Utah's National Parks & Monuments

 

The Grotto, as seen from Angel's Landing Trail, Zion National Park

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

Utah Code Ann.  2019 §§77-41-101 through 77-41-112

Utah. Code Ann. §§77-27-21.7 through 77-27-21.9

U.A.C. §§R251-110-1 through R251-110-5

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

“Sex Offender” is defined to include any out-of-state SO who is in Utah for more than 10 days in any 12 month period. §77-41-102(17)(b).

Visitors must register “within 10 days of entering the state, regardless of the offender’s length of stay.”  §77-41-105. 

Updates required within 3 business days. §77-41-105.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Presence restriction: May not be on premises of a day care or preschool, public swimming pool, school, community park open to the public, playground that is open to the public.  Exceptions for access to schools when carrying out “necessary parental responsibilities” and day care center or preschool when in building for other purposes.

Residence restriction: w/in 1,000 ft. of victim, with exceptions. §77-27-21.7.

“Sex Offender in Presence of Child Law:”  Registrants w/ convictions involving minors under 14 years old cannot invite the minor to accompany him or her absent parental consent, with exceptions.  §77-27-21.8.

Because “Sex Offender” is defined to include only out-of-state SO’s in Utah for more than 10 days in a 12 month period (see Registration Triggers & Deadlines at left), visitors not meeting this definition would, in theory, not be required to register & thus not subject to these restrictions during their visit. However, this theory remains untested.

Duration & updates:

Lifetime. Petition 10 years.  Updates every 6 mo. §77-41-105.

Most recent visit: October 2023

Compared to other states, Utah’s restrictions on registered visitors shouldn’t be too tough to get along with.  Yes it does have presence restrictions, including the usual boogeymen such as day care centers, schools, public swimming pools, community parks & playgrounds. I assume that, like me, you have no interest in visiting any of these places on your visit to Utah. Notice that the list includes “public swimming pools” but not the pool at any hotel you may be staying at.  

Also, it says “community parks” but not state and national parks. That should be a relief since Utah’s national parks and monuments, national forests, and state parks are among the state’s biggest attractions.

Lastly, because the term “Sex Offender” is defined by statute to include only out-of-state registrants in Utah for more than 10 days in a 12 month period (see Registration Triggers & Deadlines), visitors not meeting this definition would, in theory, not be required to register & thus not subject to these restrictions during their visit. Admittedly, however, this theory remains untested.  Still, you get ten days in-state per calendar year without ever having to test it. Most registered visitors should have nothing to worry about. Just remember, all partial days are going to count toward the 10 day total, including your entry and exit days.

Utah has some of the most stunningly beautiful natural wonders of any state in the union. I had been there two years ago, and also the year before I went to prison. That first time I went specifically because I had no idea whether I’d ever be able to come back. Now that I have my chance I can never resist the chance to go back.

If by any chance you ever read my previous Utah blog post (now deleted) you’d know that I have wanted to focus an entire road trip on Utah’s great natural wonders instead of just “slowing down” on my way through to see a few things on my way back home from somewhere else.  Also, my previous drive-by trips were in the second half of October when the weather in Utah can be pretty darned cold.  

This time I spent over a week in Utah, and chose the first week of October. I spent an entire day at each park, arriving as early as possible (i.e. about 6:30 am) and breaking off around 3:00 pm to head for my next campground.  The weather that week was perfect, yet it was still a so-called “shoulder season” when the parks were less crowded than at the summer peak. I also want to give a shout out to a AAA map called “Indian Country” which I used to guide myself on this trip. It’s the most complete info on this region I have ever seen. 

Arches National Park – Days 1-2

Whether you are coming from the east or west, I urge you to skip the main access highway US 191 and go in the back way which is State Rd 128 – it runs along the Colorado River through some of the most magnificent canyons you will ever see. Plus there are many campgrounds and on the first week of October there were plenty of sites available. However, DO NOT think you’re going to find any last minute food or supplies at the exit or anywhere else on this road because it doesn’t exist. Stock up ahead of time or wait until you get to Moab.

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park

Of Utah’s Big 5 National Parks Arches is my 2nd favorite (sorry, Zion is even better). It is truly a wonderland and this time I went to places I’d never been to before e.g. Devil’s Garden (Wow!). Then there’s Delicate Arch, Fiery Furnace, Balanced Rock, and of course Park Avenue and the Courthouse Towers.

Every American should see these great wonders before you die.

Canyonlands National Park – Day 3

Canyonlands is a huge park that encompasses the confluence of the Colorado River and Green River. The northern section, called Island in the Sky, is accessed from US 191 via State Rd 313 which is much closer to civilization than the southern Needles section. Because of that remoteness I’d never been to The Needles before, but this time I camped as close to that park entrance as I could – not realizing that because this remoteness I could have gone to the Squaw Flat campground inside the park which was half-empty.

Grandview Point, Canyonlands

It turns out while The Needles can be seen in the distance from the park road, you can’t actually go explore them without at least a 2 day backpacking commitment and I’m too old for that.  There are a couple of canyon views in this section too but they don’t hold a candle to the overlooks from Island in the Sky, where I also was able to spend a few hours before heading off to my next campground.

Along the 50 mile road to The Needles you will also pass the famous Newspaper Rock petroglyphs. WOW!

Like the Grand Canyon, all of the main canyon views are from above.  Unlike the Grand Canyon, there are no guided horse treks to get you to the bottom of the canyons. You’re on your own if you want to explore the remote areas of the park.

Be sure to make the side trip to Dead Horse Point State Park which is really spectacular.

Capital Reef National Park – Day 4

I imagine you have not heard of Capital Reef – but you should have. It’s truly spectacular.  Unfortunately, as of October 2024 there’s a lot of construction going on, and the scenic drive that takes you to the most remote areas you can get to by car – well, it’s completely closed.  That was a big disappointment since my plan was to go all the way to the end and go for a hike which I’d not done before, perhaps to see the Golden Dome. The visitor center parking lot is also completely ripped up. 

