Registered Sex Offenders in California

There are more than 63,000 persons required to register in California as sex offenders. As a result of Assembly Bill 488 that the California State Legislature enacted and Governor Schwarzenegger signed in September 2004 as California Penal Code Section 290.46, the California Department of Justice was directed to post specified information regarding sex offenders on an Internet web site for public viewing. The web site became operational on December 15, 2004, about six months ahead of the projected operational date. The web site allows anyone to access the specified information from any computer connected to the Internet. The last registered home addresses reported by more than 33,500 offenders in California are displayed on the web site. An additional 30,500 offenders are included on the web site, listed by ZIP code, city, and county. Information on about 22,000 other offenders is not included on the web site but is available to law enforcement personnel.

The web site is searchable by name, address, city, county, ZIP code, parks, and schools. The site includes a photograph of the offender, a list of their offense(s), and other relevant information. The California Department of Justice sex offender web site is http://meganslaw.ca.gov/index.htm.

The Department of Justice web site contains the most current information on sex offenders available for public release. The Atascadero Police Department does not have any additional information that is available for public release.

As a reminder, it is illegal to use information from the web site to commit a crime against a sex offender.

Registered Sex Offenders in Atascadero

There are 62 registered sex offenders in Atascadero as of July 2005. The sex offenders confined at the Atascadero State Hospital are not considered registered sex offenders in the city of Atascadero; however, when a search of sex offenders by ZIP code is conducted, the sex offenders at the Atascadero State Hospital will be included. In July 2005 the Department conducted a compliance check of the 62 registered sex offenders in the city to determine if the information regarding those offenders, including home address, work address, physical description, and vehicles, remained current. 54 of the 62 registered sex offenders were contacted by teams of Police Officers and Detectives. The remaining 8 registered sex offenders were "transient" with no permanent residence. Similar compliance checks will be conducted on a regular basis in the future.

If you are interested in additional information available for public release regarding Megan's Law and sex offenders, or if you have information regarding possible violations of sex offender registration requirements for sex offenders residing in Atascadero, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at 805/461-5051.

National Online Registry of Sex Offenders

The United States Department of Justice opened a web site with a national registry of sex offenders on July 20, 2005 that the public may use to track by computer the over 500,000 sex offenders in the nation. Before this national registry was created, data on sex offenders available for release to the public was maintained by the individual states. Twenty-two (22) states provided information for the web site by July 20, 2005 inaugural date with the remaining states scheduled to include their sex offender data by the end of 2005. Information on the web site includes a photograph of the sex offender, identifying information, the neighborhood in which the sex offender lives, and the proximity of his or her residence to schools. The web site may be accessed at www.nsopr.gov.

Information on Megan's Law was updated on October 30, 2005