person's employer and the listed person's criminal history other than the specific crimes for which the person is required to register shall not be included on the internet website. The internet website shall be translated into languages other than English as determined by the department.(2)(A) On or before July 1, 2010, the Department of Justice shall make available to the public, via an internet website as specified in this section, as to any person described in subdivision (b), the following information: (i) The year of conviction of the person's most recent offense requiring registration pursuant to Section 290.(ii) The year the person was released from incarceration for that offense. However, no year of conviction shall be made available to the public unless the department also is able to make available the corresponding year of release of incarceration for that offense, and the required notation regarding any subsequent felony.
(B)(i) Any state facility that releases from incarceration a person who was incarcerated because of a crime for which the person is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 shall, within 30 days of release, provide the year of release for the person's most recent offense requiring registration to the Department of Justice in a manner and format approved by the department.(ii) Any state facility that releases a person who is required to register pursuant to Section 290 from incarceration whose incarceration was for a felony committed subsequently to the offense for which the person is required to register shall, within 30 days of release, advise the Department of Justice of that fact.(iii) Any state facility that, prior to January 1, 2007, released from incarceration a person who was incarcerated because of a crime for which the person is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 shall provide the year of release for the person's most recent offense requiring registration to the Department of Justice in a manner and format approved by the department. The information provided by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall be limited to information that is currently maintained in an electronic format.(iv) Any state facility that, prior to January 1, 2007, released a person who is required to register pursuant to Section 290 from incarceration whose incarceration was for a felony committed subsequently to the offense for which the person is required to register shall advise the Department of Justice of that fact in a manner and format approved by the department. The information provided by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall be limited to information that is currently maintained in an electronic format.(3) The State Department of State Hospitals shall provide to the Department of Justice the names of all persons committed to its custody pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 6600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, within 30 days of commitment, and shall provide the names of all of those persons released from its custody within five working days of release.(b)(1) With respect to a person who has been convicted of the commission or the attempted commission of any of the offenses listed in, or who is otherwise described in, paragraph (2), or who is a tier three offender as described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 290, the Department of Justice shall make available to the public via the internet website the person's name and known aliases, a photograph, a physical description, including gender and race, date of birth, criminal history, prior adjudication as a sexually violent predator, the address at which the person resides, and any other information that the Department of Justice deems relevant, but not the information excluded pursuant to subdivision (a), except that information about persons required to register as a result of an adjudication as a ward of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 290.008 shall not be made available on the internet website. The department shall also make available to the public via the internet website the person's static SARATSO risk level, if any, and information on an elevated risk level based on the SARATSO future violence tool. Any registrant whose information is listed on the public internet website on January 1, 2022, by the Department of Justice pursuant to this subdivision, may continue to be included on the public internet website while the registrant is placed in the tier-to-be-determined category described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (d) of Section 290.(2) This subdivision shall apply to the following offenses and offenders: (A) Section 187 committed in the perpetration, or an attempt to perpetrate, rape or any act punishable under Section 286, 287, 288, or 289, or former Section 288a.(B) Section 207 committed with intent to violate Section 261, 286, 287, 288, or 289, or former Section 288a.(C) Section 209 committed with intent to violate Section 261, 286, 287, 288, or 289, or former Section 288a.(D) Paragraph (2) or (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 261.(G) Subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 286.(H) Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 288, provided that the offense is a felony.(I) Subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 287 or of former Section 288a.(J) Section 288.3, provided that the offense is a felony.(K) Section 288.4, provided that the offense is a felony.(M) Subdivision (a) or (j) of Section 289.(O) Any person who has ever been adjudicated a sexually violent predator, as defined in Section 6600 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.(P) A felony violation of Section 311.1.(Q) A felony violation of subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of Section 311.2.(R) A felony violation of Section 311.3.(S) A felony violation of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 311.4.(U) A felony violation of Section 311.11.(V) A tier three offender, as described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 290.(c)(1) With respect to a person who has been convicted of the commission or the attempted commission of any of the offenses listed in, or who is otherwise described in, paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 290 and who is a tier two offender, and with respect to a person who has been convicted of the commission or the attempted commission of Section 647.6, the Department of Justice shall make available to the public via the internet website the person's name and known aliases, a photograph, a physical description, including gender and race, date of birth, criminal history, the community of residence and ZIP Code in which the person resides or the county in which the person is registered as a transient, and any other information that the Department of Justice deems relevant, but not the information excluded pursuant to subdivision (a) or the address at which the person resides, except that information about persons required to register as a result of an adjudication as a ward of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 290.008 shall not be made available on the internet website. Any registrant whose information is listed on the public internet website on January 1, 2022, by the Department of Justice pursuant to this subdivision may continue to be included on the public internet website while the registrant is placed in the tier-to-be-determined category described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (d) of Section 290.(2) Any registrant whose information was not included on the public internet website on January 1, 2022, and who is placed in the tier-to-be-determined category described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (d) of Section 290 may have the information described in this subdivision made available to the public via the public internet website.(d)(1)(A) An offender who is required to register pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act may apply for exclusion from the internet website if the offender demonstrates that the person's only registerable offense is either of the following: (i) An offense for which the offender successfully completed probation, provided that the offender submits to the department a certified copy of a probation report, presentencing report, report prepared pursuant to Section 288.1, or other official court document that clearly demonstrates that the offender was the victim's parent, stepparent, sibling, or grandparent and that the crime did not involve either oral copulation or penetration of the vagina or rectum of either the victim or the offender by the penis of the other or by any foreign object.