Will my Son or Daughter be required to Register?

Yes, anyone’s son or daughter who is a juvenile can be required to register for committing certain offenses under § 14-208.26. A juvenile who is deemed delinquent may be placed on the registration for:

First degree sexual offense
Second degree sexual offense

In order for this to occur, the juvenile must have been at least 11 years old during the commission of the offense and the court must consider the juvenile to be a danger to the community. The presiding judge determines whether the juvenile is a danger to society and whether the child should be required to register at the dispositional hearing. If the presiding judge deems that a child is a danger to the community, he or she may require the juvenile to register. Yet, a juvenile cannot be required to register unless a judge finds that the juvenile is a danger to society.

If your son or daughter is facing a Sex Offense that may require them to register with a Sex Offender Registry List, you need to seek competent counsel from a Criminal Defense Attorney with experience dealing with these issues.

Juvenile registration is not automatic, and the statute is narrow

In North Carolina, a juvenile adjudicated delinquent does not register merely because the offense was sexual. G.S. 14-208.26 applies only where the adjudication is for one of a short list of offenses and where “the juvenile was at least eleven years of age at the time of the commission of the offense”. The list covers first and second-degree forcible rape under G.S. 14-27.21 and 14-27.22, first-degree statutory rape under G.S. 14-27.24, first and second-degree forcible sexual offense under G.S. 14-27.26 and 14-27.27, first-degree statutory sexual offense under G.S. 14-27.29, and violations of former G.S. 14-27.6, and it reaches an attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to commit any of them and aiding and abetting them.

Even then the court must take further steps, and the order is conditional rather than automatic. The section requires the court to consider whether the juvenile is a danger to the community, and only if it so finds does it go on to consider whether the juvenile should be required to register. The statute puts the limit beyond argument: no juvenile may be required to register under Part 4 of Article 27A unless the court first finds that the juvenile is a danger to the community. That finding is made by the presiding judge at the dispositional hearing, and without it there is no registration.

A juvenile registration is not public

This is the single largest difference between juvenile and adult registration in North Carolina. G.S. 14-208.29 provides that “the information regarding a juvenile required to register under this Part is not public record and is not available for public inspection”.

The information held by the sheriff is maintained separately and released only to law enforcement agencies and to local boards of education, with registry information for a juvenile enrolled in a local school administrative unit forwarded to that board of education. It is not entered in the county registry or the statewide registry maintained by the Department of Public Safety, and it does not appear on the public internet site that G.S. 14-208.15 requires. The commercial sites that republish North Carolina registry data therefore have no juvenile records to copy.

The requirement ends automatically

G.S. 14-208.30 provides that the registration requirement for a juvenile adjudicated delinquent “automatically terminates on the juvenile’s eighteenth birthday or when the jurisdiction of the juvenile court with regard to the juvenile ends, whichever occurs first”.

No petition is required, and there is no hearing. This is a different structure from adult registration, where the minimum period is 30 years under G.S. 14-208.7(a), where relief depends on a petition to the superior court under G.S. 14-208.12A and on findings that court must make, and where three categories of offender register for life under G.S. 14-208.23.

Reporting duties run through the juvenile court counselor

While a juvenile registration is in force, the administrative machinery differs from the adult scheme. Where the court orders registration, G.S. 14-208.26 requires the chief court counselor of the district to file the registration information for the juvenile with the appropriate sheriff, rather than leaving the juvenile to present at the sheriff’s office as an adult must under G.S. 14-208.7.

Changes are handled the same way. G.S. 14-208.27 places the obligation to give written notice of a new address on the juvenile court counselor for the juvenile, who must notify the sheriff of the county with whom the juvenile last registered not later than the third business day after the change. The sheriff then forwards the information to the Department of Public Safety. In Mecklenburg County that work runs through the juvenile court counselors attached to the district court in Charlotte.

Transfer to superior court changes everything

The juvenile registration rules apply only to a juvenile who remains in juvenile court. G.S. 14-208.6B provides that a juvenile transferred to superior court under G.S. 7B-2200 or G.S. 7B-2200.5 who is convicted of a sexually violent offense or an offense against a minor as defined in G.S. 14-208.6 “shall register in person in accordance with this Article just as an adult convicted of the same offense must register”.

That means the adult duration rules apply, the record is public, and there is no automatic termination at 18. Whether a case is transferred is therefore one of the most consequential questions in a juvenile sex offense matter, and it is decided under a separate set of statutes at an early stage.

How transfer is decided in North Carolina

For a juvenile who was at least 13 but under 16 at the time of the alleged offense, G.S. 7B-2200 allows the court to transfer jurisdiction to superior court on motion of the prosecutor or the juvenile’s attorney or on its own motion, after notice, a hearing and a finding of probable cause that the juvenile committed an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. Where the alleged felony is a Class A felony and the court finds probable cause, transfer is mandatory.

For a juvenile who was 16 or older, G.S. 7B-2200.5 applies. Where the alleged offense would be a Class A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F or G felony if committed by an adult, the court must transfer jurisdiction to superior court after a bill of indictment is returned or probable cause is found, unless the prosecutor declines to prosecute in superior court, and the prosecutor may decline only for an offense that would be a Class D, E, F or G felony. Because the offenses listed in G.S. 14-208.26 are Class B1 and Class C felonies, transfer is a live question in almost every case of this kind.

A social services assessment usually runs alongside

Where the complainant is also a child, G.S. 7B-301(a) requires any person or institution with cause to suspect abuse, neglect or dependency to report the matter to the director of the department of social services in the county where the juvenile resides or is found. A delinquency petition and a county social services assessment therefore commonly proceed at the same time.

For a family, this means two sets of professionals, two sets of records and two proceedings that can affect each other. School records, forensic interview recordings and social worker notes generated in one setting are routinely produced in the other, and the sequence in which statements are taken often becomes an issue in the delinquency case itself.

Common questions

How old must a juvenile be to be ordered to register in North Carolina?

G.S. 14-208.26 applies only where the juvenile “was at least eleven years of age at the time of the commission of the offense”. Age alone is not enough: the adjudication must also be for one of the enumerated offenses, and the court must find that the juvenile is a danger to the community before it may even consider requiring registration. The statute provides that no juvenile may be required to register unless the court first makes that finding.

Which offenses can lead to juvenile registration in North Carolina?

G.S. 14-208.26 lists first and second-degree forcible rape, first-degree statutory rape, first and second-degree forcible sexual offense and first-degree statutory sexual offense, together with violations of former G.S. 14-27.6 and an attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to commit any of them and aiding and abetting any of them. Offenses outside that list, including taking indecent liberties with children under G.S. 14-202.1, do not trigger juvenile registration under this Part.

Is a juvenile’s registration in North Carolina visible to the public?

No. G.S. 14-208.29 provides that information about a juvenile required to register is not public record and is not available for public inspection. It is maintained separately by the sheriff and released only to law enforcement agencies and local boards of education, and it is not placed in the county registry, the statewide registry, or the public internet site required by G.S. 14-208.15.

When does a juvenile registration end in North Carolina?

Automatically. G.S. 14-208.30 provides that the requirement terminates on the juvenile’s eighteenth birthday or when juvenile court jurisdiction over the juvenile ends, whichever occurs first. The position is different where a juvenile is transferred to superior court: under G.S. 14-208.6B, a juvenile transferred under G.S. 7B-2200 or G.S. 7B-2200.5 and convicted registers on the same terms as an adult convicted of the same offense.

Written for North Carolina law and reviewed by David P. Sheehan, attorney, Charlotte. General information, not legal advice — see the disclaimer.