How Long Does Sex Offender Registration Last in Michigan?

Registration under Michigan's Sex Offenders Registration Act lasts 15 years for a Tier I offender, 25 years for a Tier II offender, and life for a Tier III offender.^[1] Time spent incarcerated for committing a crime, and any period of civil commitment, is excluded from those periods.^[2]

Law as of 4 October 2026. Court rulings are changing this area. On September 9, 2026 the Michigan Supreme Court held that the 2021 SORA may not be applied retroactively to registrants whose offenses predate the 2011 amendments, and the Michigan State Police reported on September 11, 2026 that it had removed more than 20,000 people from the registry, with numbers that could change.^[6][7] A federal appeal was still pending when the State Police published its September 2026 legal update.^[8] A registrant should confirm current duties and any end date with the Michigan State Police Sex Offender Registry Unit or an attorney before relying on this page.

This page explains what sets the length, what stretches it, the limited ways it can end early, and what courts have said about lifetime registration.

What decides the length: the tier

The length follows the tier of the offender, and the tier follows the offense of conviction and, for several offenses, the ages involved.^[1][9]

Tier	Period in MCL 28.725	In-person verification	Time-based petition to end early?
Tier I	15 years[1]	Once a year[10]	Yes, after 10 or more years, if every statutory condition is met; the court "may" grant it[11]
Tier II	25 years[1]	Twice a year[10]	No[12]
Tier III	Life[1]	Four times a year[10]	Only where registration rests on a juvenile order of disposition, after 25 or more years[13]

The same offense can land in different tiers. Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct is Tier I if the victim was 18 or older, Tier II if the victim was 13 to 17, and Tier III if the actor was 17 or older and the victim was under 13.^[9] First-degree and third-degree criminal sexual conduct are Tier III offenses unless a narrow consensual-act exception applies.^[14] The full lists are in SORA tiers in Michigan.

The public cannot look the tier up. The public website is barred from showing a registrant's tier classification.^[15]

What time does not count?

MCL 28.725(14) reads: "The registration periods under this section exclude any period of incarceration for committing a crime and any period of civil commitment."^[2] Two points follow from the wording. The exclusion covers "any period of incarceration for committing a crime," and it covers civil commitment as well.^[2]

The provisions this guide relies on state the length of each period and what is excluded from it. They do not set out a formula for calculating a particular person's end date, so that calculation is a question to put to the State Police registry unit or an attorney.^[1][2]

While the period runs, the duties run with it. The verification schedule continues, and if the registration period expires during a month in which the person is required to report, the person must report during that month on or before the date the period expires.^[16]

What can make the period longer?

A later conviction can move a person up a tier. Under the act's definitions, a Tier I offender who is subsequently convicted of another Tier I offense is a Tier II offender, and a Tier II offender subsequently convicted of a Tier I or Tier II offense is a Tier III offender.^[3] Because Tier III carries lifetime registration, two lower-tier convictions in sequence can end in a lifetime duty.^[3][1]

A sentence can also stretch the calendar, because any period of incarceration for committing a crime is excluded from the count.^[2]

What can end registration early?

MCL 28.728c is the sole means by which a person may obtain judicial review of registration requirements, apart from an appeal of the conviction or sentence.^[17] It provides these routes:

• Tier I, after 10 years. The court may grant a petition if 10 or more years have elapsed since the conviction or release from confinement, whichever occurred last, and the petitioner has had no felony or listed-offense conviction since, completed supervision without revocation, and completed sex offender treatment unless the court waives that condition.^[11][18]
• Tier III based on a juvenile disposition, after 25 years. The court may grant a petition on parallel conditions where the registration is based on a juvenile order of disposition.^[13][19]
• Consensual-act cases, any tier. The court must grant a petition if it determines that the conviction resulted from a consensual sexual act and the victim was 13 or older but less than 16 and the petitioner is not more than 4 years older, or if one of the other listed consensual-act grounds applies.^[20][21]
• Juveniles under 14 and de-listed offenses. The court must grant a petition where the petitioner was adjudicated as a juvenile and was less than 14 at the time of the offense, or was registered before July 1, 2011 for an offense that no longer requires registration.^[22]

A person gets one attempt: a petition may not be filed if a previous petition was filed and denied by the court after a hearing.^[17] The conditions and procedure are set out in petitioning to be removed from the registry and Michigan's Romeo and Juliet provisions.

Setting aside the conviction is a different question, and it is unresolved. SORA says registration "must be discontinued" when a person presents an order setting the conviction aside, while the set-aside statute says the person "is considered to have been convicted of that offense for purposes of" SORA. No decision reconciling the two was found.^[23] Most sex offenses cannot be set aside in any event; see setting aside a sex offense conviction.^[24]

Has any court struck down lifetime registration?

The rulings recorded in this guide have not, for sexual offenses committed on or after July 1, 2011. In People v Kardasz, decided December 19, 2025, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the 2021 SORA constitutes punishment but is not cruel or unusual under the Michigan Constitution, on its face or as applied to a Tier III offender convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child.^[4] In People v Shannon, a published opinion of May 27, 2026, the Court of Appeals likewise rejected cruel-or-unusual and ex post facto challenges to lifetime registration by a defendant convicted of three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, one of whose victims was under 13.^[25]

In federal court, the judge in Does v Whitmer granted the State summary judgment on the claim that challenged lengthy and lifetime registration without any individual review or opportunity for removal.^[26] The registrant class appealed that ruling.^[27]

What courts have done is limit who can be registered at all:

• Under the September 9, 2026 order in People v Smith, the 2021 SORA may not be retroactively applied to registrants whose criminal acts occurred before enactment of the 2011 SORA amendments.^[6] The State Police update says people registered solely for a Michigan registrable offense committed before July 1, 2011 will be permanently removed.^[7]
• Under People v Lymon, decided July 29, 2024, offenders whose crimes lacked a sexual component are entitled to removal from the registry.^[28]
• Under People v Ellis, decided July 22, 2026, imposing registration through the "recapture" provision as a penalty for a non-sexual offense is cruel or unusual punishment as applied to the defendant and similarly situated individuals.^[29]

Each ruling, with what remains unsettled, is covered in the SORA court rulings guide.

How the federal periods compare

The federal registration act uses the same three lengths: 15 years for a Tier I sex offender, 25 years for Tier II, and the life of the offender for Tier III.^[30] The Sixth Circuit has held that federal registration obligations are independent of state-law duties.^[31] A federal tier is assigned under federal definitions, which this page does not cover; see moving to or from Michigan on a registry.

What people get wrong

"Tier II offenders can petition after 10 or 25 years." The statute provides no time-based petition for Tier II, and none for a Tier III offender convicted as an adult.^[12]

"A misdemeanor means a short registration." Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct is labeled a misdemeanor and is registrable for 15 years, 25 years or life depending on the ages involved.^[32][9]

"Completing youthful trainee status still leaves you registered for the full term." A person assigned to youthful trainee status who successfully completes the term of supervision is not convicted for purposes of the act, although assignments before October 1, 2004 are treated differently.^[33] See HYTA and sex offenses.

The duties that apply during the period are in what registrants must report.