National Sex Offender Registry

The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Registry is a database of registered sex offenders in the United States. The registry includes information on registered sex offenders, such as their name, photograph, date of birth, address, and criminal history.

It was created after a series of congressional bills enforced each state to gather and report sex offender information to the federal government. The largest misconception with the National sex offender registry is that the database contains everyone that is registered as a sex offender.

The truth is, the state and national sex offender registries have three risk levels they can assign offenders, which are based on severity of the crime. Level three is the most severe and high risk, and level one is the least severe and low risk.

The National registry only retains information on levels two and three. Utilizing the National registry is the most efficient way to catch any high-level information, but it will not show anyone registered as a level one offender. To obtain all available information on an applicant, you need to utilize a state sex offender registry, in each state that the person has lived.

State specific registries contain all three levels of offender, but require oral verification with a registry representative. The Dru Sjodin database is a great starting point, but you should use the database in conjunction with other criminal or state sex offender checks, to ensure you’re obtaining all available information on your applicant.