Requiring registered sex offenders pay annual fee

Abuse and sex-offender registrants owe annual fees

Effective July 11, 2025, the law sets annual $125 fees for West Virginia’s abuse and sex-offender registrants. People required to join the Central Abuse Registry must pay between January 1 and January 30. The sex-offender fee provision gives a January 1–June 30 window, but the enacted text also contains a January 30 deadline. Registrants pay their home county’s circuit clerk and give their State Police detachment written proof within 10 days after payment. Failure to pay or provide proof is not a supervised-release violation. State Police may send a nonpayment notice by certified mail to the registrant’s last filed address. If payment remains unpaid 30 days after receipt, police may record the notice as a judgment with the county clerk. This creates a judgment lien on the registrant’s property. Police must maintain lien records, release the lien within 30 days after full payment, and provide written confirmation. Clerks send all fees to the State Treasurer for a State Police account. The money may first support mental health services for current and former State Police employees, then other essential police operations.