Senate Bill 6341 requires lifetime registration for many persons convicted of sex offenses against children. Previous law required lifetime registration only for sexually violent predators and persons who committed Class A sex offenses with forcible compulsion. Other convicted sex offenders who had spent ten crime-free years in the community could petition a court for relief from the registration requirement.

SB 6341 was prompted by changes in federal law. Had Washington not conformed its sex offender registration requirements to federal standards, it would have lost federal incentive funds of about $1.1 million this year.

Senate Bill 6408 has re-imposed mandatory sex offender registration on persons convicted of the gross misdemeanor of Communicating with a Minor for Immoral Purposes.

Substitute Senate Bill 6488 will establish a Web site listing all Level III (high-risk) registered sex offenders in the state. Previous law required each county to maintain such a site but did not provide for a statewide site. Searching for sex offenders by neighborhood, as well as by name, is to be possible at the statewide site.

SSB 6488 appropriates no money for the statewide site. It will be created only when non-state funds became available for it.