Caleb Canyon Trail, Capital Reef

Capital Reef has within it a preserved historic town named Fruita. Yes it has a blacksmith shop and a fruit pie shop, but it’s really not that great.  There are viewpoints and trails extending from State Rd 24 so I hiked part of the Cohab Canyon trail and it was beautiful.  Maybe next time the construction will be finished.

West of Capital Reef on State Rd. 24, be sure to stop at Red Canyon. It’s well worth your time.

Grand Staircase / Route 12 Corridor – Day 5

The Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument is vast and remote. If you’re a backpacker or have an ATV you can go exploring, but otherwise you’re restricted to the highways that skirt the edges of it, like US 89 to the south and Historic Route 12 which is just about the only route from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon.  

Escalante Petrified Forest

The good news is there’s plenty to see along Route 12 and I try to go to new places every time.  This time, after leaving Capital Reef I found a campsite at one of the many campgrounds along the way.  Then the next morning before proceeding to Bryce Canyon I took I hike at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. Yes I saw petrified tree trunks. 

On past trips I have visited Anasazi State Park & Museum (very interesting) and camped at Kodachrome Basin St. Pk. which is named after the colorful landscape.

Bryce Canyon – also Day 5

Bryce Canyon is all about the hoodoos – those otherworldly spires that made this canyon famous. There have to be millions of them. And for me, therein lies the problem.  Much like you sometimes hear people say the Grand Canyon is “just a big hole in the ground,” I have to admit my attitude toward hoodoos is, “you seen one hoodoo, you seen ’em all.” 

Bryce Canyon

Bryce has one main road from the entrance to the far south end of the park.  There are many viewpoints and they are very beautiful but they all look the same to me.  You can remain in the Bryce Amphitheater area and end your tour at Bryce Point, but on this trip I drove all the way down to the end of the road at Rainbow Point hoping for a little variety but no, it’s just more hoodoos.

However, out on Route 12 east of the park entrance you will find Mossy Cave and waterfalls, which is about a one mile hike, very cool and something I’d never seen before.

Zion National Park – Days 6 & 7

Zion is my favorite national park and on this trip I allowed two days for it. What makes Zion so unique is that, unlike the Grand Canyon, or Canyonlands, or Bryce, the entry to Zion National Park takes you straight into the mouth of the most spectacular canyon you will ever see (my opinion), the Virgin River which flows through the canyon nourishes a forested canyon floor filled with wildlife, and there are such a variety of things to see!

Zion Canyon as seen from a rocky overlook

On this trip one week into October I was able to find parking at the Visitor Center as long as I got there by 7:00 am. The weather was good, the park was crowded, and the bus trams were still in operation until the end of the month. Get off at The Grotto, Court of the Patriarchs. Then the Zion – Mt. Carmel Highway takes you up the switchbacks to the WPA Project tunnel, Canyon overlook and spectacular views.

One thing you should know about Zion National Park is that both camping and anything like an affordable motel room in the tourist town of Springdale are basically nonexistent, and I was visiting on a weekend. While on the tram a couple was bragging about how they had found a good affordable room – but that was in St. George, 50 miles away! I had managed to find a bed in a four-person bunkhouse in La Verkin, UT, “only” 25 miles away. Good news! Even on a weekend, it was off-season enough that the bunkhouse place was mostly empty and I had an entire bunkhouse with kitchen and bathroom to myself for $75 per night. Yey!

Bears Ears & Natural Bridges Nat. Mons. – Days 8 & 9

If you’ve never been to Utah you’ve probably never heard of either Bears Ears or Natural Bridges National Monuments.  If you choose to read my next blog post which will describe the registry implications of a very serious medical emergency I experienced on the day after I left Zion Nat, Park you’ll know why I was unable to do much more than drive past Bears Ears on this trip. But I have been there in the past and I can tell you it’s just as spectacular as everywhere else in Utah.

Newspaper Rock !

Together with Glen Canyon Nat, Recreation Area, Bears Ears actually surrounds Canyonlands Nat. Park – Newspaper Rock is in Bears Ears, not Canyonlands.  From there Bears Ears extends all the way south to the Navajo Nation (which includes southernmost Utah). Natural Bridges Nat. Mon. is much smaller and located entirely within Bears Ears.

There’s just so much in Utah. It never seems to end. 

My Introduction Here

Introducing Brian W.

I am Brian W. and it's a pleasure to be joining up with Atwo Zee in a combined effort to research and report to other registrants what we find across the states and even at county levels on the various laws and restrictions that affect your travel. I have been present or virtually present at seminars offered by the Atwo Zee and have been surprised by how many registrants or former registrants assume that it's a big, free country and that you have a green light to go as you please. In my case, as a past registrant, I did some wishful thinking too. Something along the lines of: all that restriction stuff is over now and a thing of my past. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth in the good old USA.

😉🙉🙈🙊

I first encountered Atwo Zee at a previous NARSOL conference in North Carolina. He had set up an information table and was giving out cards with a link to his information and travel blog. He had a set of charts on the blog and in print at his table and he gave a break-out session at the conference explaining the very extensive local laws that tightly control how long you may visit each of the 50 states and various US territories before having to register in that state. It is solid and wise advice that the very last thing you want to do is to become registered in another state's publicly posted wall of shame, possibly for the rest of your life and even beyond. Yup, many states do not remove your name from their registry even after death, whether because of official laziness, lack of research, or motivation of federal funding. So, I learned to pay a lot more attention to the unexpected and possibly vague restrictions in every venue in the country.

