Pennsylvania
So-called "historic train ride" in Strasburg, PA
From the 50 Sta te Visitor Guide :
42 Pa.C.S.2019 §§9799.10 through 9799.9
Registration Triggers and Deadlines:
Within 3 business days of establishing residence, becoming employed, or attending school. 3 business days for updates. If fails to establish residence but nevertheless resides in state, shall register as transient. §9799.19.
Visitors: “Residence” means place where domiciled for 30 days or more w/in a calendar year. “Transient” means no residence but nevertheless resides in state in a temporary place or dwelling, including a homeless shelter or park. §9799.12. Per the Lancaster State Police office, PA has no specific time limit for visiting registrants but staying more than 30 days per calendar year or becoming employed or attending school establishes residency and would trigger a requirement to register. Updated June 2021.
List of registration sites: www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/VerificationSites
Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:
None. Registry website supposedly only shows: Sexually violent offenders, Sexually violent predators, Sexually violent delinquent children.
Duration & updates:
15 years to life. Updates: T1 – annual, T2 – 6 mo., T3 & SVP – quarterly, Transient – monthly
Most recent visit: December 2023
In theory, Pennsylvania should be a pretty easy state to get along with as a registered visitor. Their SOR statute states that “Residence” means place where a registrant is domiciled for 30 days or more within a calendar year. Also, there appear to be no statewide residency or presence requirements (although as with many other states you should be careful about local restrictions).
Unfortunately “Transient” means the registrant has no residence but nevertheless “resides in the state,” but while the word “residence” is defined, the word “resides” is not, so … if you’re traveling through Pennsylvania, how long do you have to be there before you “reside” without having a “residence” …? To the average traveler this may seem like a ridiculous question, but as registered citizens you and I know it’s far from academic. You can’t count on the state police officer who pulls you over for having a blown tail light to give you the interpretation you wanted.
Worse, calling Penn. SOR office is useless because they don’t answer the phone and the outgoing message only refers you to the FAQ at www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us , and of course the FAQ doesn’t answer this particular question. Because of this the only way to answer this question is to visit one of Pennsylvania’s “registration sites” (see www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/VerificationSites ) which turn out to be state police regional headquarters.
I resolved to do this on a trip I made to the Northeast May 2021. After staying overnight at a PA state park campground I visited the Lancaster State Police office (which is also a Registration Verification Site) and was referred there to speak to an officer who admitted he was “not the sex offender expert” (then why was he assigned to answer this question? Was the “expert” out of the office?).
After going back to his office and reading the statute he nevertheless opined that PA has no specific time limit for visiting registrants but staying more than 30 days per calendar year or becoming employed or attending school establishes residency and would trigger a requirement to register. That confirmed the same conclusion I reached after reading the statute.
In December 2023 I traveled from Florida with my now ex-wife but still Best Friend Forever to visit relatives and participate in a Wreaths Across America event on Long Island. We had decided ahead of time to reserve a hotel room one night in Philadelphia so we could take in a few sights the next morning before continuing on to New Jersey.
As with our previous stops in Virginia, my ex-wife had never been to Philadelphia’s historic sites before and she was very impressed. I was too even though I’d seen them before. At lunchtime we asked one of the sales ladies at the Liberty Bell gift shop where to get a good Philly Cheesesteak and she suggested the Reading Terminal Marketplace. Wow! It’s like other downtown markets such as Faneuil Hall or Charleston Market, but even bigger with all kinds of stuff – including several Philly Cheesesteak options. I also bought baked goods at one of the semi-authentic looking Amish stalls.
We spent a couple of hours just at the Reading Market but after that it was time to get moving – we had a hotel reservation that night in far norther New Jersey.
Previous visits: 2022-23
In July 2022 I traveled thru Pennsylvania while tagging along with my family on their trip to the Northeast. My ex-wife likes Pennsylvania Dutch Country very much. I find it to be hopelessly commercialized. What must it be like to be an actual Amish or Mennonite person trying to go about your life surrounded by billboards and tacky trinket shops and fake buggy rides? You have my sympathy, folks.
American Antique Car Assn. Museum, Hershey PA
Nevertheless she had reserved a hotel room right in “downtown” Intercourse. I stayed at the very same state park I had the year before, about 40 miles away. We spent way too much time at that tacky tourist village in Intercourse, but the upside to that place is that trapping all the tourists there keeps us away from the locals.
Later that day we were all rushing eastbound on I-78. They spent the night at a hotel in Stroudsburg while I had reserved a campground in nearby Hickory Run State Park. We were splitting up after that – they were on their way to Long Island to spend four days with my ex-inlaws, while I was headed for Maine to go whale watching.
On the southbound leg of our Northeast trip we came back thru Pennsylvania, this time to visit Hershey’s Chocolate World and Hersheypark. I was roped into this part of the trip because our granddaughter wanted more than anything to ride on some of the scariest rollercoasters in that theme park, and although Mom insisted that she be accompanied by an adult neither she nor Grandma were willing to do the accompanying.
Wow, some of those rides were truly terrifying! I told my granddaughter that going on them was something I would consider to be an item on my bucket list, but don’t expect me to do that again!
From there it was on to Hickory Run State Park to stay the night before proceeding to New Jersey. It also so happened that on the return leg of my journey, which took me through Upstate New York, I made a little side trip into Upstate PA to see the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. Yes there is such a thing and it’s really spectacular!
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