States to avoid-----

Any southern state located in the Bible Belt. These states enact laws that are toxic to registrants and many of them are retroactive, which means they will affect your guy regardless when he was convicted. Some are a little better than others, but all are just terrible place to live for a sex offender. This area includes Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and both Virginias. I named these states just off the top of my head, so I may have left out a state or two.

I have been told that the Carolinas are not too bad, but if anyone wants to correct me, please do. FreetoBreathe is from SC and JustAnotherNodody is from NC.

You also want to stay away from Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan. Ditto for California. There are a few board members from Ohio and Illinois, so they may be able to clue you in.

Most of the progressive states in the Northwest or Northeast areas of the country are much better than the Southern or Plains states. You might check Montana or the Dakotas. I think Wisconsin is surely not too good. Don't know about Minnesota.

We have some members from Pennsylvania, and Connecticut and I think one from Rhode Island. Also a couple from New York State. They may be able to help.

I am not sure about Colorado, but Kansas is not too bad---I don't think. Utah is one of the better places. Coastie and Nathan will be glad to help as they are from Utah.

Someone will come along and help you out here, I am sure.

rewdiazepam

PS I am also very sorry that you are having to go through this especially at the same time as the birth of your child.

Thank you so much for posting helpful information. I will be looking into those states. I really appreciate it.

Arizona is awful as well. For a southern state (depending on the county you reside) Texas isn't the worst.

I can also attest to Michigan and Illinois being miserable.

Nebraska isn't too bad. There may be local residency restrictions, but not statewide...and I think many key legislators "get it" regarding sex offender laws and may be willing (crossing fingers) to make some changes.

I have heard that Iowa isn't too bad.

Rew, you know parts of Texas are not really bad, if you are off probation or parole you really do not have state wide restrictions, yes I know some cities have made BS restrictions but in large counties some parts are ok.
I work, fish, hunt and for the most part no one bothers me, I guess big cities might be a problem but never wanted to live in them anyway. Hope all is well with you rew?

regards

buildingupslow

buildingupslow,

I am fine. After I had written and sent my message I was thinking of you and another young lady who lives there. I then remembered that you do quite well there and there are no state wide residency restrictions. As I said, I needed someone to help me or even correct me if needed.

Thank you and I hope you and your family are doing well.

rewdiazepam

even tho iv only been on it for a few mounts now wv don't seem too bad i never had any issues , in fact i be leave once your off probation they cant stop you from living any where or going any where in this this state so im told any ways

also west Virgina has a hearsay law they don't need evidence to put you in jail just word of mouth she said he said kinda stuff but no proof of it , but this state dont seem to be all that bad

Massachusetts and Vermont are ok. Like all states just be sure to register, and stay low keyed. I am an RSO and have lived in Massachusetts for 20 years registered and have had no problems. By the way my charge was of course IN Communist Florida having come about in a custody issue. I was sentenced to 20 years, did two and a half until the 5th DCA over turned the whole kangaroo so called trial. Florida is the good old boy system, your in one of the worst states in the USA for crooked Cops, Lawyers, and Judges but the worst are the prosecutors. All they care about is a conviction and they LIE like hell to get it !!!!!

Yeah FL sucks - parts of Texas are bad .... CA seems to be getting better but the best I have ever found (just looking at the laws etc.) is N. Dakota - you have to be tough but you can live anywhere and the population is so low that no one will bother you and you can pretty much live off the grid - make sure where ever you go you check and double check the rules of that state - they are all different. And my advice is after you have done that verify with the people in authority ... sucks but can save you a trip to the jail. Also now that he is on the FL list he will remain there for the rest of his life no matter what his sentence says or anything else (although I have heard that their maybe a few on the list that live in other states that are now fighting that) Because of that case it was found that FL registry contains more out of state and deceased people than names that actually live in the state!

Oh Yes !! I lived in that dam state for 13 years, and I can tell you the slogan there is SO TRUE!!
Go on vacation, leave on probation, and you will return on violation.

I've not had any problems in NC. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have, to the best of my ability.

One thing that REW and others will point out, and that I've recently learned - moving across state lines will trigger SORNA. Carefully examine if this will make things worse for you and your family before deciding to move to another state.

MD and DC aren't bad. There are no residency restrictions, no door to door notifications, no registry fees and MD has a very good RSOL chapter called FAIR (Families Advocating Intelligent Registries). Washington DC doesn't even list your full address (MD does), just the block of the street you live on. Probably the worst thing about the DC metro area is that it can be pricey to live there and the traffic is usually pretty bad. However, be aware that MD is an AWA state.