Rhode Island

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

R.I. Gen. Laws 2019  §§11-37.1-1 through 11-37.1-20

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

24 hours for initial reg. and updates for all registrants who are moving to state, working in state, or are students.  §11-37.1-4. 

Statutes make no specific provision for visitors.  However, RI SOR office states thatvisitors in state for not more that 10 bus. days or two weeks (whichever comes first) must “check in” at local police department within 24 hours for “temporary registration” which does not go on the registry. Return to “check out” when departing the state.Also, there appears to be no limit on number of repeat visits per year.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Level 3 offenders barred from schools and parks. Level 3 also can’t reside within 1000 feet of a K-12 school. Note: this restriction was enjoined in 2015 pending a trial on the merits. Lawsuit still pending in 2020 & injunction still in place.

Other registrants including visitors – can’t reside within 300 feet of K-12 school.

Only Level 2&3 offenders are placed on the public website. §11-37.1-12.

Duration & updates:

10 years to life.  Updates: SVPs – quarterly.  All others – quarterly for first 2 years,then annual. §11-37.1-4.

 

Rhode Island - small but mighty cool to visit

Most recent visit: December 2023

I have been participating in (at least listening in on) the ACSOL monthly call-in meetings since they started having them a few years ago.  Interstate travel has been one of the most requested topics of discussion at every one of those call-in meetings.  Each time, the meeting hosts provide the very good advice that registrants should be keenly aware of the amount of time allowed in any state you visit before registration is required because some states’ deadlines are very short and you do not want to end up on any state’s registry (aside from your home state) if you can possibly avoid it.

At most of the ACSOL call-in meetings I have attended, Rhode Island has been given as an example of a state to be avoided because their registration deadline is among the shortest of all – just 24 hours!  Another short-deadline state they often mention is Nevada (48 hours) which makes sense because ACSOL is based next door in California.  They have a lot of California members that need to be warned about this.

However, when I conducted my first research for this travel blog in the summer of 2020 I called as many state SOR offices as would answer the phone to clarify what their policies actually were, and I found that Rhode Island (along with Nevada) is one of a handful of states that, by policy, claimed to treat a statutory very short visitor registration requirement as a “duty to check in” but holds registrant visitor information pending a commitment to depart within a specified time – the friendly RI SOR office lady said 10 business days or two weeks, whichever comes first.  At departure she claimed it is discarded or filed without ever going on the registry.

Dear friends: I agree with everyone who keeps cautioning me that you can’t take at face value anything that some random SOR office lady tells you on the phone.  I’m just reporting the news here.  And I can also tell you that when I called the RI SOR office back in the Spring of 2021 they gave me the same answer.

Although Rhode Island is a tiny state, the question of what their registration policy is concerns me more than it might the average registrant because I have a brother and sister-in-law living there.  I have visited them several times since I’ve been off probation but, oddly, never spent more than 24 hours in Rhode Island on any one visit.

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.  My brother and sister-in-law were of course on the list of relatives to be visited, but the plan all along was to just go to lunch together, stay a few hours and be on our way. 

We had stayed the previous night at a hotel near Hartford, CT, then entered Rhode Island late morning the next day.  Lunch.  Visit. Leave.  By 4 pm we were back in Connecticut on our way to our next hotel in New London.  I was never in RI long enough for anyone to be concerned about it.

Downtown Providence

Previous visit: July 2022

In July 2022 my Rhode Island side trip was a little more complicated but still didn’t test Rhode Island’s visitor registration policy. 

I was there to visit my brother & sister-in-law and to meet up with my own family who had spent the previous four days with my ex-inlaws on Long Island while I was having an epic fail trying to go whale watching in Maine.  We all met up at a very nice restaurant and had a family dinner and visited together.  Then I stayed the night at my brother’s house while the rest of the family stayed at a hotel (my ex-wife is allergic to cats).

The next morning my brother (but not my sister-in-law) accompanied me to Boston, where all of us met up again and spent the day being tourists (see my MA blog post).  Once that was over my brother 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).

As you can see, on this trip I also spent less than 24 hours in Rhode Island.  If I’m going to test this state’s “visitor registry” policy I want to do it when I have more time available AND have the option of skedaddling out of state if the local police department gives me a different answer than the SOR office did.

 Connecticut

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

Conn. Gen. Stat. 2019 §§54-250 through 54-261

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Registration for all is required “without undue delay,” but probably 3 days. 

Visitors who “travel in this state on a recurring basis for less than five days” shall “notify” law enforcement of “temporary residence.” §54-253(d). 

Per Conn. SOR Unit, FAX to “SOR” – 860-685-8349 – name, DOB, conviction info, state, cell #, dates in state, location of stay in Connecticut. Some municipalities in CT have presence restrictions for schools, public parks, libraries and even town halls(!). Several of these ordinances have been challenged and withdrawn. More challenges are underway. Updated Aug. 2024

Connecticut’s “travel in this state on a recurring basis” language is unique. CT SOR Unit says it means visitors staying less than 5 days should “notify” but need not register, even if such short term “traveling” occurs multiple occasions per month or year.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

No state restrictions but watch out for local regulations.