I met Atwo Zee again at this year's NARSOL conference in Atlanta and sat down to chat with him. We came to an understanding that I could be of help in this project, especially since this year, 2024, an update is due on the chart details. We together divided the states and I learned the extent of the research entailed in this project. We both looked for any changes in the laws of each state regarding sexual offending, and I became a second set of eyes in reviewing laws that he had earlier seen. After reviewing the statutory details, I made calls to several states wherein the laws seemed particularly unclear or open to interpretation. What a surprise I had in speaking to the various state SOR or SORNA offices. What was unclear often remained unclear! In one case of particular lack of clarity, Puerto Rico, I made 7 phone calls and found that there was no one who spoke English or who even answered the phone. In all fairness to that US territory, they had just experienced a hurricane some time prior to my attempts.💥

Atwo Zee and I, who live many states apart from one another, conferenced often to compare notes and progress on the updates needed. I have to admit that it was a slow start for me as I had much to learn and much to catch up on with the far more knowledgeable blog author. I have to say that it is a daunting task to tackle that many different sets of laws and their sometimes intricate requirements. Just one example is the odd situation in the state of Illinois. I had heard previously but doubted that things were as bad as described there. However, I soon learned that, in an apparent effort to discourage registrants from anywhere else from moving there, that Illinois classifies all registrants who move in as violent predators - no matter what the extent of your circumstances may have been. This astonished me, and there is so much more.

So, I thank Atwo Zee for the opportunity to be of some help to others in similar circumstances as I have been and am in. The road of travel is slippery and full of traps. Be careful out there and do some homework before you go. Follow the sage advice given on this blog to avoid perils, but then do go and enjoy your safe travel, just as Atwo Zee does proudly.

 Georgia Update

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

2019 O.C.G.A. §§42-1-12 through 42-1-19

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-18.

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Registration required within 72 hours of establishing a residence or entering the state. §42-1-12(f).  Visitors: registration required if in the state for 14 consecutive days, or for more than 30 days in calendar year.  §42-1-12(e)(7). Per SOR office, residency & presence restrictions DO NOT apply during the 14 day grace period. Updated Aug 2024.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

All persons required to register may not reside, loiter, or be employed within 1,000 ft. of child care facility, church, school, or “area where minors congregate” defined to “include all public & private parks & recreation facilities, playgrounds, skating rinks, neighborhood centers, gymnasiums, school bus stops, public libraries, & public & community swimming pools” §42-1-12(3).  Certain employment restrictions apply.  §§42-1-15 through 42-1-17.  It is a misdemeanor to intentionally photograph a minor in Georgia without parental consent.  §42-1-18. Persons deemed to be a “sexually dangerous predator” (level 3) are required to wear (and pay for) a GPS monitor for lifetime. Added Aug. 2024  However, visitors are not “required to register.” Updated Aug. 2024.

Visiting Registrants once placed on state’s registry ARE NOT REMOVED. (per Rolfe Survey and confirmed by state registry office).

Duration & updates:

Life.  Sexually Dangerous Predator updates every 6 months.  All others update annually within 72 hours of birthday.

Registry removal restrictions:

Per NARSOL Digest Aug/Sep 2024 pp.13-14: SB 493 (effective 7/1/24) makes 2 changes:

1. Some registrants 80+ yrs old may petition for removal.

2. Those with out-of-state offenses must have been removed “in another state,” presumably the state where offended. This makes Georgia a “whichever is longer” state by petition for all convictions after 7/1/24.  Updated Sept. 2024

Savannah waterfront 

2024 Georgia Update – Fewer restrictions on visitors

Here at Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler, we (I have an assistant now, so I can refer to us as plural) … anyway, our commitment is to re-research and update our state-by-state information not less than once every two years.  2024 is one of those update years, and it turns out there’s news to report in Georgia.

In 2020 I called every state SOR office and spoke to anyone who would answer the phone during a pandemic.  One question I asked every SOR office was: While I am in your state as a visitor and leaving before the end of your grace period (GA = 14 days), do your residency and presence restrictions (which in GA are many and horrible) apply to me as a visitor?  In 2020, Georgia was among states that answered “yes” to that question. 

However, since 2020 the GA SOR office has completely changed its tune.  In 2022 they said the weirdest thing ever – that any restrictions applying to you in your home state will apply to you while in Georgia.  After I hung up the phone I laughed and asked myself, how the hell are you going to enforce that? Are my restrictions different if I’m coming from my home in Iowa vs. Florida?

By this year the GA SOR office has come full circle – now they say residency & presence restrictions DO NOT apply during the 14 day grace period.  Apparently, GA law enforcement has concluded that trying to inflict all their oppressive requirements on unwitting tourists is a waste of their time and resources. Wow! – stop making sense!

To me, however, the most important point is – they figured this out all by themselves.  Nobody pushed them or lobbied them.  Nobody begged or pleaded with them.  And the thought occurs to me – if Georgia law enforcement, of all people, can figure out the stupidity of arresting hapless tourists on bogus charges – well, maybe with a little help, law enforcement agencies in other states can figure this out too.

If there is anyone out there with a good enough relationship with Georgia law enforcement to inquire as to how they were able to come to this relatively humane decision, we at Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler would really appreciate your help.  Maybe together we can spread logic and reason to other state SOR offices.

… but making it harder to get removed

I think people from other parts of the US may be somewhat surprised by this, but in my experience (at group therapy, meet & greets etc.) Georgia has enjoyed an undeserved reputation as some kind of beacon on the hill among Florida registrants – mainly because even though their registry totally sucks, they have at least until now always had a provision allowing those with so-called “low level offenses” an opportunity to apply to be removed from their registry (whereas Florida is famously lifetime with no chance of getting off).  

Because of this, rumors have spread that (I’m sure you’ve all heard similar of bullshit before no matter where you live) all you have to do is move to Georgia and get off the registry and all your problems will magically disappear.  I actually looked into this by calling a GA attorney who spoke at a NARSOL conference, and he made it clear these rumors are false.  Nobody gets away with flying into Atlanta and heading to the nearest courthouse to get off the registry.  This attorney opined that if you have at least 5 years residency in Georgia, a judge might be willing to entertain your application. Meanwhile you get to live with all the horrors of being a Georgia registrant.

