A couple of travel clarifications …

Dear Janice and Chance:

I am writing to offer clarifications to a couple of things you have been saying about domestic travel on your monthly ACSOL zoom meetings, most recently on August 20, 2022.  

My first clarification has to do with what you sometimes call the “coffee rule,” the idea that if a state has a maximum number of consecutive days you can be in-state before triggering an obligation to register, you can leave the state one day early, buy a cup of coffee (being sure to keep the date & time stamped receipt), then return to re-start the time clock.

In concept this is true, but with one very important clarification.  Most states SOR laws specify consecutive days (as opposed to hours) a registrant can be in the state, AND most states count any PARTIAL DAY as a day.  Some states (Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana … ) have this fact spelled out in their statutes.  Other states (Florida, Georgia …) do this by SOR office policy.  

Either way, what this means for a registered traveler is that you can’t just leave the state for coffee, or even stay out of state over one night, because if you do so both days (i.e. the day you leave and the following day when you return) will be counted against you as consecutive partial days.  Instead you will need to stay out of state for one full day and two nights, all supported by date and time stamped receipts, in order to return to the state in question and re-start the clock.

Fortunately for Californians wanting to visit Las Vegas, Nevada’s SOR statute specifies not two days but 48 hours (Tennessee is another example of this; Rhode Island is 24 hours).  In this situation the coffee rule really works as long as you stay out of state for at least one hour and support that with time stamped receipts.

My other clarification has to do with the oft-asked question, once I get myself off the registry in my state of offense (using California as an example), am I free to travel to another state without tripping over their registry laws?  Chance, on August 20 you correctly urged great caution on this point.  

My clarification is this: MOST state & territorial SOR laws tie your obligation to register NOT to whether your home state registry status, but to if you have EVER been convicted of a registrable offense in any state or territory.  For any of that majority of states you will still need to keep track of your days and not overstay their grace period, even after you get yourself off your home state’s registry.  Only ten states have SOR laws that specifically say that if you are off the registry in your state of offense you don’t have to register with them.

In case you’re wondering, those eight states are: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

 Massachusetts

Benjamin Franklin

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

A.L.M. G.L. 2019 Part I, Title II, Ch. 6, §§178C thru 178Q

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

2 days for initial registration by mail if moving to the state; 10 days for change of residence or employment address within the state. Those residing elsewhere but employed in the state must register w/in 2 days by mail. Those planning to work or attends college in the state must register 10 days before commencement by mail.

Visitors: Law requires registration of “secondary addresses,” defined as place of residence for 14 or more aggregate days in a calendar year, or a place routinely resided in for 4 or more consecutive or non-consecutive days per month. §178C.  Per MA SOR office, you must register if you are in MA 4 consecutive nights, or 4 non-consecutive nights in a month, or 12 days aggregate per calendar year. Updated Aug. 2024.

MA SOR response letter (2020) states no residency restrictions apply to visiting registrants in this state. 

Per Rolfe Survey, visiting registrants once placed on state’s registry ARE NOT REMOVED.  However, Tier 1 registrants are not placed on the public website. §178D(e).

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

None. 

Duration & updates:

20 years to life.  §178G. Annual updates: Unclassified & Tier 1 – mail;

Tiers 2 & 3 – in person. Homeless & shelters – every 30 days. §178E;§178F1/2

 

Italian pastry shop in Boston's North End

Most recent visit: July 2022

There is, as they sometimes say, good and bad news about Massachusetts.  Let’s do the bad news first, because for a visitor at least it’s not all that bad.

You can only visit Massachusetts for three consecutive or non-consecutive days per month – because the fourth day would trigger the state’s registration requirement.  You are also limited to 13 aggregate days per calendar year.  That’s a pretty short time window.  Furthermore, as noted above, if you do wind up on Massachusetts’ registry they won’t take you off when you leave the state and it’s 20 years to life.

So be mindful of your time in Massachusetts, and document your whereabouts to be able to prove you haven’t overstayed your welcome.

The good news is that at least at the state level there are no residency or presence restrictions to be concerned about (although I do not know about local restrictions). So presumably when you visit Boston as I did in July 2022 while tagging along with my family on their Northeast vacation you don’t constantly have to be looking over your shoulder to make sure you haven’t accidently walked into a park or library. On that morning my brother, whom I had visited overnight at his home in Rhode Island, accompanied me to Boston, where we met up with the rest of my family and spent the day being tourists.  Boston is a great place to do that.

