ACT 178 OF THE 2001 REGULAR LEGISLATIVE SESSION

RE:  SEX OFFENDER NOTIFICATIONS

Act 178 of the 2001 Regular Session became effective on August 15, 2001 relative to written agreements and contracts that are entered into on or after January 1, 2002.

A.  Every written lease or rental agreement executed by any licensee for residential immovable property and every written contract for sale of residential immovable property shall contain a notice of the availability to the public of access to a statewide database disclosing the locations of individuals required to register pursuant to R.S. 15:540 et seq (registered sex offenders).  The notice shall include the telephone number and Internet site for the statewide database.

B.  Upon delivery of the notice to the lessee or transferee of the residential immovable property, the lessor, seller, broker, or licensee is not required to provide any information in addition to that contained in the notice regarding the proximity of registered sex offenders.  The information in the notice shall be deemed to be adequate to inform the lessee or transferee about the existence of a statewide database of the locations of registered sex offenders and information from the database regarding those locations.  The information in the notice shall not give rise to any cause of action against the disclosing party by a registered sex offender or other parties to the transaction.

C.  This Section shall apply only to written agreements and contracts that are entered into by the parties on or after January 1, 2002.

The provisions of Act 178 require you to give notice as stated above.  The following is a SAMPLE notice.  The language contained therein is not intended to replace the advice of competent legal counsel.

Notice:  The Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information maintains a state Sex Offender and Child Predator Registry.  It is a public access database of the locations of individuals who are required to register pursuant to LSA-R.S. 15:540 et seq.  Sheriff's departments and police departments serving jurisdictions of 450,000 also maintain such information.  The  state Sex Offender and Child Predator Registry database can be accessed at http://www.lsp.org/socpr/default.html and contains address, pictures, and conviction records for registered offenders.  The database can be searched by zip code, city, parish, or by offender name.  Information is also available by phone at 1-800-858-0551 or 1-225-925-6100 or mail at P.O. Box 66614, Mail Slip #18, Baton Rouge, LA, 70896.  You may also e-mail State Services at SOCPR@dps.state.la.us for more information.