Out of State Sex Offender Registration

Sex offender registration for out-of-state criminal convictions is governed by in Penal Code section 290.005, which provides: "The following persons shall register in accordance with the Act: "(a) Any person who, since July 1, 1944, has been, or is hereafter convicted in any other court, including any state, federal, or military court, of any offense that, if committed or attempted in this state, would have been punishable as one or more of the offenses described in subdivision (c) of Section 290, including offenses in which the person was a principal, as defined in Section 31. "(b) Any person ordered by any other court, including any state, federal, or military court, to register as a sex offender for any offense, if the court found at the time of conviction or sentencing that the person committed the offense as a result of sexual compulsion or for purposes of sexual gratification. "(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), any person who would be required to register while residing in the state of conviction for a sex offense committed in that state. "(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), a person convicted in another state of an offense similar to one of the following offenses who is required to register in the state of conviction shall not be required to register in California unless the out-of-state offense contains all of the elements of a registerable California offense described in subdivision (c) of Section 290: (1) Indecent exposure, pursuant to Section 314. (2) Unlawful sexual intercourse, pursuant to Section 261.5. (3) Incest, pursuant to Section 285. (4) Sodomy, pursuant to Section 286, or oral copulation, pursuant to Section 288a, provided that the offender notifies the Department of Justice that the sodomy or oral copulation conviction was for conduct between consenting adults, as described in Section 290.019, and the department is able, upon the exercise of reasonable diligence, to verify that fact. (5) Pimping, pursuant to Section 266h, or pandering, pursuant to Section 266i." Section 290.005 premises the sex offender registration requirement for out-of-state convictions on their equivalence to enumerated Penal Code sections for which registration is mandatory in California or on the foreign jurisdiction's imposition of its own sex offender registration mandate. At its core, subdivision (a) of section 290.005 requires registration for "any person who ... has been ... convicted in any other court ... of any offense that would have been punishable as one or more of the offenses described in subdivision (c) of Section 290." Further indicating the necessity of showing equivalence between elements of the offense for which the out-of-state conviction was sustained and the registerable California offense is the language of subdivision (d) of section 290.005, which states that "a person convicted in another state of an offense similar to California's crimes of pimping, pandering, sodomy, or oral copulation who is required to register in the state of conviction shall not be required to register in California unless the out-of-state offense contains all of the elements of a registerable California offense described in subdivision (c) of Section 290."