There is a parking garage underneath Boston Commons.  It’s expensive, true, but really convenient.  Instead of taking one of those expensive (up to $100 per person!) on-off tour trolleys I convinced my family to walk (most of) the Liberty Trail, which begins at the Boston Commons Visitor Center where we picked up a Liberty Trail guidebook.  Now we could just follow the red line and see every attraction any Boston tourist is supposed to see. 

Quincy Market.  Faneuil Hall.  The Old North Church.  Bunker Hill.  We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant in the North End as every tourist is supposed to, and bought cookies at an Italian pastry shop.  After lunch we all got on the Boston Subway at nearby Haymarket Station and went to see Harvard.  

My teenage granddaughters were especially excited to go see America’s oldest and most famous university.  It is a place with which, believe it or not, I am quite familiar, so I served as tour guide as we explored Harvard Yard and some of the educational buildings that surround it.  Then it was on to the Harvard Coop, which grandma had been talking up for days in advance.  She spent a fortune there on trinkets, T-shirts etc., and you will be as pleased as I was to know that the teens found books – yes books! – to suit their thirsty young minds.

Then it was back on the subway to return to Boston commons and our cars.  My brother continued on the subway to South Station where he got on a train to go back home to Rhode Island while the rest of us continued on to New Hampshire (my second time there, see my NH blog post).

 New Hampshire

North Conway Scenic Railroad (one of the better ones)

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

NH R.S.A. 2019 §651-B:1 through 651-B:12; Admin. Code Saf-C 5501.01 through 5506.7

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Five business days for initial registration and updates. §§651-B:4, B:5

Visitors: “Residence” defined as more than a total of five aggregate days during a one-month period (but not a calendar month per NH SOR office). §651-B:1(XIII).

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

None. 

Duration & updates:

Tier 1 – 10 yrs. Tiers 2&3 – life.  Petition to remove – T1 – 5 yrs. T2 – 15 yrs.  Updates:  T1&2 – 6 months.  T3 –3 months.

No I didn't climb this mountain.  I found this photo in Google Images!

Most recent visit: July 2022

New Hampshire’s SOR law is unusual in that while there are a few states cruel enough to limit registered visitors to only a few days per calendar year (Florida, Illinois and Alabama come to mind), this is one of the few states that has an aggregate standard per month – specifically five aggregate days.  Also, although the state law is silent on whether the words “one month period” means a calendar month, the nice lady at the New Hampshire SOR office was NOT silent.  She said that “month” means any 30 day period whether a calendar month or not.  Thanks for nothing.

Beyond that small number of days, however, New Hampshire is pretty easy to get along with, since at a state level at least it has no residency, presence or other restrictions. Local restrictions may apply and as with so many other states you must assume that any partial day will count against the five day total.  So to that degree you can travel the state without worry.

I had passed briefly through the southeast corner of Granite State a couple of times on my way between Massachusetts and Maine, but July 2022 was the first time I have spent enough time (four partial days total) to justify writing a blog entry about it.  Really, the only reason I was there the first time I entered the state was because I had been unable to reserve a Maine campsite for a Saturday night during peak tourist season.

I entered far northern New Hampshire from Maine and drove twisting scenic country roads south until I came to the tacky tourist mecca of North Conway.  After inching my way through all that traffic I turned west into White Mountain National Forest on SR 112 where there are several campgrounds, fingers crossed hoping to find one – just one – little empty campsite.  Going right past the “Campground Full” signs, I drove slowly around each campground loop until suddenly *gasp!* there it was, apparently empty and available.  I pulled into the campsite parking space, approached the “campground host” to ask about it and he said “Yup, those people just left a few minutes ago.”  Tadahhh!

The next morning I was up and gone, headed for my brother’s house in Rhode Island.  But that wasn’t my last time in New Hampshire on this trip to New England.  A few days later I was back after having visited Boston with my family, tagging along with them on their way to Maine.  This time it was a weeknight and I had a reserved state park campsite.  The next morning I split up with my family again.  They headed north and I zoomed southwest to New Jersey.  

Now as you can see, on this trip I spent a total of four days in New Hampshire within a single 30 day period.  All of those days were partial days but they all still counted toward my allowable total.  Therefore I wore out my welcome in the Granite State for at least 30 days, and as of this writing those 30 days have not yet elapsed.  Oh well.

Arizona – Travel Alert

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

A.R.S. 2019  §§ 13-3821 through 13-3829, 13-3727

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Visitors must register if staying for more than 72 hours excluding weekends & holidays (per statute). §13-3821(A). SOR office refuses to answer whether return visits allowed per month or year. “That’s determined by local sheriff.” NOTE: AZ SOR office defers on many questions to local county sheriffs for interpretation. Updated Aug 2024.