And now the Georgia legislature has closed even this tiny loophole.  As reported in the NARSOL Digest, Aug/Sep 2024 pp.13-14 (and posted on our “Former and Long-term Registrant Chart”), SB 493 (effective 7/1/24) makes 2 changes – 

1. Some registrants 80+ yrs old may petition for removal (gee whiz, thanks for nothing. “Some registrants may apply?”).

And here comes the important one:

2. Those with out-of-state offenses must have been removed “in another state,” presumably the state where you offended.  At least they inserted a grandfather clause that allows those with convictions before 7/1/24 to continue to apply for removal.  What kind of reception you might get in a GA courtroom is anybody’s guess.

Sorry about that.

Most recent visit: April 2024

Georgia’s SOR statute states that registrants may not reside, loiter, or be employed within 1,000 ft. of a child care facility, church, school, or “area where minors congregate.”  The term “area where minors congregate” is defined to include “all public & private parks and recreation facilities, playgrounds, skating rinks, neighborhood centers, gymnasiums, school bus stops, public libraries, & public & community swimming pools” §42-1-12(3).  That’s a pretty tough set of rules.  

Downtown Savannah

However! The good news is that as of August 2024 the Georgia SOR office says that as a visitor during their 14 day grace period you are not subject to residency or presence requirements. Also, according to the state SOR office, national parks and forests are “out of our jurisdiction,” and there are quite a few of those, especially in northern and central Georgia.  Since most of my cross-country travel plans involve camping overnight at national park or national forest campgrounds, that’s all good news for me.

NOTE:  Georgia is one of about 15 states where there is no procedure for removal from the registry upon returning to your home state.  So be extra careful.

In April 2024 my ex-wife but still Best Friend Forever and I were traveling on our way back to Florida from attending a wedding in New Jersey when we decided to stop overnight and spend a little time in Savannah.  We entered Georgia from South Carolina on I-95 and checked into a hotel near Savannah Airport.  The hotel was in a primarily airport-industrial area, so even then I didn’t worry about Georgia’s residency or presence rules.  This was before I called to get the good news from the GA SOR office.

The next morning I continued to not worry about Georgia’s presence or loitering rules. Instead my BFF and I toured downtown Savannah, checked out the waterfront and tourist commercial district, had lunch at a local restaurant and were on our way, arriving home in Florida in time to have dinner with family.

That’s two partial days in Georgia, far fewer than the 14 consecutive days the state allows.  That’s also a nice morning touring Savannah with my best friend without being excessively paranoid about state rules.

Previous visits: April & Nov. 2022

In November 2022 I visited the North Georgia mountains together with family, coming from Florida.  I did none of the driving on this trip. Instead I was a passenger with my ex-wife while my daughter and grandchildren rode in a separate car.  We stayed for five days at a timeshare.  It was very nice.

Historic Dahlonega, GA

I took my ex to Amicalola State Park and show her Amicalola Falls, which she really liked. She wanted to take the family to supposedly historic Helen which in my opinion is completely ruined by tourism, so I went along with it and pretended I really liked it.  I will say we had lunch at a pretty good German restaurant.  The next day we went to Dahlonega, which I have always liked a lot better. 

On a previous visit in April 2022 I entered Georgia from Tennessee in the morning, enjoying a beautiful mountain drive through Chattahoochee National Forest.  I stopped to see De Soto Falls – very nice. Then I continued to Historic Dahlonega, which at that time I hadn’t been to for long time.

The World of Coca Cola. My advice is skip it.

After a nice lunch in Dahlonega I continued on to Atlanta, where I visited the World of Coca Cola.  That was a mistake.  I was expecting an interesting factory tour like one finds at Pabst in Milwaukee, Jim Beam in Tennessee or Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, but no such luck. The World of Coca Cola sucks.  It’s all advertising and no education. And it’s right next door to the Georgia Aquarium which I’m sure would’ve been a better bet.  Oh well.  

Afterward I had an early supper at the Varsity, Atlanta’s culinary must stop.  Then it was southeast bound to the Lake Sinclair, the southernmost campground in Oconee National Forest, the southernmost national forest in Georgia. Very nice, secluded and has hot showers.  The next morning I made my way southward toward Macon, I-75 and back to Florida.

 Lessons learned? I believe I was the target of a police sting

Originally published at narsol.org

By Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler . . . Not long after I returned to Iowa after the 2024 NARSOL conference in Atlanta, I received an email forwarded by the national NARSOL office.  This message came to them on their main “Contact Us” email address, and whoever sent it was looking specifically for me, “whose story “Unwanted Images” hit home when I was suicidal and wracked with fear …”  The sender also complimented my travel blog and expressed a desire to have me participate in a podcast of some kind

This message was a little odd because of the reference to “Unwelcome Images,” the actual name of my prison story which I never even talk to anybody in our movement about (because I won’t bore you with my prison story if you won’t bore me with yours).  Nevertheless, seeing nothing suspicious, I contacted the sender with an “Okay, how can I help you?” reply.

I received a reply within a couple of days.  I was sitting at the public computer at my local senior center (because, as some of you know, I don’t have home internet service).  The sender said glowing things about me, re-stated his desire to have me participate in a podcast, and included a link to a “recent podcast” so I could see what it was all about.

I need to point out here that, like most senior center public computers, this one has only the most rudimentary software and certainly not much video software, so when I clicked on the link, I could hear the sound but the video only displayed some kind of error message.  Knowing trying to fix the video was useless, I leaned in to see what I could hear--which was a man welcoming everyone to the podcast, “We’re here in beautiful Hawaii today, which is such a great place for …”

… and then he used an expression which I recognized all too well from my bad old days online.  I won’t repeat that expression here except to say it’s an abbreviation, the letters of which refer favorably to a type of child pornography.  

As soon as I heard this abbreviation, I immediately blurted out, “WTF!?” and clicked the video away.  Then I replied to the message, telling the sender that if that’s what they are about, I wanted no part of it, and that they obviously have not learned the true lessons of my story (which of course is that no one should ever yield to the temptations of online CP).  Good bye!

