New York State's Megan's Law became effective in 1996, and was expanded in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006 and requires a sex offender convicted for a registerable sex offense to register with the State's Sex Offender Registry; currently, there are over 40 registerable offenses and more than 23,000 registered sex offenders living in New York State.
There are three ways to obtain information about sex offenders in New York State:
- New York State's Sex offender Information Line: 800-262-3257. You will need the name of the offender and one of the following four identifiers: an exact address, a complete date of birth, a driver's license number, or a social security number.
- The New York State Subdirectory. There, interested individuals can search for level 2 and 3 offenders by name, county, or zip code.
- The local law enforcement agency where the offender currently resides, can, if it chooses, release information on sex offenders residing in the community.