What Michigan Registrants Must Report, and When

A person on Michigan's registry has two kinds of reporting duty: scheduled in-person verification one, two or four times a year, and event-driven reports due within 3 business days of a change such as a new address or job.^[1][2] Several items that the statute still lists, including email addresses and internet identifiers, cannot be required under a federal court judgment.^[3]

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] Parts of the federal judgment described below were appealed, and the State Police reported in September 2026 that the appeal had been argued on July 21, 2026 and was pending.^[8][9] A registrant should confirm current duties with the Michigan State Police Sex Offender Registry Unit or an attorney before relying on this page. The unit's telephone number is (517) 241-1806.^[10]

This page takes each duty in turn and separates the text of the statute from what a court has enjoined or narrowed.

Scheduled verification: how often and when

A registrant who is not incarcerated must report in person to the registering authority where he or she is domiciled or resides to verify that residence.^[1] The frequency depends on the tier:

Tier	How often	Which months
Tier I	Once each year	The registrant's month of birth[1]
Tier II	Twice each year	Set by birth month; for example, a person born in January or July reports in January and July[1][11]
Tier III	Four times each year	Set by birth month; for example, a person born in January reports in January, April, July and October[1][11]

The window is the calendar month. A report must be made no earlier than the first day and no later than the last day of the month in which the person is required to report.^[12] A common mistake is to think every registrant reports on or near a birthday; that describes Tier I only.^[1]

At verification the registrant must review all registration information for accuracy. The officer must sign and date a verification receipt and give the registrant a copy showing the date. If the photograph on file no longer matches the person's appearance well enough to identify him or her, the officer must require a current photograph within 7 days.^[13] Keeping each receipt is a practical way to show the date of a report later.

Changes that must be reported within 3 business days

Under MCL 28.725(1), a registrant who is a Michigan resident must report in person, or in another manner prescribed by the State Police, and notify the registering authority where the residence or domicile is located, not more than 3 business days after any of the following:^[2]

• The registrant changes or vacates his or her residence or domicile.^[2]
• The registrant changes his or her place of employment, or employment is discontinued.^[2]
• The registrant enrolls as a student with an institution of higher education, or enrollment is discontinued.^[2]
• The registrant changes his or her name.^[2]
• Any change required to be reported under the higher-education section, MCL 28.724a.^[14]

A registrant who is not a Michigan resident but has a place of employment in Michigan must report in person not more than 3 business days after changing that place of employment or after the employment is discontinued.^[15]

The act's definitions widen two of those words. "Employee" includes a person who is self-employed and a volunteer, whether or not the person is paid.^[16] "Residence" means the place where a person habitually sleeps, keeps personal effects and has a regular place of lodging.^[17]

The higher-education report has its own section. It does not apply to a person whose enrollment and participation is solely through the mail or the internet from a remote location, and the registrant must present written documentation of employment or student status, which may include a pay stub, a contract, a student identification card or a transcript.^[18]

Vehicles, phones, email and internet identifiers

MCL 28.725(2)(a) requires a report within 3 business days of any change in vehicle information, electronic mail addresses, internet identifiers or telephone numbers "registered to or used by" the registrant.^[19][3] The federal court in Does v Whitmer changed how much of that can be enforced.

Item	Statute text	Status under the federal judgment
Email addresses and internet identifiers	Reportable by a person required to be registered after July 1, 2011	Permanently enjoined on First Amendment grounds; not appealed; final[3]
Telephone numbers	Numbers registered to or used by the registrant	"Used by" held vague; numbers registered to the registrant are reported, and a number not registered to the registrant, such as a borrowed phone, need not be reported[19][20]
Vehicles	Vehicles registered to or used by the registrant	Reporting a change in a vehicle "used by" the registrant within 3 business days held vague. Vehicles owned by or registered to the registrant are reported, and a change in them within 3 business days. A vehicle the registrant has operated but does not own is still reported, at the next report date rather than within 3 business days[19][20]

The court also ordered the State to stop storing email addresses and internet identifiers that were reported earlier.^[3] The registrant class appealed some of the reporting rulings to the Sixth Circuit, so the reporting rules described here could change.^[8]

Travel and temporary stays

The statute requires a report within 3 business days when a registrant "intends to temporarily reside at any place other than his or her residence for more than 7 days." The federal court held that wording vague. The court-approved notice tells registrants that domestic travel must be reported if they stay at one place for more than 7 consecutive days, and that domestic travel does not need to be reported in advance.^[21]

Two longer-distance moves have their own deadlines:

• A registrant moving to another state must report in person not more than 3 business days before the move and indicate the new state and, if known, the new address.^[22]
• A registrant must report in person not later than 21 days before changing domicile or residence to another country or traveling to another country for more than 7 days.^[23]

Those rules, and what happens in the destination state, are covered in moving to or from Michigan on a registry and travel and passports.

What a registration contains

Registration information includes names and aliases, Social Security number, date of birth, residence, employers, schools, telephone numbers, vehicles, driver's license or identification number, passport and immigration documents, occupational licenses, a summary of listed-offense convictions, a physical description, a photograph, and finger and palm prints.^[24] Only part of that appears on the public website; see public versus non-public registration.

A registrant must sign the registration and notice and must not knowingly provide false or misleading information concerning a registration, notice or verification.^[25] One thing registrants no longer sign is a statement that they understand their obligations: the federal court held that compelled attestation unconstitutional, that part of the judgment is final, and the language has been removed from the Explanation of Duties form.^[26]

Identification and photographs

A registrant must maintain either a valid Michigan operator's or chauffeur's license or an official state personal identification card with the current address, unless the registrant is homeless.^[27] The license or card may be used as proof of residence, and the officer may require another document bearing the registrant's name and address, such as voter registration or a utility bill.^[28]

A registrant released from incarceration must report to the Secretary of State not more than 7 days after release to have a digital photograph taken, unless a qualifying photograph was taken within 2 years before release and the person's appearance has not changed.^[28]

Fees

The fee is $50 on initial registration and $50 annually following the year of initial registration, and the total must not exceed $550. The annual fee is not required of a person initially required to register after January 1, 2027.^[4] The annual payment is made when the registrant reports in his or her first reporting month of the year, it is not prorated because the registration period will end later that year, and prepaying does not change the duty to report.^[29]

If the registrant is indigent, the fee is waived for 90 days, and the registrant bears the burden of proving indigence.^[30] Willfully refusing or failing to pay the fee within 90 days of reporting is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days.^[31]

What happens if a report is missed

Each criminal penalty in MCL 28.729 requires a willful violation.^[5] A willful violation of the act is a felony with a maximum of 4, 7 or 10 years depending on prior SORA convictions; a willful failure to comply with the in-person verification section is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 2 years; and a willful violation requires the court to revoke probation and the parole board to rescind parole.^[32][31][33] Those rules are explained in failure-to-register penalties.

Federal law adds a parallel duty. The federal registration act separately requires a sex offender to appear in person within 3 business days of a change of name, residence, employment or student status in at least one jurisdiction involved.^[34]

A step-by-step version of these duties is in the registration compliance checklist, and the rulings behind the enjoined items are in the SORA court rulings guide. How the tier is assigned is covered in SORA tiers in Michigan.