Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area: A Special Report

From the 50 State Visitor Guide (Kentucky):

K.R.S. 2019  §§17.500 through 17.580.  502 K.A.R. 31:020

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

K.R.S. §17.510 states 5 working days for initial registration and updates.  Registrants employed in the state must register if present for a period of 14 consecutive days or 30 days in a calendar year.  Per Kentucky SOR office, visitors are not required to register unless present for 14 consecutive days, or 30 days in a calendar year.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction: 1,000 ft. of schools, day care facilities, and publicly owned playgrounds; must move out of residence within 90 days if a new facility opens.  §17.545.  The state notes that the Kentucky Supreme Court forbid retroactive application of this law to those who committed offenses prior to July 12, 2006 and states “The Kentucky State Police do not evaluate or approve particular locations for compliance with sex offender residence restrictions. If you have any questions concerning whether you are subject to the residence restrictions in KRS 17.545 or whether you may legally reside at a particular location you may wish to consult an attorney.”

Presence restriction:  May not be present on grounds of school or daycare or publicly owned pool or splash pad without advanced written permission.  K.R.S. §17.545.  Registrants are prohibited from using certain social media and chat rooms, and are forbidden to photograph or videotape minors without parental consent.  §17.546. Updated Aug. 2024

Per Kentucky SOR office, a procedure is available for removal from registry after departure.

Duration & updates:

20 years or lifetime, depending on offense. §17.520. Updates annual or every 90 days, depending on offense. §17.520. No tiers.

From the 50 State Visitor Guide (Tennessee):

Tenn. Code Ann. 2019  §§40-39-201 through 40-39-306

AWA Compliant

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

48 hours for initial reg. and updates, but “within 48 hours” is defined to not include weekends and holidays.  §40-39-202(32).  

Visitors must register “within 48 hours” of entering state. Per Tenn. SOR office, the 48 hour clock starts upon crossing the state line but will be interrupted from midnight to midnight on weekends and holidays. Also, per SOR office there is no limit on number of repeat visits per week, month or year.

“Primary residence” established after 5 consecutive days. “Secondary residence” means any residence for 14 or more aggregate days in a calendar year, or 4 or more days in a month.  “Residence” means physical presence. §§40-39-202, 40-39-203.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence & Employment Restriction:  1,000 ft. from school, day care center, child care facility, public park, playground, recreation center or athletic field, or the offender’s victim or victim’s family. §40-39-211.  In 2019 TN applied new restrictions to residence with any minor; these restrictions are under a Temporary 

Restraining Order pending trial (see NARSOL Digest 8/19 p. 5).

Residence restriction:  Violent offenders and those with convictions against minors may not reside in on-campus housing of any institution of higher education. 

Presence restriction: 1,000 ft. from school, day care center, child care facility, public park, playground, recreation center or athletic field, with exceptions. §40-39-211.  Tennessee libraries have authority to restrict access by Registrants.  §40-39-216.

Per Tenn. SOR office, these restrictions DO apply to visitors during the 48 hour grace period.

Duration & updates:

Life.  Petition to remove – 10 years from end of probation.  §163A.125.

Violent offenders update quarterly; all others annually.  §40-39-207

Most recent visit: June 2024

Land Between the Lakes is not a national park but rather one of the crown jewels of America’s National Recreation Area system, which is in turn administered by the National Parks Service – which means, like Great Smoky Mountains National Park which is also partly in Tennessee, that it is “out of the jurisdiction” of state and local law enforcement.  The harsh residency and presence restrictions of the states where it’s located are not enforced here.

Land Between the Lakes is a creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority, situated between two long skinny lakes (Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley) created as a result of the construction of Kentucky Dam at the confluence of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.  The two rivers, and therefore the two lakes, run parallel to each other for over 50 miles and the TVA acquired this land as part of its water quality control plan.  

Now it’s a National Recreation Area with lots to offer in a part of our country where high quality outdoor recreation opportunities can be hard for registered people to find.  According to Kentucky state statutes, no registered person may reside within 1,000 ft. of schools, day care facilities, and publicly owned playgrounds.  K.R.S. §17.545.  Per the state SOR office, yes these restrictions will apply to you during the 14 consecutive days or 30 days per calendar year you are allowed to be in-state before you have to register.  

So what this means is, yes you can go to Kentucky state and local parks but you can’t camp anywhere within 1000 feet of a playground.  And guess what?  Most Kentucky state parks have playgrounds conveniently located in each of their campgrounds.  Oh well!  But Land Between the Lakes is out of their jurisdiction. Yey!

Tennessee is even worse, as I have pointed out in other blog posts.  Tennessee has statewide 1000 ft. residency AND presence restrictions preventing you from getting anywhere close to having any healthy outdoor recreation at their state and local parks.  Who knows what additional punishments local governments have piled on.  Oh well!  But Land Between the Lakes is out of their jurisdiction. Yey!

Now let’s be clear – there is a reason why Land Between the Lakes is not a national park.  It doesn’t have natural wonders or places of historical or cultural significance.  It just happens to be a (large) spit of land between these two hydroelectric reservoirs.  

BUT!  If you want to go boating, swimming, water skiing, ATVing, dirt biking, hiking, backpacking (they have a 57.8 mile long “North-South Trail”), visit the planetarium at the visitors center, or for that matter go admire the dam which is an amazing piece of engineering, you can do so at Land Between the Lakes without fear of violating any state or local rule, and without worrying that some dickhead sheriff’s deputy is going to hassle you.  And that is a very good thing.

Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.  It’s a place every registered traveler should know about, and visit often.