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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 969
January Session, 2023
AN ACT CONCERNING VERIFICATION OF THE RESIDENTIAL
ADDRESS OF A REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-257 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 2
(a) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection 3
shall, not later than January 1, 1999, establish and maintain a registry of 4
all persons required to register under sections 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 and 5
54-254. The department shall, in cooperation with the Office of the Chief 6
Court Administrator, the Department of Correction and the Psychiatric 7
Security Review Board, develop appropriate forms for use by agencies 8
and individuals to report registration information, including changes of 9
residence address. Upon receipt of registration information, the 10
department shall enter the information into the registry and notify the 11
local police department or state police troop having jurisdiction where 12
the registrant resides or plans to reside. If a registrant notifies the 13
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection that such 14
registrant is employed at, carries on a vocation at or is a student at a 15
trade or professional institution or institution of higher learning in this 16
state, the department shall notify the law enforcement agency with 17
jurisdiction over such institution. If a registrant reports a residence in 18 Substitute Bill No. 969
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another state, the department shall notify the state police agency of that 19
state or such other agency in that state that maintains registry 20
information, if known. The department shall also transmit all 21
registration information, conviction data, photographic images and 22
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in such form as said 23
bureau shall require for inclusion in a national registry. 24
(b) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection 25
may suspend the registration of any person registered under section 54-26
251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254 while such person is incarcerated, under 27
civil commitment or residing outside this state. During the period that 28
such registration is under suspension, the department is not required to 29
verify the residence address of the registrant pursuant to subsection (c) 30
of this section and may withdraw the registration information from 31
public access. Upon the release of the registrant from incarceration or 32
civil commitment or resumption of residency in this state by the 33
registrant, the department shall reinstate the registration, redistribute 34
the registration information in accordance with subsection (a) of this 35
section and resume verifying the residence address of the registrant in 36
accordance with subsection (c) of this section. Suspension of registration 37
shall not affect the date of expiration of the registration obligation of the 38
registrant under section 54-251, 54-252 or 54-253. 39
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the 40
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall verify 41
the residence address of each registrant by mailing a nonforwardable 42
verification form to the registrant at the registrant's last reported 43
residence address. Such form shall require the registrant to sign a 44
statement that the registrant continues to reside at the registrant's last 45
reported residence address and return the form by mail, facsimile or 46
electronic mail by a date which is ten days after the date such form was 47
mailed to the registrant. The form shall contain a statement that failure 48
to return the form or providing false information is a violation of section 49
54-251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, as the case may be. In the case of a 50
registrant who resides (1) in a town in which mail delivery is effectuated 51 Substitute Bill No. 969
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by one or more post offices located in one or more different towns, or 52
(2) at a residence address for which there is no residential mail delivery, 53
the local police department or the state police troop having jurisdiction 54
where the registrant resides shall verify in person such registrant's 55
residence address. Each person required to register under section 54-56
251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254 shall have such person's residence address 57
verified in such manner every ninety days after such person's initial 58
registration date. In the event that a registrant fails to return the 59
residence address verification form, the Department of Emergency 60
Services and Public Protection shall notify the local police department 61
or the state police troop having jurisdiction over the registrant's last 62
reported residence address, and that agency shall apply for a warrant to 63
be issued for the registrant's arrest under section 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 64
or 54-254, as the case may be. The Department of Emergency Services 65
and Public Protection shall not verify the address of registrants whose 66
last reported residence address was outside this state. 67
(d) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection 68
shall include in the registry the most recent photographic image of each 69
registrant taken by the department, the Department of Correction, a law 70
enforcement agency or the Court Support Services Division of the 71
Judicial Department and shall retake the photographic image of each 72
registrant at least once every five years. 73
(e) Whenever the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public 74
Protection receives notice from a superior court pursuant to section 52-75
11 or a probate court pursuant to section 45a-99 that such court has 76
ordered the change of name of a person, and the department determines 77
that such person is listed in the registry, the department shall revise such 78
person's registration information accordingly. 79
(f) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 80
shall develop a protocol for the notification of other state agencies, the 81
