The conviction of a crime leaves a criminal record, but in some cases, further documentation of a conviction is made available to law enforcement and even to the general public.
These criminal registries provide specific information about a person and the crime of which he or she was convicted. Oklahoma utilizes three separate criminal registries for identifying individuals convicted of specific types of offenses.
These registries include the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry, the Oklahoma Meth Offender Registry, and the Oklahoma Violent Crime Offender Registry.
Perhaps the most well-known criminal registry is the sex offender registry. As a mandate of federal sex offender legislation, the state enacted the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registration Act, which requires those convicted of specified felony sex crimes to register for a term of 15 years, 25 years, or life, depending on the risk level assessment assigned to the offense.
The Sex Offender Registration Act applies to those who live, work, or attend school in Oklahoma, and who were convicted of a sex crime after November 1, 1989, when the Act took effect. This law applies whether a person was convicted in Oklahoma or another state or U.S. territory.
Anyone required to register as a sex offender has his or her personal information and offense publicly listed on the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry. Read more about Oklahoma sex offender registration requirements. A similar registry is enacted for those convicted of certain violent crimes.
The Mary Rippy Violent Crime Offender Registration Act is named for an 83-year-old woman who was strangled to death by her neighbor, a man with prior convictions of first degree manslaughter and felony possession of a firearm. The victim had no idea that her neighbor was a violent felon, and supporters of the Act believe that public notification of a convicted person's violent offenses could help prevent further acts of violence.
The Mary Rippy Violent Crime Offender Registration Act (57 O.S. 593) requires registration for men and women convicted of the following acts:
- First degree Murder as provided for in Section 701.1 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
- Second degree Murder as provided for in Section 701.8 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
- Manslaughter in the first degree as defined by Section 711 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
- Shooting or discharging a firearm with intent to kill, use of a vehicle to facilitate the intentional discharge of a firearm, crossbow or other weapon, Assault, Battery, or Assault and Battery with a Deadly Weapon or by other means likely to produce death or great bodily harm, as provided for in Section 652 or Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
- Assault with intent to kill as provided for in Section 653 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
- Bombing as provided for in Section 1767.1 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
- Any crime or attempt to commit a crime constituting a substantially similar offense as stated in paragraphs 1 through 6 of this subsection adjudicated by any court of another state, the United States, a tribal court, or a military court.
Individuals convicted of the above crimes on or after November 1, 2004, must register and be listed on the Oklahoma Violent Offender Registry. Learn more about the state's violent crime laws here.
Finally, the Oklahoma Methamphetamine Offender Registry was created in 2010 to limit the production of meth by restricting those convicted of meth-related drug crimes from purchasing or possessing pseudoephedrine. According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD), the Registry is added to the agency's existing database that tracks pseudoephedrine sales.
The Meth Offender Registry search is available to pharmacists and law enforcement agents through the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics website. Click here to learn more about drug manufacturing laws in Oklahoma.
