Substitute Senate Bill No. 969
Public Act No. 23-193
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 Section 54-257 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023):
(a) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
shall, not later than January 1, 1999, establish and maintain a registry of
all persons required to register under sections 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 and
54-254. The department shall, in cooperation with the Office of the Chief
Court Administrator, the Department of Correction and the Psychiatric
Security Review Board, develop appropriate forms for use by agencies
and individuals to report registration information, including changes of
residence address. Upon receipt of registration information, the
department shall enter the information into the registry and notify the
local police department or state police troop having jurisdiction where
the registrant resides or plans to reside. If a registrant notifies the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection that such
registrant is employed at, carries on a vocation at or is a student at a
trade or professional institution or institution of higher learning in this
state, the department shall notify the law enforcement agency with
jurisdiction over such institution. If a registrant reports a residence in Substitute Senate Bill No. 969
Public Act No. 23-193 2 of 6
another state, the department shall notify the state police agency of that
state or such other agency in that state that maintains registry
information, if known. The department shall also transmit all
registration information, conviction data, photographic images and
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in such form as said
bureau shall require for inclusion in a national registry.
(b) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
may suspend the registration of any person registered under section 54-
251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254 while such person is incarcerated, under
civil commitment or residing outside this state. During the period that
such registration is under suspension, the department is not required to
verify the residence address of the registrant pursuant to subsection (c)
of this section and may withdraw the registration information from
public access. Upon the release of the registrant from incarceration or
civil commitment or resumption of residency in this state by the
registrant, the department shall reinstate the registration, redistribute
the registration information in accordance with subsection (a) of this
section and resume verifying the residence address of the registrant in
accordance with subsection (c) of this section. Suspension of registration
shall not affect the date of expiration of the registration obligation of the
registrant under section 54-251, 54-252 or 54-253.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall verify
the residence address of each registrant by mailing a nonforwardable
verification form to the registrant at the registrant's last reported
residence address. Such form shall require the registrant to sign a
statement that the registrant continues to reside at the registrant's last
reported residence address and return the form by mail, facsimile or
electronic mail by a date which is ten days after the date such form was
mailed to the registrant. The form shall contain a statement that failure
to return the form or providing false information is a violation of section Substitute Senate Bill No. 969
Public Act No. 23-193 3 of 6
54-251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, as the case may be. In the case of a
registrant who resides at a residence address for which there is no
residential mail delivery, the local police department or the state police
troop having jurisdiction where the registrant resides shall verify in
person such registrant's residence address. Each person required to
register under section 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254 shall have such
person's residence address verified in such manner every ninety days
after such person's initial registration date. In the event that a registrant
fails to return the residence address verification form, the Department
of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall notify the local police
department or the state police troop having jurisdiction over the
registrant's last reported residence address, and that agency shall apply
for a warrant to be issued for the registrant's arrest under section 54-251,
54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, as the case may be. The Department of
Emergency Services and Public Protection shall not verify the address
of registrants whose last reported residence address was outside this
state.
(d) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
shall include in the registry the most recent photographic image of each
registrant taken by the department, the Department of Correction, a law
enforcement agency or the Court Support Services Division of the
Judicial Department and shall retake the photographic image of each
registrant at least once every five years.
(e) Whenever the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public
Protection receives notice from a superior court pursuant to section 52-
11 or a probate court pursuant to section 45a-99 that such court has
ordered the change of name of a person, and the department determines
that such person is listed in the registry, the department shall revise such
person's registration information accordingly.
(f) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection
shall develop a protocol for the notification of other state agencies, the Substitute Senate Bill No. 969
Public Act No. 23-193 4 of 6
Judicial Department and local police departments whenever a person
listed in the registry changes such person's name and notifies the
commissioner of the new name pursuant to section 54-251, 54-252, 54-
253 or 54-254 or whenever the commissioner determines pursuant to
subsection (e) of this section that a person listed in the registry has
changed such person's name.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 54-258 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
1, 2023):
(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes,
except subdivisions (3), (4) and (5) of this subsection, the registry
maintained by the Department of Emergency Services and Public
Protection shall be a public record and shall be accessible to the public
during normal business hours. The Department of Emergency Services
and Public Protection shall make registry information available to the
public through the Internet. Not less than once per calendar quarter, the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall issue
notices to all print and electronic media in the state regarding the
availability and means of accessing the registry. Each local police
department and each state police troop shall keep a record of all
registration information transmitted to it by the Department of
Emergency Services and Public Protection, and shall make such
information accessible to the public during normal business hours.
(2) (A) Any state agency, the Judicial Department, any state police
troop or any local police department may, at its discretion, notify any
government agency, private organization or individual of registration
information when such agency, said department, such troop or such
local police department, as the case may be, believes such notification is
necessary to protect the public or any individual in any jurisdiction from
any person who is subject to registration under section 54-251, 54-252,
54-253 or 54-254. Substitute Senate Bill No. 969
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(B) (i) Whenever a registrant is released into the community, or
whenever a registrant changes such registrant's residence address and
notifies the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection of
such change pursuant to section 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall, by
electronic mail, notify the superintendent of schools for the school
district in which the registrant resides, or plans to reside, of such release
or new residence address, and provide such superintendent with the
same registry information for such registrant that the department makes
available to the public through the Internet under subdivision (1) of this
subsection.
(ii) Whenever a registrant is released into the community, or
whenever a registrant changes such registrant's residence address and
notifies the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection of
such change pursuant to section 54-251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall, by
electronic mail, notify the chief executive officer of the municipality in
which the registrant resides, or plans to reside, of such release or new
residence address, and provide such chief executive officer with the
same registry information for such registrant that the department makes
available to the public through the Internet under subdivision (1) of this
subsection.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this
subsection, state agencies, the Judicial Department, state police troops
and local police departments shall not disclose the identity of any victim
of a crime committed by a registrant or treatment information provided
to the registry pursuant to sections 54-102g and 54-250 to 54-258a,
inclusive, except to government agencies for bona fide law enforcement
or security purposes.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this
subsection, registration information the dissemination of which has Substitute Senate Bill No. 969
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been restricted by court order pursuant to section 54-255 and which is
not otherwise subject to disclosure, shall not be a public record and shall
be released only for law enforcement purposes until such restriction is
removed by the court pursuant to said section.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this
subsection, a registrant's electronic mail address, instant message
address or other similar Internet communication identifier shall not be
a public record, except that the Department of Emergency Services and
Public Protection may release such identifier for law enforcement or
security purposes in accordance with regulations adopted by the
department. The department shall adopt regulations in accordance with
chapter 54 to specify the circumstances under which and the persons to
whom such identifiers may be released including, but not limited to,
providers of electronic communication service or remote computing
service, as those terms are defined in section 54-260b, and operators of
Internet web sites, and the procedure therefor.
(6) When any registrant completes the registrant's term of registration
or is otherwise released from the obligation to register under section 54-
251, 54-252, 54-253 or 54-254, the Department of Emergency Services and
Public Protection shall notify any state police troop or local police
department having jurisdiction over the registrant's last reported
residence address that the person is no longer a registrant, and the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, state police
troop and local police department shall remove the registrant's name
and information from the registry.