Hudson County Prosecutor's Office
What is Megan's Law?
On October 31, 1994, the New Jersey State Legislature
enacted the Registration and Community Notification Laws (RCNL), also known
as Megan's Law (N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1 to -11). The Megan's Law requires every
sex offender who has been convicted of certain enumerated crimes to register
with his/her local police department and provides for varying degrees of community
notification depending on his/her Tier level. The statutes apply to
those who were either on parole or probation for an enumerated sexual offense
at the time Megan's Law was enacted or whose behavior was found to be repetitive
and compulsive irrespective of when that determination was made.
A judicial determination regarding the registrant's
risk of re-offending establishes the Tier in which the offender is placed.
Under Tier One, all law enforcement agencies in a judicially determined area(s)
as well as the victim(s) and his/her family (if applicable) must be notified.
Tier Two applies where the risk of re-offending is moderate. Under Tier
Two, in addition to Tier One notification, all schools, licensed day care centers
and summer camps within the judicially designated area(s) as well as properly
registered community organization, agencies and/or groups are considered for
possible inclusion on the registrant's final notification order. Only
those individuals within an organization who are likely to encounter the registrant
are actually notified.
Tier Three applies where the risk of re-offense is high.
The statute requires that, in addition to the individuals, organizations and
institutions required to be notified by Tier Two, all members of the public
who reside in a judicially designated area(s) must be notified. There
are two versions of the Notice form, an unredacted version with all the sex
offender registration address information included and a second redacted version
which omits the specific street number of the offender's residence and the exact
street address and business name of the offender's employer. In order
for anyone to receive an unredacted notice, the recipient must sign a receipt
form in which he or she agrees to follow the applicable Rules of Conduct and
to be bound by the terms of the Court Order which authorized the provisions
of notification and to submit to the jurisdiction of the Court.
In Tier Two notification's to schools and community organizations, all staff
members and personnel who are authorized to receive notification will be provided
with access to the redacted form of notice, unless the person's specific job
duties or other circumstances justify access to the unredacted version.
In Tier Three notification to members of the public those authorized recipients
who sign a receipt form will receive the unredacted notice, while all other
authorized persons and businesses in the zone of notification will be provided
the redacted notice. Parents and guardians of children attending
a school located in the zone of notification will receive the redacted notice
by mail. It should be stressed that law enforcement will carefully investigate
all allegations of criminal conduct taken by any person against the offender,
the offender's family, the employer or school and will criminally prosecute
where appropriate.
Any questions regarding Megan's Law may be directed to the
Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Megan's Law (201) 795-6596.
E-mail