DoNotPay’s Concise Guide to Washington State Sex Offender Laws

iEditorial Note: These blog posts represent the opinion of DoNotPay’s Writers, but each person’s situation and circumstances vary greatly. As a result, you should make sure to do your own independent research. Because everyone is unique, our self-help tools are never guaranteed to help with any specific situation. DoNotPay is not a law firm and is not licensed to practice law. DoNotPay provides a platform for legal information and self-help.

Here Is What the Washington State Sex Offender Laws Boil Down To

The top three sex crimes in the State of Washington are:

  1. Unlawful imprisonment
  2. Rape of a child
  3. Child molestation

If you are a parent, this information must be terrifying. Learning who sex offenders are and how Washington State Sex Offender Laws treat them can help you make everyday decisions. This short and handy guide will introduce you to the basic regulations and post-release rules.

and gain access to our Sex Offender Search tool. We give you regular notifications on the new offenders in your area and help you stay safe.

The Overview of the Washington State Sex Offender Laws

The Washington State sex offender laws recognize three levels of sex offenders. This classification is based on evaluating the threat an offender can pose to the public after being released to the community.

Depending on the level they were assigned, the details of an offender will be shared with the public or kept undisclosed.

Check out the details in the table below:

Offender LevelCharacteristicsSharing Personal Details on the Public Registry
Level 1
  • The safest for the community
  • First-time convicts
  • No signs of predatory behavior
  • Unlikely to repeat their crime
No
Level 2
  • Moderate risk to the public
  • Serious and repetitive offenders with troubling habits(presence of an addiction)
  • Refused a treatment
  • Moderate likelihood of reoffending
Yes
Level 3
  • A high risk to the community
  • Offenders with several previous convictions
  • Predatory characteristics
  • The abuse of substances
  • Opt out of treatment programs
  • High likelihood of reoffending
Yes

Washington State Sex Offender Registration Laws

State-level sex offender registries are available to American citizens thanks to Megan’s Law. Sex offender registration rules in Washington require all sex offenders to register with the local authority and keep their data correct.

Where their law differs from other states is in the fact that only Level 2 and Level 3 perpetrators will be included in the public sex offender registry. This way, the state has created a map of sex offenders who are more likely to pose a danger to the community.

How Long Do Offenders Need To Be Registered?

The period during which an offender’s name will be displayed within the sex offender registry depends on the offender’s crime. Here are the usual registry periods for different crime classes:

CrimeHow Long They Stay on the Registry
Class A FelonyCan stop reporting only upon the petition of the superior court
Class B Felony15 years from the first registration in case they haven’t been convicted of any new offenses in the meantime
Class C FelonyTen years from the date they left imprisonment (if they haven’t conducted any new crimes)

By the Petition of Court, any convicted person on the registry can file a plea to be removed from the registry.

Washington State Sex Offender Law—The Failure To Register

In case an offender remains unregistered or fails to repeat their data verification, they will be additionally punished.

  • If an offender hasn’t been convicted of a felony and they didn’t register, it’s considered a gross misdemeanor—in this case, the maximum imprisonment is 364 days and/or a fine of $5,000
  • An unregistered first-time convict is conducting a Class C felony—the punishments go as far as five years of imprisonment and/or a fine of $10,000
  • Repeated crimes or failures to comply fall under Class B felonies—these crimes can result in ten years of confinement and/or a fine of $20,000

Washington State Sex Offender Registry Laws and Restrictions

Sex offender rules and regulations can be strict when granting rights to the registrants on the sex offender list. These restrictions are a way of protecting the public from repeated crimes like in Megan Kanka’s case.

The State of Washington has the following rules:

  • Residence—The offenders cannot move until they inform the police
  • Using the computer—These devices need to be blocked so that the offender cannot reach pornographic content
  • Traveling—The felons need to report any travel arrangements with the local authority
  • Treatment—Many of the convicts will be assigned a Community Corrections Officer and the treatment for their deviancy
  • Weapons—No felon is allowed to possess any firearms or ammunition

DoNotPay Keeps You Out of Harm’s Way With Effective Sex Offender Alerts

You can search the Washington State Sex Offender Registry in two ways. One of your options is the manual search depending on the parameters you want to use. The other option is signing up for email notifications that the registry’s system sends out.

None of these two is as efficient as you’d wish. The first method is a waste of time, while the second offers too narrow results and can fail if the system is being updated.

DoNotPay provides a quick and simple search tool that can be completely customized.

Here are the benefits of our Sex Offender Search tool:

  • User-friendly interface
  • Offender search by name
  • An area search by radius in miles (one, two, and three miles)
  • All-inclusive weekly reports with personalized parameters

There are a few simple steps to follow to become our subscriber:

  1. and look for Sex Offender Search
  2. Choose the type of search—by name or by area
  3. Pick the proximity that you want us to scan
  4. Decide whether you wish to receive weekly updates

From here on, if you opted in, DoNotPay runs weekly searches according to your preferences and shares them with you.

Drowning in Paperwork? DoNotPay Comes to the Rescue!

Dealing with administrative procedures is never a fun experience. Not only is it time-consuming, but it’s also extremely inconvenient and impractical. Luckily, we have a practical solution!

Use DoNotPay to cut through the red tape and handle any bureaucratic issue that comes your way stress-free! Check out the list below to see a fragment of tasks you can tackle with our help:

  1. Draw up a plethora of documents
  2. Stay safe from sex offenders
  3. Send demand letters to any company in small claims court
  4. Report work discrimination
  5. Apply for violent crime victim compensation program
  6. File a FOIA request
  7. Get your documents notarized with a remote notary

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