The next time I was at the senior center, I found a reply in my inbox.  The sender apologized profusely, saying the beginning of the video was meant to be a parody, and it’s too bad I didn’t get the joke, and wouldn’t I please watch more of it before I made any decision …

Well, I couldn’t have done that anyway because of the software shortcomings of the computer, but also, now that this reply was trying to goad me into watching more of something I didn’t want in the first place, I started to become suspicious.  I forwarded the entire email exchange back to the NARSOL person who’d originally sent it to me, expressed my growing suspicions and asked, “For one thing, how did this person know to contact you asking for me specifically by name?  Nobody outside our group is supposed to know my real name – only Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler.  And now they’re trying to get me to watch more of this video?”

As my brother later said, “Cops know that sh*t.”  Exactly.  The NARSOL contact person replied, expressing shared suspicion, and promised to scrub whoever it was from their contact list.  Later I replied to the sender saying simply, “Go away.  You’re a cop doing a sting,” and I have not heard anything back since.

What lessons can be learned from this experience?  Well, the first lesson is that if you don’t want to get caught in a sting, be your genuine self when communicating with anyone online.  If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that anyone active enough in our movement to be reading this right now is part of the 95% of registrants who will never reoffend.  Therefore, acting like your genuine self is always best.

I’m sure that every cop--and every Florida state legislator who voted this year to give every Florida sheriff’s department grant funding to carry out these disgusting stings--will laugh and say, “Yes that’s exactly how the system is supposed to work.  You responded correctly, and you didn’t get arrested [well not yet anyway].  What are you bitching about?”  

The answer, as all of us know, is that there were any number of places along the way where, if I had acted perfectly innocently but only a little differently than I did, I could have unknowingly put myself in legal jeopardy.  As I thought about it, I realized that the cop’s first test had actually been to see what email account I might reply from.  Would I reply from some secret, unregistered email account?  If so, they could’ve arrested me on the spot for “failure to register an email account.”  But hey cops – guess what?  Nope!  I really don’t have any secret email account!  Just the one you already have in your records.

Then they must have been kind of confused about where my reply originated.  Why some random public computer instead of my secret home account?  But hey, cops--guess what?  Nope!  I really don’t have any secret home internet account!  That’s why you don’t have one in your records.

But the part that could have gone differently that I can’t get out of my mind is-- there I was, sitting at a public computer with other people around.  What if, just as I was leaning in to hear what was on the video, another senior had stopped to talk about something and I just muted the video but left it running while we talked?  What if it had run for enough time to get to the illegal part without my being aware of it?  What if the video suddenly began to work, showing illegal images while that senior was standing there?  Does anyone here believe that senior would not have immediately concluded they’d caught me searching the internet for those images?

Or what if I had been just a little bit less attentive to the sound track that day and not noticed that first ugly reference to a type of child pornography?  What if I had been distracted by the video problems and had persisted in trying to get the video to work long enough for it to suddenly pop on at the point where illegal images were on screen?  For me these are truly frightening counter narratives.

Or what if they had targeted this sting on someone else--and for that matter, what if they already HAVE targeted this sting on someone else--someone less active in our movement, someone less suspicious about the messages they’re receiving in their email account every day, someone who wasn’t listening carefully when the video came up, someone more naïve or just unlucky on that day.  This may have already happened--arrests may have already been made and we won’t even know about it until the county sheriff makes his big announcement about how great he is for “cracking down on sex offenders.”  By that time facts no longer matter.

I fear that law enforcement will draw the wrong conclusion from this attempt to sting me.  The right conclusion of course would be that there’s nothing nefarious to find here, just me and my one email account and no home internet service to investigate; the wi-fi card has been removed from my home laptop; I have no data plan on my phone, and that wi-fi is permanently turned off.  But I fear they will instead conclude that they’ll have to be sneakier about it if they want to catch me doing these things I’m not doing.  If they do decide to get sneakier, I fear that I could get tripped up in any one of a thousand innocent scenarios like the examples above that could get me falsely arrested.  And I hate law enforcement for forcing me to live in this paranoid state.

I also keep asking myself, why me specifically?  Why did someone contact NARSOL looking for me by name?  The only answer I can come up with is that this person thinks I’m some big deal activist, and it could discredit our movement to lure me onto a CP site.  Of course I’m not some big deal activist; I’m just the travel guy.  But it occurs to me that if they’re looking for me, they could be looking for other “big deal activists” too, especially those associated with Orange County or other Florida counties receiving sting grant money.  So actual big deal activists should be extra careful.

Lastly, what if this incident has made me completely paranoid and it’s not a police sting?  Who else could it have been?  It has to be someone who (a) knows me by name and by my two online outlets and (b) thinks NARSOL is a good place to look for me.  Could it be a vigilante or a scam artist?  If so, they must have access to information about me only the cops should have.  Or could this be a real online minor-attracted person delusional enough to think I want to be part of a CP-adjacent podcast?  It’s hard for me to believe, but I’d be interested if someone can come up with a believable innocent explanation.

Meanwhile I’m trying to get this story posted on as many sites as possible, both as a warning to others and as a way of getting my side of this incident--which is to say the truth--out there before somebody else tries to twist this truth into a lie and an arrestable offense.

Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area: A Special Report

From the 50 State Visitor Guide (Kentucky):

K.R.S. 2019  §§17.500 through 17.580.  502 K.A.R. 31:020

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

K.R.S. §17.510 states 5 working days for initial registration and updates.  Registrants employed in the state must register if present for a period of 14 consecutive days or 30 days in a calendar year.  Per Kentucky SOR office, visitors are not required to register unless present for 14 consecutive days, or 30 days in a calendar year.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction: 1,000 ft. of schools, day care facilities, and publicly owned playgrounds; must move out of residence within 90 days if a new facility opens.  §17.545.  The state notes that the Kentucky Supreme Court forbid retroactive application of this law to those who committed offenses prior to July 12, 2006 and states “The Kentucky State Police do not evaluate or approve particular locations for compliance with sex offender residence restrictions. If you have any questions concerning whether you are subject to the residence restrictions in KRS 17.545 or whether you may legally reside at a particular location you may wish to consult an attorney.”

