Public vs. Non-Public Sex Offender Registration in Michigan

Michigan keeps two registries. Every registration goes into a law enforcement database, and a separate public internet website shows a subset of the people and a subset of the information.^[1] Whether a particular registrant is "public" depends on the statute's exclusions in MCL 28.728(4), which cover a registration based solely on a single Tier I offense, with listed exceptions, and a registration based solely on a juvenile disposition in a case not designated for adult-style trial.^[3][4]

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 registrant should confirm current status and duties with the Michigan State Police Sex Offender Registry Unit or an attorney before relying on this page.

This page explains who is on the public site, what it displays, what it is barred from displaying, and how non-public information is protected.

What is the difference between the two databases?

The law enforcement database holds all registrations. The public internet website is a separate compilation that the statute defines by what it must contain for each individual it lists.^[1] A registration is otherwise confidential: except as the act provides, a registration or report "shall not be open to inspection except for law enforcement purposes," and it is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.^[8]

Being non-public does not reduce any reporting duty. The verification schedule and the 3-business-day reports are set by tier and by statute, not by whether the registration is displayed.^[9][10] Those duties are covered in what registrants must report.

Who is kept off the public website?

MCL 28.728(4) lists three groups that the public website must not include.^[4][3]

Juvenile dispositions

A person registered solely because he or she had one or more dispositions for a listed offense entered in juvenile court, in a case that was not designated as one in which the juvenile was to be tried in the same manner as an adult, is excluded. So is a person registered solely because of an order of disposition or other adjudication in a juvenile matter in another state or country.^[4] The rules for young people are in juveniles and the registry.

A single Tier I offense

A person registered solely because he or she was convicted of a single Tier I offense is excluded from the public website, unless the conviction was for one of these:^[3]

• Possession of child sexually abusive material under MCL 750.145c(4).^[3]
• Aggravated indecent exposure under MCL 750.335a(2)(b), if a victim is a minor.^[3]
• Unlawful imprisonment under MCL 750.349b, if the victim is a minor.^[3]
• A violation of MCL 750.539j, if a victim is a minor.^[3]
• A substantially similar offense under the law of another jurisdiction.^[3]

Two conditions in that sentence matter. The registration must rest "solely" on the Tier I conviction, and it must be a "single" Tier I offense.^[3] A Tier I offender who is later convicted of another Tier I offense becomes a Tier II offender under the act's definitions.^[11]

Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct shows how this works. A violation of MCL 750.520e is a Tier I offense if the victim is 18 or older, and it is not among the exceptions above.^[12][3] The same offense is Tier II if the victim was 13 to 17, which takes it outside the single-Tier-I exclusion.^[13] The tier lists are explained in SORA tiers in Michigan.

The unlawful imprisonment exception needs a caution. That offense remains in the statute's text, but on July 29, 2024 the Michigan Supreme Court held in People v Lymon that imposing the 2021 SORA on offenders whose crimes lacked a sexual component is cruel or unusual punishment and that those offenders are entitled to removal from the registry.^[14]

What does the public website display?

For each person it lists, the public website shows the registrant's name and aliases, date of birth, home address, employer address, school address, vehicle description and license plate number, a summary of listed-offense convictions, a physical description, a photograph, the text of the offense statute, and registration status.^[15]

The statute also sets how the public reaches that information:

• The website must provide for a search by name, village, city, township and county, zip code, and geographical area.^[16]
• State Police posts, local police departments and sheriff's departments must make the public-website information for their area available for public inspection during regular business hours.^[16]
• The State Police must provide electronic notification to members of the public who subscribe when a person on the public website initially registers at, or changes registration to, a location in the area the subscriber designated.^[16]

What is the public website barred from showing?

MCL 28.728(3) lists six things that must not be made available on the public website:^[2]

Not shown on the public website	Source
The identity of any victim of the offense	MCL 28.728(3)(a)[2]
The individual's Social Security number	MCL 28.728(3)(b)[2]
Any arrests not resulting in a conviction	MCL 28.728(3)(c)[2]
Any travel or immigration document numbers	MCL 28.728(3)(d)[2]
The individual's tier classification	MCL 28.728(3)(e)[2]
The driver license number or state personal identification card number	MCL 28.728(3)(f)[2]

The registration itself contains more than the site shows, including telephone numbers, passport and immigration documents, and finger and palm prints.^[17] Email addresses and internet identifiers are a separate matter: a federal court permanently enjoined the State from requiring them and ordered it to stop storing those previously reported.^[18]

How is non-public information protected?

Except as the act provides, a person other than the registrant who knows of a registration or report and divulges, uses or publishes nonpublic information about it in violation of the act is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 93 days or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.^[5] A person whose registration or report is revealed in violation of the act has a civil cause of action against the responsible party for treble damages.^[5]

Those two provisions do not apply to the public website or to information from it that is made available as the act allows.^[5] They protect non-public registrations and the non-public parts of a public one.

When does a listing come down?

When the State Police determine that a person has completed the registration period, or otherwise is no longer required to register, they must remove the registration information from both the law enforcement database and the public website within 7 days after making that determination.^[19]

Large numbers of listings came down in September 2026. After the Michigan Supreme Court's order in People v Smith, the State Police stated that about 43,000 people had been registered or required to be registered and that more than 20,000 had been removed by September 11, 2026.^[6][7] The State Police legal update says that the order has no effect on the validity of the underlying conviction, and that removal means the information is permanently removed from the law enforcement database as well as the public website.^[20]

The routes to a court order ending registration are described in petitioning to be removed from the registry. Whether setting aside the conviction ends registration is unresolved, because two statutes point in different directions; see setting aside a sex offense conviction.^[21]

What people get wrong

"The registry shows your tier." The public website is barred from showing it.^[2] A member of the public can read the offense summary and the statute text, but not the tier label.^[15]

"If you are not on the website, you are not registered." The exclusions in MCL 28.728(4) apply to the public website only; the law enforcement database holds all registrations.^[4][1]

"Juveniles are never on the public registry." The exclusion covers a person registered solely because of dispositions in a case that was not designated for trial in the same manner as an adult.^[4]

How a public listing affects work and housing is covered in jobs, housing and daily life on the registry, and the court decisions behind the 2026 removals are in the SORA court rulings guide.