Judicial Department and local police departments whenever a person 82
listed in the registry changes such person's name and notifies the 83
commissioner of the new name pursuant to section 54-251, 54-252, 54-84 Substitute Bill No. 969
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253 or 54-254 or whenever the commissioner determines pursuant to 85
subsection (e) of this section that a person listed in the registry has 86
changed such person's name. 87
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 54-258 of the general statutes is 88
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 89
1, 2023): 90
(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, 91
except subdivisions (3), (4) and (5) of this subsection, the registry 92
maintained by the Department of Emergency Services and Public 93
Protection shall be a public record and shall be accessible to the public 94
during normal business hours. The Department of Emergency Services 95
and Public Protection shall make registry information available to the 96
public through the Internet. Not less than once per calendar quarter, the 97
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall issue 98
notices to all print and electronic media in the state regarding the 99
availability and means of accessing the registry. Each local police 100
department and each state police troop shall keep a record of all 101
registration information transmitted to it by the Department of 102
Emergency Services and Public Protection, and shall make such 103
information accessible to the public during normal business hours. 104
(2) (A) Any state agency, the Judicial Department, any state police 105
troop or any local police department may, at its discretion, notify any 106
government agency, private organization or individual of registration 107
information when such agency, said department, such troop or such 108
local police department, as the case may be, believes such notification is 109
necessary to protect the public or any individual in any jurisdiction from 110
any person who is subject to registration under section 54-251, 54-252, 111
54-253 or 54-254. 112
(B) (i) Whenever a registrant is released into the community, or 113
whenever a registrant changes such registrant's residence address and 114
notifies the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection of 115
such change pursuant to section 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, the 116 Substitute Bill No. 969
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Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall, by 117
electronic mail, notify the superintendent of schools for the school 118
district in which the registrant resides, or plans to reside, of such release 119
or new residence address, and provide such superintendent with the 120
same registry information for such registrant that the department makes 121
available to the public through the Internet under subdivision (1) of this 122
subsection. 123
(ii) Whenever a registrant is released into the community, or 124
whenever a registrant changes such registrant's residence address and 125
notifies the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection of 126
such change pursuant to section 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, the 127
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall, by 128
electronic mail, notify the chief executive officer of the municipality in 129
which the registrant resides, or plans to reside, of such release or new 130
residence address, and provide such chief executive officer with the 131
same registry information for such registrant that the department makes 132
available to the public through the Internet under subdivision (1) of this 133
subsection. 134
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this 135
subsection, state agencies, the Judicial Department, state police troops 136
and local police departments shall not disclose the identity of any victim 137
of a crime committed by a registrant or treatment information provided 138
to the registry pursuant to sections 54-102g and 54-250 to 54-258a, 139
inclusive, except to government agencies for bona fide law enforcement 140
or security purposes. 141
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this 142
subsection, registration information the dissemination of which has 143
been restricted by court order pursuant to section 54-255 and which is 144
not otherwise subject to disclosure, shall not be a public record and shall 145
be released only for law enforcement purposes until such restriction is 146
removed by the court pursuant to said section. 147
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this 148 Substitute Bill No. 969
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subsection, a registrant's electronic mail address, instant message 149
address or other similar Internet communication identifier shall not be 150
a public record, except that the Department of Emergency Services and 151
Public Protection may release such identifier for law enforcement or 152
security purposes in accordance with regulations adopted by the 153
department. The department shall adopt regulations in accordance with 154
chapter 54 to specify the circumstances under which and the persons to 155
whom such identifiers may be released including, but not limited to, 156
providers of electronic communication service or remote computing 157
service, as those terms are defined in section 54-260b, and operators of 158
Internet web sites, and the procedure therefor. 159
(6) When any registrant completes the registrant's term of registration 160
or is otherwise released from the obligation to register under section 54-161
251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, the Department of Emergency Services and 162
Public Protection shall notify any state police troop or local police 163
department having jurisdiction over the registrant's last reported 164
residence address that the person is no longer a registrant, and the 165
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, state police 166
troop and local police department shall remove the registrant's name 167
and information from the registry. 168
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2023 54-257
Sec. 2 October 1, 2023 54-258(a)
PS Joint Favorable Subst.