Sex Offender Registration

Sex Offender Registration in Florida and Tennessee

Failure to Register—Sex Offender Registry Requirements

Call 615-259-9867 in Tennessee or 305-728-5255 in Florida

In recent years every state has begun requiring people convicted of sex crimes to register with the state. For more information about Tennessee and Florida sexual offender registration laws, or for experienced representation from an aggressive Tennessee and Florida sex offender registration lawyer, call the law firm of Brent Horst, Attorney at Law.

Mr. Horst is a former prosecutor, Board Certified Criminal Trial Specialist* who has tried over 100 cases to verdict in his 20 plus years of criminal trial experience. From offices in Nashville and Miami, our defense attorneys represent clients throughout Florida and Tennessee charged with failing to register as a sex offender. Wherever you're located - in Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Nashville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, or Fort Lauderdale - you deserve a strong defense.

Challenging Sex Offender Registry Laws

Originally under the Sexual Offender Registration statutes only people convicted of a small group of crimes were required to notify law enforcement authorities of where they were living and to regularly re-register. However, we are finding that every year the list of crimes that require sex offender registration gets longer, and the requirements and restrictions on convicted persons becomes more oppressive. Now, convicted sex offenders are prohibited from living or working in certain areas of the community, from living with children, and from living near a school or daycare. Many sex offenders are required to have their address and photograph posted on the Internet.

These restrictions are especially troubling, unfair, and unjust when applied to people who were convicted of a crime before the registration requirements were enacted. They may not have understood the extreme importance of mounting a strong defense when they were initially charged with a sex crime.

It seems like applying these restrictions to people retroactively would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution, but the Supreme Court has stated that these restrictions do not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as they are not intended to be additional punishment and are merely regulatory.

Yet as the registry laws become more and more restrictive and more and more rights are taken away we believe that there will be opportunities to challenge these laws. We have had some success already challenging Tennessee's sex offender registry law. Judge limits scope of new sex-offender registry law., We believe there are openings to challenge these laws as an ex-post facto violation of State Constitutions, if not the U.S. Constitution. We have also had success stopping the local law enforcement agency from forcing individuals to register who were not required to register. Every case is different depending upon the date of the conviction and the particular restriction involved.

Contact a Tennessee / Florida Sex offender registry lawyer

If you have been charged with failing to register, violating a restriction, or believe you may have a challenge to the law, please contact the law office of Brent Horst. We invite you to schedule a free confidential case evaluation by visiting us, calling us at 615-259-9867 in Tennessee, 305-728-5255 in Florida or by filling out our intake form. Experience can make a difference.

*Attorney Brent Horst is Board Certified as a Criminal Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and is certified as a Specialist in Criminal Law by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.