Presence restriction:  May not be present on grounds of school or daycare or publicly owned pool or splash pad without advanced written permission.  K.R.S. §17.545.  Registrants are prohibited from using certain social media and chat rooms, and are forbidden to photograph or videotape minors without parental consent.  §17.546. Updated Aug. 2024

Per Kentucky SOR office, a procedure is available for removal from registry after departure.

Duration & updates:

20 years or lifetime, depending on offense. §17.520. Updates annual or every 90 days, depending on offense. §17.520. No tiers.

From the 50 State Visitor Guide (Tennessee):

Tenn. Code Ann. 2019  §§40-39-201 through 40-39-306

AWA Compliant

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

48 hours for initial reg. and updates, but “within 48 hours” is defined to not include weekends and holidays.  §40-39-202(32).  

Visitors must register “within 48 hours” of entering state. Per Tenn. SOR office, the 48 hour clock starts upon crossing the state line but will be interrupted from midnight to midnight on weekends and holidays. Also, per SOR office there is no limit on number of repeat visits per week, month or year.

“Primary residence” established after 5 consecutive days. “Secondary residence” means any residence for 14 or more aggregate days in a calendar year, or 4 or more days in a month.  “Residence” means physical presence. §§40-39-202, 40-39-203.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence & Employment Restriction:  1,000 ft. from school, day care center, child care facility, public park, playground, recreation center or athletic field, or the offender’s victim or victim’s family. §40-39-211.  In 2019 TN applied new restrictions to residence with any minor; these restrictions are under a Temporary 

Restraining Order pending trial (see NARSOL Digest 8/19 p. 5).

Residence restriction:  Violent offenders and those with convictions against minors may not reside in on-campus housing of any institution of higher education. 

Presence restriction: 1,000 ft. from school, day care center, child care facility, public park, playground, recreation center or athletic field, with exceptions. §40-39-211.  Tennessee libraries have authority to restrict access by Registrants.  §40-39-216.

Per Tenn. SOR office, these restrictions DO apply to visitors during the 48 hour grace period.

Duration & updates:

Life.  Petition to remove – 10 years from end of probation.  §163A.125.

Violent offenders update quarterly; all others annually.  §40-39-207

Most recent visit: June 2024

Land Between the Lakes is not a national park but rather one of the crown jewels of America’s National Recreation Area system, which is in turn administered by the National Parks Service – which means, like Great Smoky Mountains National Park which is also partly in Tennessee, that it is “out of the jurisdiction” of state and local law enforcement.  The harsh residency and presence restrictions of the states where it’s located are not enforced here.

Land Between the Lakes is a creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority, situated between two long skinny lakes (Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley) created as a result of the construction of Kentucky Dam at the confluence of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.  The two rivers, and therefore the two lakes, run parallel to each other for over 50 miles and the TVA acquired this land as part of its water quality control plan.  

Now it’s a National Recreation Area with lots to offer in a part of our country where high quality outdoor recreation opportunities can be hard for registered people to find.  According to Kentucky state statutes, no registered person may reside within 1,000 ft. of schools, day care facilities, and publicly owned playgrounds.  K.R.S. §17.545.  Per the state SOR office, yes these restrictions will apply to you during the 14 consecutive days or 30 days per calendar year you are allowed to be in-state before you have to register.  

So what this means is, yes you can go to Kentucky state and local parks but you can’t camp anywhere within 1000 feet of a playground.  And guess what?  Most Kentucky state parks have playgrounds conveniently located in each of their campgrounds.  Oh well!  But Land Between the Lakes is out of their jurisdiction. Yey!

Tennessee is even worse, as I have pointed out in other blog posts.  Tennessee has statewide 1000 ft. residency AND presence restrictions preventing you from getting anywhere close to having any healthy outdoor recreation at their state and local parks.  Who knows what additional punishments local governments have piled on.  Oh well!  But Land Between the Lakes is out of their jurisdiction. Yey!

Now let’s be clear – there is a reason why Land Between the Lakes is not a national park.  It doesn’t have natural wonders or places of historical or cultural significance.  It just happens to be a (large) spit of land between these two hydroelectric reservoirs.  

BUT!  If you want to go boating, swimming, water skiing, ATVing, dirt biking, hiking, backpacking (they have a 57.8 mile long “North-South Trail”), visit the planetarium at the visitors center, or for that matter go admire the dam which is an amazing piece of engineering, you can do so at Land Between the Lakes without fear of violating any state or local rule, and without worrying that some dickhead sheriff’s deputy is going to hassle you.  And that is a very good thing.

Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.  It’s a place every registered traveler should know about, and visit often.

 What if your travel plans crumble?

On my most recent cross-country trip my travel plans really did go kerfluey, so I decided the best public service I can perform is to tell you about it, and tell you how I fixed registry-related issues as I went along, so you too will know how to repair travel disasters on the fly.

My story actually begins a few weeks before I began this road trip, when I had to junk my old beast of a car and get a “new” one – new to me anyway.  And I must say I am so far very happy with my new car, despite the fact that later in this story it will be the cause of one of my registry-related road trip disasters.

Until now, everything I owned was registered and plated in Florida.  I have a Florida driver’s license.  But now I was junking the old beast in Iowa, registering and plating the new Sienna in Iowa while still retaining my Florida driver’s license.  Question: Is that a thing?  Can I really do that and will either state’s DMV or SOR office care?

Answer: Yes, I can and did do that, and nobody cared.  I even pointed it all out to everyone at both registry offices and DMV’s (little did I know how soon I’d be back in Florida so I could take care of that part) and they told me point blank – nobody cares.

