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.