(ii) An offense for which the offender is on probation at the time of the offender's application, provided that the offender submits to the department a certified copy of a probation report, presentencing report, report prepared pursuant to Section 288.1, or other official court document that clearly demonstrates that the offender was the victim's parent, stepparent, sibling, or grandparent and that the crime did not involve either oral copulation or penetration of the vagina or rectum of either the victim or the offender by the penis of the other or by any foreign object.(B) If, subsequent to the offender's application, the offender commits a violation of probation resulting in the offender's incarceration in county jail or state prison, the offender's exclusion, or application for exclusion, from the internet website shall be terminated.(C) For the purposes of this paragraph, "successfully completed probation" means that during the period of probation the offender neither received additional county jail or state prison time for a violation of probation nor was convicted of another offense resulting in a sentence to county jail or state prison.(2) If the department determines that a person who was granted an exclusion under a former version of this subdivision would not qualify for an exclusion under the current version of this subdivision, the department shall rescind the exclusion, make a reasonable effort to provide notification to the person that the exclusion has been rescinded, and, no sooner than 30 days after notification is attempted, make information about the offender available to the public on the internet website as provided in this section.(3) Effective January 1, 2012, no person shall be excluded pursuant to this subdivision unless the offender has submitted to the department documentation sufficient for the department to determine that the person has a SARATSO risk level of average, below average, or very low as determined by the Coding Rules for the SARATSO static risk assessment instrument.(e)(1) A designated law enforcement entity, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 290.45, may make available information concerning persons who are required to register pursuant to Section 290 to the public via an internet website as specified in paragraph (2), provided that the information about that person is also displayed on the Department of Justice's Megan's Law internet website.(2) The law enforcement entity may make available by way of an internet website the information described in subdivision (c) if it determines that the public disclosure of the information about a specific offender by way of the entity's internet website is necessary to ensure the public safety based upon information available to the entity concerning the current risk posed by a specific offender, including the offender's risk of sexual or violent reoffense, as indicated by the person's SARATSO static, dynamic, and violence risk levels, as described in Section 290.04, if available.(3) The information that may be provided pursuant to this subdivision may include the information specified in subdivision (b) of Section 290.45. However, that offender's address may not be disclosed unless the offender is a person whose address is on the Department of Justice's internet website pursuant to subdivision (b).(f) For purposes of this section, "offense" includes the statutory predecessors of that offense, or any offense committed in another jurisdiction that, if committed or attempted to be committed in this state, would have been punishable in this state as an offense listed in subdivision (c) of Section 290.(g) Notwithstanding Section 7921.505 of the Government Code, disclosure of information pursuant to this section is not a waiver of exemptions under Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code and does not affect other statutory restrictions on disclosure in other situations.(h)(1) Any person who uses information disclosed pursuant to this section to commit a misdemeanor shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalty or fine imposed, a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).(2) Any person who uses information disclosed pursuant to this section to commit a felony shall be punished, in addition and consecutive to any other punishment, by a five-year term of imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.(i) Any person who is required to register pursuant to Section 290 who enters an internet website established pursuant to this section shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed six months, or by both that fine and imprisonment.(j)(1) A person is authorized to use information disclosed pursuant to this section only to protect a person at risk.(2) Except as authorized under paragraph (1) or any other provision of law, use of any information that is disclosed pursuant to this section for purposes relating to any of the following is prohibited: (F) Education, scholarships, or fellowships.(G) Housing or accommodations.(H) Benefits, privileges, or services provided by any business establishment.(3) This section shall not affect authorized access to, or use of, information pursuant to, among other provisions, Sections 11105 and 11105.3 of this code, Section 8808 of the Family Code, Sections 777.5 and 14409.2 of the Financial Code, Sections 1522.01 and 1596.871 of the Health and Safety Code, and Section 432.7 of the Labor Code.(4)(A) Any use of information disclosed pursuant to this section for purposes other than those provided by paragraph (1) or in violation of paragraph (2) shall make the user liable for the actual damages, and any amount that may be determined by a jury or a court sitting without a jury, not exceeding three times the amount of actual damage, and not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250), and attorney's fees, exemplary damages, or a civil penalty not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).(B) Whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern or practice of misuse of the information available via an internet website established pursuant to this section in violation of paragraph (2), the Attorney General, any district attorney, or city attorney, or any person aggrieved by the misuse is authorized to bring a civil action in the appropriate court requesting preventive relief, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order against the person or group of persons responsible for the pattern or practice of misuse. The foregoing remedies shall be independent of any other remedies or procedures that may be available to an aggrieved party under other provisions of law, including Part 2 (commencing with Section 43) of Division 1 of the Civil Code.(k) The public notification provisions of this section are applicable to every person described in this section, without regard to when the person's crimes were committed or the person's duty to register pursuant to Section 290 arose, and to every offense described in this section, regardless of when it was committed.(l) A designated law enforcement entity and its employees shall be immune from liability for good faith conduct under this section.(m) The Attorney General, in collaboration with local law enforcement and others knowledgeable about sex offenders, shall develop strategies to assist members of the public in understanding and using publicly available information about registered sex offenders to further public safety. These strategies may include, but are not limited to, a hotline for community inquiries, neighborhood and business guidelines for how to respond to information posted on this internet website, and any other resource that promotes public education about these offenders.(n) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2022.Amended by Stats 2021 ch 615 (AB 474),s 333, eff. 1/1/2022, op. 1/1/2023.Amended by Stats 2018 ch 423 (SB 1494),s 58, eff. 1/1/2019.Added by Stats 2017 ch 541 (SB 384),s 10, eff. 1/1/2018.