There were two little problems, however.  One was that my old car’s title was in Florida and I had to have a friend find it and mail it to me.  The other, more germane to you if you’re a registrant, was that while my Iowa registry office was happy to remove my old car from my sheet, they insisted on keeping the old Florida license plate number on it, apparently out of fear I would use that plate to go commit a sinister crime (!), until I could produce an official Florida return of license plate receipt.  

My new car - with Independence Hall in the background

After groaning over that for a while I just tossed my plate in the car, figuring it’ll be where I need it when I get back to Florida next winter.

A few weeks later I went to the Johnson County sheriff’s department to report travel.  For this trip I had cobbled together four unrelated errands all of which were somewhere in the eastern U.S.:

1.  Attend the NARSOL conference in Atlanta.

2.  After stopping at my sister-in-law’s house in New Jersey to take measurements for #3, go to Maine to make this year’s attempt to go whale watching (see my Maine blog entry).

3.  After stopping at my brother’s house in Rhode Island, go back to my sister-in-law’s house to do the strangest errand of this trip, namely load into my new Sienna an old school telephone booth to be transported to Iowa.  I’ll explain that later.

4.  Join my family, who were also on the return leg of their vacation by this time, in Philadelphia, to spend three days exploring Pennsylvania before we went our separate ways back home.

Now, how shall we report this travel to my local sheriff?  By the way, how to report multi-destination travel is a frequently asked question for me as a travel advisor.  I decided to give them as destinations any place I would be staying more than one night.  These were: the NARSOL conference hotel in Atlanta; the state park in Maine where I would camp while trying to see whales; and two nights at a hotel near Hershey, PA with my family.  Everything else, including visiting my brother and sister-in-law, was no more than an overnight stay while traveling to the next destination. My sheriff’s department was happy, and of course that’s what I live for.  Now let’s see how all this turned out.

1. NARSOL Conference in Atlanta 

NARSOL Conference

So I set off for Atlanta, and wow that was a great conference.  But while there I got on the hotel computer to pursue a different project that few people outside the Florida Action Committee know about.  I am determined to take control of my own end of life destiny by establishing my own assisted living / rehabilitative care / end of life care facility which (a) will accept registered people (including me) and (b) complies with all of Florida’s horrible residency requirements.  Because all the goodwill in the world is worthless if I can’t register that address at the sheriff’s department.

2. Maine whale watching  Divert to Tallahassee

So the first step in this project is to find and purchase the right property.  And much to my surprise a property had just then come on the market that was absolutely perfect.  I would never be closer to Tallahassee than I was right then in Atlanta, so I dropped everything and headed south that Sunday to participate in a frenzied bidding war that I ultimately lost.  I hadn’t put my finances in enough order to be in a bidding war anyway, but I’m now fixing that and will be ready next time.

However … this little Florida escapade raises a couple of registry questions.  Most obviously, the second thing I had to do Monday morning was call my Iowa sheriff’s department and attempt to delete the Maine state park and replace it with my home address in Tallahassee for those three days.  Fortunately the woman behind the bulletproof glass remembered who I was and cheerfully made the change.  I would even able to catch up to my previous travel plans by proceeding to my brother’s house in RI with a stop in NJ to take measurements.  

But here’s the odd thing: Because I was originally supposed to make both of these one night stops while returning from Maine to Philadelphia, they were not “destinations” on my sheet.  My next “destination” was the hotel near Hershey, PA.  By catching up to my original plans I would be, in fact, off the registry’s radar for several days, in a completely different part of the country from where they thought.  Hmmmmm …

But why was my call to Iowa the second thing that morning?  Because they were in a different time zone from me, so I could first go to the Leon County registry office to “check in” AND “check out” because I’d be leaving 48 hours later.  I took that opportunity to delete my old car and add my new one, just as I was supposed to.  Then after calling Iowa once that registry office opened I moved on to Priority #3 which was finding my old FL license plate right where I had tossed it, turning it in at DMV and obtaining the all-important official Florida return of license plate receipt.

Last Florida thing – I knew from past experience that if I tried to report the rest of my trip as being from Florida they would require me to change my home there from “open ended temporary residence” to “permanent residence” and have a return date.  That certainly would be a disaster.  So I told them I was returning to Iowa, to the permanent residence they had on file for me there.  As far as I’m concerned that was a true statement – they were returning me to the tender mercies of the Iowa registry, and if anyone wanted to call the Johnson County sheriff’s department they, after all, would know right where I was.  Well, once I was in RI they would.

3. Car trouble in Rhode Island

Then as I was leaving Florida on my way to get back on track, I started having car trouble!  Specifically my car started misfiring –which to my chagrin was the same problem that caused me to junk my old car! (see my Missouri blog entry for more on this).  But this time it was only at high speeds.  I only had to back off to 65 mph to make it all go away – so much so that by Virginia the idiot lights even went off, a sure sign my car hadn’t misfired in a long time.

Still, while I was in New Jersey that first time I went to my sister-in-law’s car repair guy (her husband was a car repair guy so I trust her judgement) that Friday morning to get diagnostics.  His verdict – Ignition coil #2.  Just take it easy until you get back to Iowa and you can get it fixed then.

So off I went to Rhode Island.  But as I was passing through Westchester County suddenly my car started misfiring again, with a vengeance and at every speed.  Shit!  I limped on and the Connecticut Turnpike was a nightmare.  I called ahead to my brother and said “As soon as I get there you have to take me to the nearest Toyota dealership!”  They were the only place I knew would be open both Friday evening and all day Saturday.

When we got there I admit I was a total jerk.  NO, you cannot schedule this job for Monday!  NO, this has to happen right now!  You have to push all your other customers out of the way and work on my car NOW!

But aside from being determined to get my trip back on track, there was also a registry-related reason that I was acting like such a jerk.  Anyone who’s ever participated in an ACSOL monthly zoom call knows that Rhode Island has the shortest registration grace period of any state – just 24 hours.  Janice announces it every month just like clockwork.  I who have a brother living there know this very well but as Janice always points out, it’s a small state and I’ve never had any reason to be there more than 24 hours (see my Rhode Island blog entry).

