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The ramifications of registering as a sex offender in Oklahoma are totally life-altering, and carries greater penalties than Oklahoma prostitution penalties. Sex offenders in Oklahoma are treated as second-class citizens. Furthermore, the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registration Act has been amended with such great frequency and lack of oversight that the registration requirements could become even more debilitating if the current trend continues.
Though the registration requirements serve a fine purpose in protecting our communities from the truly dangerous sexual predators, the requirements must not be viewed lightly or applied too broadly. Though the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry has been codified into the Oklahoma Statutes since 1989, it was subject to new and wide-sweeping amendments in 2007 due to Oklahoma’s codification of the federally created Adam Walsh Act. Based off of these new amendments, many individuals already subject to the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry have found themselves reclassified into one of the following categories:
Level 1: results in a designation that the person poses a low danger to the community and will not likely engage in criminal sexual conduct and requires registration for 15 years from sentencing or release from DOC custody;
Level 2: results in a designation that the person poses a moderate danger to the community and may continue to engage in criminal sexual conduct and requires registration for 25 years form sentencing or release from DOC custody;
Level 3: results in a designation that the person poses a serious danger to the community and will continue to engage in criminal sexual conduct and requires registration for life.
The retroactive application of this level-based classification system creates a number of issues. Moreover, the level classifications are based ONLY on the Defendant’s crime of conviction; as such, the level classifications have no quantifiable correlation to the actual danger that an individual may or may not pose to the community.
Furthermore, many Defendants do not realize that the Oklahoma Statues mandate that individuals subject to the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry must register during any period of probation and complete such sentence prior to actually beginning his or her 15-year, 25-year, or lifetime registration requirements. Consequently, many individuals have found themselves subject to increasingly harsh penalties due to their status as a registered sex offender.
These penalties are far-reaching and can be devastating. Mandatory penalties associated with being labeled a sex offender include, but are not limited to:
The Oklahoma Statutes prescribe stiff penalties for those individuals who fail to meet the required registration requirements:
Any person required to register pursuant to the provisions of the Sex Offenders Registration Act who violates any provision of said act shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony. Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years, a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment. Any person required to register pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act who fails to comply with the established guidelines for global position system (GPS) monitoring shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the custody of the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
If you or a loved one has been labeled a sex offender in Oklahoma, it is imperative that you understand you rights and requirements under law. You need an experienced Oklahoma sex crime attorney, and you need one right now. Call the Law Offices of Adam R. Banner, P.C., and retain an accomplished criminal defense sex offender lawyer ready to fight for your rights. Call us today at (405) 778-4800 for a free consultation.
