Legislative Update: Sex Offender Registration

The Texas Legislature started to recognize the need to begin addressing the problem of young adult sex offenders. There has been an influx of sex crimes offenses commited by certain young adult offenders. The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 198 which now allows for certain offenders to have a hearing to determine whether he or she is forced to register as a sex offender.

Before this bill, the prior law mandated that a defendant who engagned in consensual statutory rape must register as a sexo offender for the rest of his or her life. However, for a conviction after September 1, 2011, if a person was not more than four years older than the victim and the victim was at least fifteen years of age, then the court has the authority to issue and order exempting the person from sex offender registration.

If you have been charged with a sex crime, contact a Plano criminal defense lawyer.