Initial registration required “within 72 hours excluding weekends & holidays of entering and remaining in any county.”  §13-3821.  Updated 8/2022.  Registrants working in state must report in any county where present for 14 consecutive days or an aggregate of 30 days/yr.  Address change etc. required within 72 hours (business days only).  §13-3822.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction:  1,000 ft. restriction applies to Level 3 offenders. §13-3727. Local governments are pre-empted from adopting more restrictive requirements. §13-3727.

Duration & updates:

10 years to life. Transients report every 90 days.  All others annually.

Travel Alert: Registration deadline reduced to 72 hours!

As part of my 2022 update of my 50 state registered visitors guide I have discovered that the state of Arizona has reduced the time period in-state which will trigger a registered visitor’s obligation to register from 10 days (which wasn’t so bad) to just 72 hours (excluding weekends and legal holidays).  

That’s pretty short!  It also puts Arizona in the same category as Tennessee by specifying a number of hours instead of days while excluding weekends and holidays from the calculation.  For a state with so much for any visitor to see, it’s a real shame.

There are a couple of silver linings to this change.  First, by expressing their new deadline in hours instead of days, Arizona has eliminated the whole question of whether a partial day counts toward the calculation.  Instead, if you cross the state line at, say, 2:00 pm on a Thursday, your time clock will start and you will have used up 34 of your 72 hour allotment by midnight on Friday night.  Your clock starts again on Monday at 12:00 AM and you’ll have until 2:00 pm on Tuesday to get out of state.

Second, there is nothing to prevent registered visitors form leaving for a couple of hours – having lunch at a restaurant just across the state line (making sure to keep your receipt so you can prove you left Arizona) – then returning and starting the clock all over again.  In theory, if you left on Tuesday and returned Wednesday morning, your next 72 hours would take you into the following weekend and you could stay until the wee hours of the following Monday morning. That’ll give you back most of the 10 days you had before this change in Arizona law.

On the other hand, you will have to plan your Arizona vacation more carefully.  Good luck to you all.

 Maryland

The U.S.S. Constellation at Baltimore's Inner Harbor

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

Md. Code of Criminal Procedure 2019  §§11-701 through 11-721

AWA Compliant

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Three days for initial reg. and updates for permanent or temporary residents, those who habitually live, students, transients, and those employed in the state.  “Employment” means 14 consecutive days or an aggregate of over 30 days per calendar year. §11-705.

“Transients” (including visitors) present in state for a period exceeding 14 days or an aggregate period for 30 day in a calendar year, for a purpose other than employment or education, must register within 3 days. §11-701(r).

“Habitually lives” means “any place where a person visits for longer than 5 hours per visit more than 5 times within a 30-day period.”  §11-701(d)(2).

Procedure available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Presence restriction: May not knowing enter school grounds or property containing a child care home or child care institution, with exceptions.  §§11-705, 11-722.

Duration & updates:

15 yrs.- life depending on Tier. 

Updates: T1 – 6 mo.  T2 – 6 mo.  T3 – 3 mo.  Homeless registrants – weekly.  §§11-705, 11-707.

Most recent visit: July 2022

Maryland’s rules for visiting registrants shouldn’t be too difficult to follow.  “Transients” (including visitors) intending to be present in the state for more than 14 consecutive days or an aggregate period for 30 day in a calendar year, for a purpose other than employment or education, must register within three days of arrival. §11-701(r).  That should be enough time to cover most situations.

It so happens that I have a sister who lives in Maryland with her husband and several progeny.  In July 2022 my own family was traveling to the Northeast from Florida.  I was tagging along on this trip, coming from my summer home in Iowa and meeting up in Washington DC.  To accomplish all this I spent parts of four consecutive days in Maryland, which was well under the state’s limit of 14 consecutive days or 30 aggregate days per calendar year which would have triggered an obligation to register.

On my first partial day in Maryland I entered from West Virginia on I-68, staying overnight at a motel in Frederick before proceeding on I-70 and I-270 on my way to DC.  I parked at the Branch Ave. Metro station, also in Maryland close to the motel I had reserved for my second night.  It was a weekend, so Metro parking was free and the Metro itself was only $2.00 per trip – VERY cheap compared to the astronomical prices my family paid to park and stay at their downtown hotel.

As I noted in my blog post about DC, we spent parts of two days seeing the sights.  My motel on the first night was in Maryland, and after the second day I visited and spent the night at my sister’s house, also in Maryland.

On my final day in Maryland I met up with my family at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  It was an oppressively hot July day but we made the best of it, after which we all left for Pennsylvania – my family to another hotel and I to a comfortable state park campground.