The North Carolina General Statutes require that each Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina maintain the Sex Offender Registry in their prospective counties. The statutes require that when a sex offender is convicted by the courts and the offender is ordered by the judge to register, the offender must report immediately to the Sheriff’s Office in the county they will reside. Once a convicted sex offender is registered by the Sheriff’s Office, the offender receives a resident verification letter on or about their anniversary date of registration. After that the process is repeated every six months.
The offender must report to the Sheriff’s Office in person to verify that he/she still resides at the address currently on file. As long as the offender abides by all the residential and educational requirements, and the offender is not on active probation, they meet the requirements of the General Statutes.
The primary responsibility of this division is to register convicted sex offenders as required by law. Deputies will register convicted sex offenders that have been released from a penal institution or moved to Gaston County either from another county or state. These deputies also investigate any complaints that have been reported. North Carolina General Statute requires registered sex offender’s address be verified every six months. The Sheriff requires his deputies to physically verify a sex offender’s address at a minimum of every three months. For additional information or questions, call (704) 862-6677.
