Sex Offender Residency and School Zone Rules in Michigan

Michigan's registration act no longer bars registrants from living, working or loitering near schools. The "student safety zone" sections of the Sex Offenders Registration Act were repealed effective March 24, 2021.^[1] A 1,000-foot rule does survive in a different statute: a court that places a person on probation for a listed offense must order the person not to reside, work or loiter within 1,000 feet or less of school property, subject to exceptions.^[2]

Law as of 4 October 2026. Court rulings are changing registry law. 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.^[5][6] A federal appeal was still pending when the State Police published its September 2026 legal update.^[7] A registrant should confirm current duties with the Michigan State Police Sex Offender Registry Unit or an attorney, and a person on probation or parole should read the order that applies to him or her.

Both halves of that answer matter. Websites that still describe a 1,000-foot rule for all registrants are out of date, and websites that say the rule is gone leave out the people it still reaches.

What was repealed in 2021?

Former MCL 28.733 to 28.736 barred registrants from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of school property. The Legislature's entry for those sections now reads: "28.733-28.736 Repealed. 2020, Act 295, Eff. Mar. 24, 2021," with the note that the repealed sections "pertained to student safety zones."^[1]

The repeal was part of the rewrite that produced the act now in force.^[8] It came after the federal Sixth Circuit held in 2016 that the 2006 and 2011 SORA amendments imposed punishment and that applying them retroactively was unconstitutional.^[9]

The registration act as it stands contains reporting duties about where a registrant lives, but no residency, work or loitering restrictions.^[1] A registrant who is a Michigan resident must report not more than 3 business days after changing or vacating a residence.^[10] See what registrants must report.

The 1,000-foot rule that remains: probation for a listed offense

MCL 771.2a sets special terms for probation after conviction of a listed offense, meaning any Tier I, Tier II or Tier III offense.^[3][11] Under that section:

• The court may place the person on probation "for any term of years but not less than 5 years."^[3]
• The court "shall order the individual not to do any of the following": reside within a student safety zone, work within a student safety zone, or loiter within a student safety zone.^[2]
• "Student safety zone" means the area that lies 1,000 feet or less from school property.^[2]

This probation rule remains in force even though the registration act's own school zone sections were repealed in 2021.^[2]

How the statute defines its terms

Term	Definition in MCL 771.2a(14)
Loiter	To remain for a period of time and under circumstances that a reasonable person would determine is for the primary purpose of observing or contacting minors[12]
School	A public, private, denominational or parochial school offering developmental kindergarten, kindergarten or any grade from 1 through 12; it does not include a home school[12]
School property	A building, facility, structure or real property owned, leased or otherwise controlled by a school, other than one no longer in use on a permanent or continuous basis, that is used to impart educational instruction or is for use by students not more than 19 years of age for sports or other recreational activities[12]
Student safety zone	The area that lies 1,000 feet or less from school property[2]

Colleges and universities are not within that definition of "school," which stops at grade 12.^[12]

Exceptions to the probation conditions

The statute tells the court when it must not impose the residence or work condition.^[13]

Residence

• The person is not more than 19 years of age, attends secondary school or postsecondary school, and resides with his or her parent or guardian.^[13]
• The person is not more than 26 years of age, attends a special education program, and resides with his or her parent or guardian or in a group home or assisted living facility.^[13]
• The person was residing within that student safety zone on January 1, 2006.^[13]

In each of those cases the court must still order the person not to initiate or maintain contact with minors within the zone, subject to allowances the statute states.^[13] A residence order also must not prohibit a person from being a patient in a hospital or hospice located within a student safety zone.^[13]

Work

• The person was working within the student safety zone on January 1, 2006.^[13]
• The person only intermittently or sporadically enters a student safety zone for purposes of work.^[13]

In both work situations the court must order the person not to initiate or maintain contact with any minors in the course of his or her employment within the zone.^[13]

Who can be taken out of the scheme altogether

The court may exempt a person from listed-offense probation under this scheme in two situations: the person successfully completed youthful trainee probation for a listed offense and was discharged from that status, or the person was convicted solely under MCL 750.520e(1)(a), was 17 or older but less than 21 at the time, and is not more than 5 years older than the victim.^[14] The word is "may."^[14]

What happens if a probationer violates the condition?

The zone conditions are conditions of probation that the court orders.^[2] Two related rules make listed-offense probation stricter than ordinary probation. The rule allowing early discharge after half the probation term does not apply to a person convicted of a listed offense.^[15] And a willful violation of the registration act requires the court to revoke probation.^[16]

Probation is not available at all for first-degree or third-degree criminal sexual conduct.^[17] See probation and CSC convictions.

What about parole?

The parole statute provisions this guide has verified say two things about registrants. If a parolee is required to be registered, the parole order must contain a condition requiring the parolee to comply with the registration act.^[18] And for a parolee convicted of first-degree or second-degree criminal sexual conduct who is not subject to lifetime electronic monitoring, the parole board may require electronic monitoring for the duration of the parole term.^[19]

This guide has not verified a statutory 1,000-foot rule for parolees and does not state one. For a person on parole, the parole order itself is the document to read.^[18] See prison, parole and treatment.

Restrictions that come from other laws

Several rules that people associate with "school zones" are not zone rules at all. They attach to the conviction or to registration status under other statutes.

• School employment. A school district, intermediate district, public school academy or nonpublic school that verifies a person has been convicted of a listed offense "shall not employ that individual in any capacity or allow that person to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools."^[4]
• Child care. A person who is registered, or required to be registered, on a state sex offender registry or the national registry is ineligible to receive a child care license, be an adult member of a licensed child care household, or be a child care staff member.^[20]
• Students. When a student at a school is convicted of or adjudicated for criminal sexual conduct, the court must order that the student is prohibited from attending the same school building that is attended by the victim.^[21]
• Federally assisted housing. An owner of federally assisted housing must prohibit admission for any household that includes a person subject to a lifetime registration requirement under a state program.^[22]

These are covered in jobs, housing and daily life on the registry.

Local ordinances and private rules

This guide has not verified any city, township or county ordinance restricting where registrants may live or go, and it does not describe one. Private landlords, employers and schools may also have their own policies. Where a local or private rule is in question, the text of that rule is the place to start. The repeal described on this page, effective March 24, 2021, concerned the state registration act.^[1]

What people get wrong

"Registrants can't live or work within 1,000 feet of a school." That was the registration act before March 24, 2021. The sections were repealed.^[1]

"The school zone law is gone." Not for a person on probation for a listed offense, who must be ordered not to reside, work or loiter within a student safety zone unless an exception applies.^[2]

"Being removed from the registry lifts every restriction." The State Police legal update on People v Smith says the order has no effect on the validity of the underlying conviction.^[23] The school employment bar is written in terms of a person who "has been convicted of a listed offense."^[24]

The rulings that have reshaped the registry are explained in the SORA court rulings guide, and the overall structure in the registry overview.