Sex offender registries list individuals convicted of qualifying sex offenses, with their name, photo, and general location. The federal government runs the National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), which searches all state, territory, and tribal registries at once. All of these searches are free and fully public.
Last Updated: June 2026 · Reviewed quarterly by the Searchadex editorial team.
A sex offender registry is a public database of people required by law to register after a qualifying sex-offense conviction. Registration requirements stem from federal law — the Adam Walsh Act and SORNA — and each state, territory, and tribe maintains its own registry that feeds the national search.
The registries exist for public safety and notification. Depending on an offender's tier, the public record can include name, aliases, photograph, physical description, offense, and the offender's residential area or address. Tier and disclosure rules differ by jurisdiction.
The U.S. Department of Justice operates NSOPW (nsopw.gov), the only national, official search that simultaneously queries every state and territory registry. Individual state registries — usually run by the state police — offer the most detailed, jurisdiction-specific results.
Every state runs a free public sex-offender registry, all searchable together through NSOPW. The table lists the official state registry for the 15 largest states.
| State | Free Online? | Official Portal | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Yes | California Megan's Law Website (meganslaw.ca.gov) | Free name and address search run by CA DOJ. |
| Texas | Yes | Texas DPS Sex Offender Registry | Free name, ZIP, and proximity search. |
| Florida | Yes | FDLE Sexual Offender/Predator Search | Free name and neighborhood search with mapping. |
| New York | Yes | NY DCJS Sex Offender Registry | Free Level 2/3 search; subdirectory lookup by name. |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | PA Megan's Law Website (pameganslaw.state.pa.us) | Free name and address radius search. |
| Illinois | Yes | Illinois Sex Offender Information (isp.illinois.gov) | Free name, city, and ZIP search. |
| Ohio | Yes | Ohio eSORN (Attorney General) | Free statewide registry search with mapping. |
| Georgia | Yes | Georgia GBI Sex Offender Registry | Free county and name search. |
| North Carolina | Yes | NC SBI Sex Offender Registry | Free name and address-based search. |
| Michigan | Yes | Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry | Free name, ZIP, and proximity search. |
| New Jersey | Yes | NJ State Police Sex Offender Internet Registry | Free Tier 2/3 search by name and county. |
| Virginia | Yes | Virginia State Police Sex Offender Registry | Free name and proximity search with alerts. |
| Washington | Yes | Washington Sex Offender Registry (icrime/county) | Free statewide and county registry search. |
| Arizona | Yes | Arizona DPS Sex Offender InfoCenter | Free Level 2/3 search by name and location. |
| Tennessee | Yes | Tennessee TBI Sex Offender Registry (SORVT) | Free name, ZIP, and proximity search. |
Yes. The National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW.gov), run by the U.S. Department of Justice, is free and public and searches every state, territory, and tribal registry at once.
Use NSOPW or your state registry and search by address or ZIP code with a radius. The results map registered offenders near that location.
Registries are official but depend on offenders reporting moves. Always verify identity with photo, date of birth, and offense, and re-check periodically.
Registries are for personal safety and notification. Using the information to harass, or for employment/housing decisions outside the law, can carry legal consequences.
Only convictions for qualifying offenses require registration, and lower-tier offenders may not be publicly displayed in some states. Rules vary by jurisdiction.
NSOPW is the National Sex Offender Public Website, the only U.S. government search that simultaneously queries all state, territory, and tribal sex-offender registries.
Official portals are perfect for verifying a single record. When you need compiled reports — combined people search, contact data, or multi-source background information — these professional lookup tools go further. They are paid services, not government sources.
People search, contact info, and background reports.
Reverse phone, email, and people lookup.
Background checks and public-records reports.
Disclosure: links to professional tools are affiliate links. Searchadex may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. These are not government sources, and results are not FCRA-compliant for employment, housing, or credit decisions.
Occasional updates when we add new record types, states, or official portals. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.