According to SafeHome.org, “Texas has the largest list of registered sex offenders in 2023, with over 100,000 individuals; California follows, with about 62,000.” Pursuant to Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. Art. 62.352(a) and (b), a defendant may be required to register on either a public sex offenders list or a nonpublic sex offenders list. The difference is that the public list is available to the general public, while the nonpublic list is only available to certain government agencies and officials. Many believe that posting to the public list may be detrimental to the offender’s ability to find a place to live or a job. Others believe that registration on the public list is crucial as a deterrent to the offender and to protect the community.
A young man, born in 2004, was adjudicated as a delinquent in 2019 as a result of being found guilty of multiple offenses. Those offenses included indecency with a child by contact as well as aggravated sexual assault of a child. In the recent case of In Re B.K.A., the Texas Court of Appeals grappled with the question of whether such an offender should be required to register on a sex offenders list publicly or non-publicly.
