PROOF OF CONCEPT — full quality-of-life profile for Texas, 16 dimensions of the sex-offense registry regime. Ratings are researcher judgments from the registrant's perspective; each links its statute. NOT legal advice.
Weighted burden index 68.2/100 · rank 7 of 56 (1 = least burdensome) · 10/16 dimensions statute-verified.
Legend: 🟢 favorable (less burden) · 🟠 moderate · 🔴 restrictive · ℹ️ context · ⚪ unknown. ✓ = statute-verified.
| Dimension | Rating | Detail | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration length | 🔴 restrictive | Lifetime (duty ends at death) for sexually violent and enumerated offenses — most reportable convictions; only a limited set gets a 10-yr term — lifetime | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 62.101(a) ✓ |
| Removal / petition off | 🔴 restrictive | Early termination reaches only the few offenses on the DPS list whose Texas term exceeds the federal minimum, requires a single conviction plus a risk assessment and court approval — effectively unusable for most — ⚑ needs human review | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 62.402; art. 62.403 ✓ |
| Individualized risk assessment | 🟢 favorable | Yes — risk assessment used (Sex Offender Screening Tool), levels 1-3 | n/a |
| In-person reporting frequency | 🟠 moderate | Repeat offenders every 90 days; others yearly | 62.058 |
| Registration fee | 🟢 favorable | No registration fee — Code of Criminal Procedure ch. 62 contains no article imposing a registration fee on registrants (a separate $50 fee exists only for filing a deregistration petition, not for registering) | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. ch. 62 (no fee provision) ✓ |
| Residency restriction | 🟠 moderate | No statewide distance restriction — Art. 62.064 bars only residing on a public/private college campus; there is no statutory statewide school/park buffer — local: common — many Texas home-rule cities impose 1,000-2,000 ft child-safety-zone residency ordinances (no statewide distance) | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 62.064 ✓ |
| Employment restriction | 🔴 restrictive | Prohibited employment cited | 62.063 |
| Presence / loitering restriction | 🔴 restrictive | Restrictions on entry onto school premises | 62.064 |
| Visitor registration trigger | 🟠 moderate | If in state 3+ times for 48+ hours within a month, must report before the last day of that month | 62.059 |
| Internet identifiers required | 🔴 restrictive | Yes — registration form must include 'the identification of any online identifier established or used by the person' (Art. 62.051(c)(7)) | 62.051(c) ✓ |
| Civil commitment | 🔴 restrictive | Yes — civil commitment law cited | 61.201; 61.202 |
| Public website exposure | 🔴 restrictive | DPS central database (including numeric risk level and photo) is public information for all adult registrants; only certain juveniles may be court-ordered nonpublic | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 62.005 ✓ |
| Halloween / holiday restriction | 🟠 moderate | No statewide statutory Halloween/holiday restriction; limits apply only as discretionary parole/supervision conditions under the child-safety-zone authority in Gov't Code § 508.187 | Tex. Gov't Code § 508.187 (no Halloween-specific statute) ✓ |
| Marked driver's license / ID | 🟢 favorable | License is not branded — Transportation Code § 521.121 lists required license contents with no sex-offender designation; registrants must renew in person annually (CCP art. 62.060) but no visible mark is printed on the card | Tex. Transp. Code § 521.121; Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 62.060 ✓ |
| Community notification (& who pays) | 🔴 restrictive | Active notification for risk-level-3 registrants (DPS mails/delivers notices within 1 mile or 3 blocks; local LE may publish in a newspaper, hold neighborhood meetings, or distribute printed notices) AND the registrant must pay DPS's notification costs — registrant pays | Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 62.056 ✓ |
| Age of consent (context) | ℹ️ context | 17 — with close-in-age affirmative defense (actor not more than 3 years older and victim at least 14) | Tex. Penal Code § 22.011 (child = under 17); § 21.11 ✓ |
Source wiki page: Texas · compare with others via the index. Weighted index from the v1 model (weighted_score.py); weights encode NARSOL's judgment about everyday lived burden. Removal ratings and the weights need NARSOL/attorney sign-off before authoritative use.