Well guess what?!  There might be a first time for everything after all!  I had entered RI at about 4:00 pm, so I had until 4:00 pm on Saturday to get the hell out of there!

Downtown Providence on a summer afternoon

Now let’s be realistic for a minute.  I already told you I had not reported Rhode Island as a “destination.”  Nobody either in Iowa or Florida even knew I was there – even though it was exactly where I was supposed to be on that day when I originally reported my travel in Iowa.  Once I was in RI my trip was officially “back on track.”  So if I were to stretch the boundaries of Rhode Island’s registry law, no one would ever know.  On the other hand, any encounter with law enforcement while stretching that boundary would be … unfortunate, not to mention so paranoiac I’d probably have a heart attack.

But despite my behavior … or perhaps because of it … Toyota didn’t get to the diagnostics until Saturday morning.  So my brother took me on a walking tour of downtown Providence – which turns out to be a really cool place – followed by dinner out joined by my sister-in-law (his wife).

The following morning Toyota got around to the diagnostics.  Their verdict – Ignition coil #2.  Mercifully they had one in stock!  They also wanted to replace all my spark plugs so I said fine.  $788 later I was out the door by 1:00 pm and out of RI by 1:30, leaving 2 1/2 hours to spare.  After one pre-planned stop in CT I was on my way to the Garden State.  And I must say, my car has been purring like a kitten ever since.

4. Loading a phone booth

So what’s this about a telephone booth?  Well, after my brother died my sister-in-law asked us whether we wanted any of his personal items.  I thought about it for almost a year before saying, “I want the phone booth.  I’m going to bring it to Iowa and set it on my patio and have it to remember him by.”

Yes it fit!

Now, when you say something like that you’re kind of obligated to getting around to picking it up and taking it to Iowa.  That’s what this errand was all about.  That’s why I’d had to go meet two days ago with a couple of my brother’s car buddies who had been enlisted to help me load it – they couldn’t believe it was going to fit in the back of a Toyota Sienna until they measured it for themselves. I was back that Sunday morning to get their help sliding it in. Then I was off to my next stop, Philadelphia, to meet up with my family.

5. Touring PA with family

The next 2 1/2 days went very smoothly, I stayed at the same hotels as my family, just a different room, we toured Pennsylvania Dutch Country which I hate (see my PA blog entry) but everybody else loves. On the day the kids went to Hersheypark my BFF & I instead went to the American Antique Car Association Auto Museum also in Hershey. It’s really great and I have mentioned it before (PA blog entry again).  Then we did laundry together, which is super romantic.

Cool looking mural in Philly

On the third day we separated, but before heading home to Iowa I had one more overnight stay, this time at my sister and brother-in-law’s house in Maryland.  When I set this stop up I asked them, this is the night of July 3 – are you sure that’s okay?  Are you going anywhere for the holiday?  But they said no problem, come visit.

6. DC on 7/4

Once that was settled I started to think – Hey, I’m going to wake up on July 4 just minutes away from Washington, DC.  Wouldn’t it be fun to spend that day as a tourist in DC?  I didn’t think about this seriously until after I left Iowa, so does adding this extra travel day present any registry issue, either in Iowa or DC?

Answer: No worries.  My experience in both Iowa and Florida is that nobody cares if return a little late – just settle up when you check back in at the end of the trip.  In this case I had actually told the lady behind the bulletproof glass that I was returning Friday late, so I’d be back to check in on Monday.  If this little side trip delayed me until Saturday it wouldn’t change anything.

I must say that the epic failure of my trip to DC wasn’t registry related.  Perhaps you will recall it was only a few days before July 4 that (a) Biden had a poor debate performance and (b) SCOTUS made things infinitely worse by granting all presidents immunity for “official acts.”  I don’t know about you but I became very distressed over this, even as I was travelling with family in Pennsylvania.  

In my distress I realized I was going to be in Washington, DC on July 4.  I fantasized there might be protests or marches on that holiday, and I would be there for that …

Then two things happened: (a) I realized that this was perhaps the most unrealistic fantasy I’d ever had (and that’s saying something!) and (b) I found the act of making my own protest signs to be quite cathartic, so by the time I finished them I no longer felt the need to use them for anything.

And so, of I went to Washington, DC with not greater aspiration than to make the Supreme Court one of my stops and perhaps yell at them for a few minutes.  Of course my rant would include cussing them out over Smith vs. Doe.  But unfortunately I got off at the wrong Metro stop ( Note to self: Capital South is the closest station – not Judiciary Square) and after wandering aimlessly lost for a while came out on the National Mall near the Smithsonian.

At that time the annual DC Fourth of July parade was assembling in that area and beginning its march down Constitution Ave.  I noticed that many of the causes or populations that I might sympathize with had been co-opted by the parade.  Many had floats and teams of marchers.  No wonder they weren’t protesting.  Got a worthy cause to promote?  Join the parade!

Worthy groups who might have reason to be a little worried about the future.

Notice police in the background.

Later I told one of my Florida advocate friends that I no longer want to go vigil on the Supreme Court steps next year.  Instead I want a float in that parade!  I want WAR to bring their coffin and display it on our float.  And I want Derek to be on the float with a microphone reading his list of victims of vigilantism as we march down Constitution Ave.  Yes Derek I was really inspired by that …

Well there goes another unrealistic fantasy …

After having lunch from one of those super expensive food trucks that are all over the place in DC ($12 for shaved ice??) I returned to my car and left for Iowa. The rest of my trip was uneventful.  And yes, when I returned to the Johnson County sheriff’s department to “check in’ the following Monday, I tried to slide the official Florida return of license plate receipt under the bulletproof glass but the lady refused to even look at it up close.  She just deleted my old license plate and was done with it.  I guess she was aware of the stupidity of her job.

Phone booth standing on my patio