New Hampshire — Registry Rules

• People convicted (or otherwise disposed) of listed sexual offenses or offenses against children, including reasonable out-of-state equivalents; see definitions in RSA 651-B:1.
• Initial deadline: Report in person within 5 business days after release, or within 5 business days after establishing residence, employment, or schooling in NH; see RSA 651-B:4, I–II.
• Verification: Tier III reports quarterly; Tier I & II semi-annually (within 5 business days of birthday and again 3/6 months later). Address verification is also conducted semi-annually by the department; see RSA 651-B:4 and RSA 651-B:3, III.
• Primary method: In person at local law enforcement (or NH Department of Safety in Concord for some nonresident workers/students); see RSA 651-B:4, II.
• ⚠️ Online identifiers (emails, social profiles, app usernames) must be reported within 5 business days of first use or change; see RSA 651-B:4-a.
• ⚠️ Any change to residence, employment, or schooling must be reported in person within 5 business days; see RSA 651-B:5, I.
• ⚠️ Annual $50 fee due within 10 days of the registration that occurs in your birth-month; indigency waiver available; see RSA 651-B:11 and Saf-C 5504.08.
• ⚠️ Public website primarily lists those with offenses against children or multiple qualifying offenses; others may be law-enforcement only; see RSA 651-B:7, II–IV.
• ⚠️ No statewide residency-distance ban, but some local ordinances have been litigated; verify locally; see Dover ordinance case summary (2009) and state law scope in RSA ch. 651-B.

Persons meeting the chapter’s definitions (sexual offenders and offenders against children), including certain out-of-state, federal, tribal, or military offenses deemed reasonably equivalent by NH authorities; see RSA 651-B:1 and hearing/appeal pathways in RSA 651-B:10.

Duration: Tier I registers for 10 years, Tier II/III for life (with limited relief options); see RSA 651-B:6.

• Initial: within 5 business days after release or after establishing residence/employment/schooling in NH; see RSA 651-B:4, I.
• Nonresident workers/students: report in person to the local agency (or Department in Concord if no principal NH workplace); see RSA 651-B:4, II.
• Routine reporting: Tier III quarterly; Tier I & II semi-annually (both within 5 business days of the birthday marker); see RSA 651-B:4, I(a)–(b).
• Address verification by the department occurs semi-annually (pre-birthday and ~6 months later); see RSA 651-B:3, III.
• Changes (residence, employment, schooling, or other required info): notify in person within 5 business days to the last reporting agency; see RSA 651-B:5, I.
• Online identifiers: report within 5 business days of first use and within 5 business days of any change/new identifier; see RSA 651-B:4-a.
• Annual fee: $50 due within 10 days of the registration that occurs in the birth-month; see RSA 651-B:11.

• Primary method is in-person reporting at local law enforcement; nonresident workers/students may need to register in Concord; see RSA 651-B:4, II.
• Tier III: quarterly in-person; Tier I/II: semi-annual in-person; see RSA 651-B:4, I(a)–(b).
• Department verification reminders occur around your birthday and ~6 months later; see RSA 651-B:3, III.

No statewide residency-distance restriction in statute, but "residence" is defined as staying more than a total of 5 days in a one-month period; local ordinances may exist and have been challenged; see RSA 651-B:1, XIII and litigation against municipal bans summarized in Prison Legal News (Dover).

• Establishing employment or schooling in NH triggers registration within 5 business days; nonresidents report where employed/schooled (or Concord if no principal NH workplace); see RSA 651-B:4, I–II.
• Report online identifiers (emails, social media, app usernames) within 5 business days of first use and changes; see RSA 651-B:4-a.

• Public site lists Tier I/II/III offenders who must register as a result of an offense against a child, plus repeat registrants; others are on a law-enforcement list only; see RSA 651-B:7, II–III.
• Search is provided by NH State Police; see the public portal at NH DOS NSOR.
• Juvenile registrants’ information is excluded from the public site; see RSA 651-B:7, III(c)(5).

• If you change residence/employment/schooling to another state, notify NH within 5 business days and then report to the new state within 10 business days; see RSA 651-B:5, I–II.
• NH will notify the receiving jurisdiction of your move; see RSA 651-B:5, II.

• Short visits that do not establish a "residence" (more than 5 total days in a one-month period) generally do not trigger registration, but employment or schooling in NH does; see RSA 651-B:1, XIII and RSA 651-B:4, II.
• If you maintain multiple residences, you must report the primary and disclose all other addresses (including out-of-state); see RSA 651-B:4, I.

Negligent failure to comply is a misdemeanor; knowing failure is a Class B felony (repeat knowing failure may be Class A felony). Certain violations extend registration terms (e.g., Tier I extended by 10 years; repeat can convert to lifetime). False information is a felony. See RSA 651-B:9.

• Tier I: may petition to be removed from the public list no earlier than 5 years after release (with risk assessment and other conditions); see RSA 651-B:6, III(a)(3).
• Tier II: may petition to be removed from the public list no earlier than 15 years after release (with risk assessment and conditions); see RSA 651-B:6, III(a)(2).
• Juveniles: registration ends at 18 (subject to retained jurisdiction), and juvenile info is excluded from the public site; see RSA 651-B:6, IV and RSA 651-B:7, III(c)(5).
• Pre-registry convictions (retroactivity): Tier II/III may petition to be relieved from registration under criteria enacted after Doe v. State; see RSA 651-B:6, V (as amended) and the Doe decision summary at ACLU-NH.
• Court form: Petition for Termination of RSA 651-B Registration (guidance form) is available from the judiciary; see NH Courts form.

• Juveniles: special end-of-registration rule and privacy limits; see RSA 651-B:6, IV and RSA 651-B:7, III(c)(5).
• Homeless/unstable housing: "Residence" includes shelters, motels, vehicles—more than 5 total days in a month counts; see RSA 651-B:1, XIII.
• Out-of-state students/workers: must register based on employment or schooling even without NH residence; see RSA 651-B:4, II.

• $50 annual registration fee due within 10 days of the registration occurring in the birth-month; see RSA 651-B:11.
• Fee waiver for indigency via hearing request (DSSP 311 reference); see Saf-C 5504.08 and Saf-C 5506.02.
• Risk assessment (at offender’s expense) is required for petitions to remove from the public list or to be relieved from registration; see RSA 651-B:6, III(a)(2)–(3), V(a).

• Case: Doe v. State of New Hampshire, 167 N.H. 382 (2015) — N.H. Supreme Court (2015-02-12) — Retroactive lifetime registration without review was punitive in effect as applied; relief mechanism required for certain pre-registry convictions. link
• Statute: Ch. 42 (2024 Laws) – Amendments to RSA 651-B:6 — 2024; effective 2024-07-30. Clarified duration and petition pathways, including public-list removal and relief for pre-registry convictions. link
• Rule: N.H. Admin. Code Saf-C 5504.08 & 5506.02; effective current. Sets indigency waiver process and hearing procedures for the annual registration fee. link