West Virginia
From the 50 State Visitor Guide :
W. Va. Code 2019 §§15-12-1 through 15-12-10. W. Va. Code §62-12-26. W. Va. C.S.R. 81-14-20.
Registration Triggers and Deadlines:
Statute does not disclose initial registration deadline. Updates to registration info required within 10 business days. §15-12-3. Incarcerated persons must register within 3 business days of release. §15-12-2.
Any out of state registrant who “is a visitor in this state for more than fifteen continuous days,” or is employed, attends school, or habitually visits property owned or leased in W.Va., “shall register in this state.” §15-12-9.
Procedure available for removal from registry after departure.
Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:
Certain registrants on supervised release for 10 yrs. or longer may not reside within or loiter within 1,000 ft. of school, child care facility, victim, or victim’s family, with exceptions. §62-12-26.
Duration & updates:
10 years to life. §15-12-4. Updates: SVPs quarterly; others annually. §15-12-10.
Most recent visit: April 2024
For registered visitors, West Virginia’s requirements are better than average. You get 15 days before being required to register, and there appears to be no limit on return visits per month or year. Also, few if any residency or presence restrictions apply to visitors. Still, as with many other states you should be careful of local sheriffs and police departments.
The good news is that West Virginia is every bit the spectacular vacationland that it advertises itself to be, and you’re allowed to go anywhere and see all of it. I returned to West Virginia in April 2024 and for the third time my main destination was New River Gorge, America’s newest national park (it was previously a “national scenic river”). This time I was bringing my ex-wife but still Best Friend Forever to see it for her first time.
The New River Gorge Bridge is very impressive and the Fayette Station Road Tour under the bridge is incredible. Some years ago I saw a documentary about the Thurmond Historic District on TV (Smithsonian Channel I think) and for me it absolutely lived up to its advance billing. My BFF hated it mainly because the road leading in is pretty treacherous. Then there is Grandview, which she really loved and couldn’t possibly be more aptly named.
The day before New River Gorge my BFF and I had stopped at Harper’s Ferry Nat. Historic Park, which is also in West Virginia. So that partial day was Day 1 of our trip to WV. On Day 2 we re-entered the state, visited New River Gorge, and stayed overnight at a hotel. Day 3 we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then headed south out of state. All well within WV’s 15 day limit and with no concerns about residency or presence laws.
Previous visits: May 2023 & June 2022
Before spending a delightful evening at a Beech Fork State Park campground in June 2022 I stopped at a nearby I-64 Welcome Center and picked up a bunch of brochures for historic homes, caverns, “coal heritage” tours, Green Bank Observatory, historic train rides – the list goes on.
Having just one day before needing to head for the NARSOL National Conference in June 2022 I chose to spend most of it at New River Gorge, which I described above. However, on that visit my last stop at New River Gorge was Sandstone Falls, which turned out to be the park’s only disappointment. There is a fairly accessible overlook, but it’s pretty darned far from the falls, and even from that distance you can see that Sandstone Falls are not impressive enough to be worth the rest of the trip to the closer viewpoint.
In May 2023 I had one day and one night to devote to West Virginia. I went back to New River Gorge National Park but just checked out a few highlights before using my collection of brochures from the year before to find Lost World Caverns in the town of Lewisburg. Any reader here knows I’m a sucker for a cavern tour.
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