Duration & updates:

10 years - life. §§54-251, 54-252. Confirm address quarterly by return of mailing from state. §54-257.

Most recent visit: December 2023

Leaving New London on the Long Island Ferry

Connecticut’s SOR law states that visitors who “travel in this state on a recurring basis for less than five days” shall “notify” law enforcement of “temporary residence.” §54-253(d).  This statutory language is unique among the 50 states. Connecticut’s SOR Unit staff says it means visitors staying less than 5 days “should notify” but need not register, even if such short term “traveling” occurs on multiple occasions per month or year.

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.  Because my siblings live in New Jersey and Rhode Island, while her cousins live on Long Island, we decided to visit my siblings first, then take an early morning Long Island Ferry from New London, CT.

This meant we we’d be “travel[ing] in this state on a recurring basis for less than five days” (three partial days) but in my estimation never established a “temporary residence” (an undefined term in CT statutes) because we stayed at two different hotels in two different parts of the state (Hartford and New London) and spent most of Partial Day 2 in Rhode Island with my brother.  Therefore I decided no notification was necessary on this trip.  

Connecticut law has no residency, presence or loitering restrictions for registrants, so we could have visited any of its cities, historic sites or attractions.  Maybe we will on our next visit.  First thing in the morning of Day 3 my BFF and I boarded the Long Island Ferry and were off to Long Island.

Mystic

 New York

Arriving at Orient Point from CT on the Long Island Ferry

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

N.Y. C.L.S. 2019 Corrections §§168

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

10 calendar days for initial reg., after “establishing residency” (not defined), and for updates. §§168-f, 168-k.  In-state workers required to register if present for more than 14 consecutive days or an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year. §168-a.

Visitors: Per NY SOR office, 10 consecutive days or 14 per month. NOTE: Partial days count (except just passing through).  Procedure available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Certain laws may impose a 1,000 ft. residency restriction from schools and child care facilities for registrants on parole or probation.   

Duration & updates:

20 years to life.  Updates: L3 & “sexual predators” 90 days; all others annually.  §168-h.

Most recent visits: Dec. 2023 & Apr. 2024

As I pointed out on my Main Page (above), the “Summary of State and Territorial Registration Laws Concerning Visiting and Temporary Residence by Adults” chart available on the Association for Constitutional Sex Offender Laws (ACSOL) website hasn’t been updated since 2018.  Furthermore, when it comes to New York State that chart relies on the so-called “Rolfe Survey” which dates from 2017. 

Therefore, if you refer to the New York entry on the ACSOL chart which says, “The Rolfe Survey reports that NY does not require visitors to register,” be advised – that information is quite stale by now.

I called the New York State SOR office in June 2020 (updated in August 2023) and here’s what they told me: visitors get 10 consecutive days or 14 per month before being required to register. Translation: like many other states, New York’s SOR office is simply applying their requirements for new residents and in-state workers to visitors too.  It also follows that if, like hundreds of thousands of others, you’re a New Jersey or Connecticut resident commuting daily to your job in New York, you’ll also have to register in New York.

The nice lady at the SOR office also said that partial days do count (except just passing through); e.g. if you’re staying in NJ or CT and making daily trips into NYC to see the sights or to work, each one of those trips will count toward your allowable total.

In May and December 2023 I made trips to the Northeast that illustrates how these counting rules work.  In December 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 first stopped in New Jersey to visit with my sister-in-law, but she lives so close to the New York state line that when we took her out for lunch the restaurant was in New York State. 

That was a destination, right? – so that lunch trip counted toward my allowable 14 days per month.  That may seem like an idiotic way to apply their registry rules, but it’s not my job here to defend any state’s rules.  Instead my job is to explain how I navigated those idiotic rules while in New York so you can do so too.  Still, that was just one day, so it didn’t make a big difference toward my 14 day total.  By the end of the day we were on our way to our reserved hotel room in Connecticut.

Frank & Sons - Everybody's favorite bakery in Mastic, LI

Two days later we returned to New York State, this time on the Long Island Ferry from Connecticut.  We spent the entire day visiting my BFF’s relatives, so that was a destination and that made this Day 2 of my allowable 14 days. 

I want to interject here that unlike many of my BFF’s friends and relatives, who hate me to the point where they aren’t even allowed to know we spend any time together, this particular group has a family member who has now served 10 years of a life sentence for what as you can imagine must be a very serious crime.  Although there are many differences between his offense and mine, including the fact that they all believe he’s innocent, an I’m not, still they now have a life experience that makes them more understanding of my situation and I was welcome in their home.

Also, news flash – between 12/23 and our most recent visit in 4/24 the police have arrested a second person in the same decade old crime spree that led to this family member’s arrest.  That second person has now pointed investigators at the same third person as the “real perpetrator,” giving new hope to my BFF’s relatives.

After our day-long visit my ex and I retired to our reserved hotel room.  Our intention was to participate in a Wreaths Across America event the next day at Long Island Cemetery where her father is buried. 

However, overnight my BFF became very seriously ill.  I had become similarly ill two days earlier – at the restaurant where we took my sister-in-law to lunch.  At the time I wondered if it was food poisoning, but now that my ex was also ill it was obviously some kind of 24 hour bug.  The bad news was that due to a pre-existing medical condition she became much more seriously ill than I had.  We were unable to attend the Wreaths Across America event which had been the primary purpose of our trip!  Instead she spent the entire day either in bed or running back and forth to the bathroom, and I spent my Day 3 of my allowable 14 days in New York caring for my best friend.

Here I would like to use this story of an unexpected major change to our travel plan to illustrate how such a change could affect you as a registered traveler.  The silver lining to our experience was that her illness happened on a day we were already intending to spend in New York State, at a hotel where we already had the next night reserved.  Although it took my ex several days to fully recover, she was feeling well enough to travel as planned by the following day.

Suppose that hadn’t been the case?  Suppose I had ended up having to take my BFF to a hospital for several days – as has happened in the past.  Not only would that have been super expensive, it would have extended our stay in New York State by several days AND extended my travel for several days beyond what I had reported in Florida. 

Suppose also that instead of New York we had been in a state with super-short grace periods for visiting registrants, where I had only hours to leave before an obligation to register would take affect?  Tennessee (48 hours), Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas (all 3 business days), Illinois and Florida (3 days aggregate per calendar year) come to mind.  My registry status could have been called into question just when my ex-wife needed me most.  This is why you must be very careful about the rules of your destination state while traveling.

Nevertheless, on the morning of Day 4 of my allowable 14 days in New York my BFF and I set off early – we had to be home in Tallahassee by the end of the next day because each one of us had family obligations starting the day after that.  And we made it! *Whew!* 

 Previous visit: May 2023

Fort William Henry near Lake Champlain

In May 2023 I was staying at my brother’s house in New Jersey for four consecutive days to attend his interment and celebration of life.  His house is so close to the New York state line that the closest town is in New York.  I was helping my sister-in-law out with the preparations and clean-up and that took me on daily trips into New York State, each with a destination e.g. the Shop Rite supermarket. 

Presumably every time I went with her to town to pick up food or gasoline that was a “partial day” trip that counted toward my allotted 10 consecutive days or 14 per month, because technically I wasn’t “just passing through.”  I had a specific destination in New York State.

On the fourth day it was time to say goodbye to my sister-in-law and travel north up the New York Thruway on my way to Vermont and Maine.  If I had done no sight-seeing in New York State that day it would have been considered “just passing through” and according to the SOR office would not have counted toward my total. But instead I stopped to see Fort William Henry, a French & Indian War site, and that meant I had a “destination” in New York State.

Not to worry – that’s a total of four consecutive partial days, well below my allowable total of ten consecutive days.  Fine.

 The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY

Then I returned to New York two days later to continue my journey.  Because I had spent one full day and two nights outside New York, that meant I was able to re-start the ten consecutive day clock.  The 14 day aggregate days per month clock, however, continued at Day 5.  Confused yet?

On this pass through New York I entered from Massachusetts, spent two leisurely days traveling across Upstate New York before exiting on I-90 into PA and Ohio.  That’s two days on the consecutive day clock and two additional days on the aggregate day clock for a total of six days.  Again, not to worry – it’s still well below the 14 aggregate days you and I are allowed to be in New York without triggering an obligation to register.

Among the stops I made on this second pass through New York State were: Erie Canal; Cherry Valley Museum, which wasn’t scheduled to open until Memorial Day but there were people getting the place ready who invited me in for a tour; Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame; Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, and if you don’t know who Gerrit Smith was you should look him up; Seneca Nations Onohsagweide Cultural Center; and two privately operated rock outcroppings – one called Rock City Park and the other called Panama Rocks.  Both really impressive.

Is this a dinosaur at the Museum of Natural History?

No! It's The Oculus across the street from Ground Zero!

On another previous trip to my brother’s house in New Jersey I wanted to spend a day visiting a few sights in Manhattan.  It had been years, meaning since before I got arrested and went to prison.  I commuted to Hoboken on one of New Jersey’s many rail lines and took a PATH train to Lower Manhattan.  After disembarking at the World Trade Center I visited Ground Zero.  Then took a subway uptown to Times Square, which I took in while having a chili dog and a pretzel for lunch.  Hey, what else would you have in New York, right? 

I spent most of that afternoon at the Museum of Natural History, but also had time to walk the length of Manhattan’s Hi Line linear park.  Then it was back to Hoboken, where I ate dinner at a Cuban restaurant (again, what else, right?).  Then boarded my commuter train back to my brother’s house.

All together a great day in New York City and only used up one partial day with destinations.