Lifetime Supervision and GPS Monitoring of Missouri Sex Offenders

In Missouri persons found guilty of or pleading guilty to certain sex offenses are subjected to a lifetime of supervision and GPS monitoring. While Missouri courts have held that lifetime supervision is a collateral, and not a direct, consequence of conviction the reality is that this kind of supervision can change the direction of a person’s life far beyond satisfaction of the original sentence.

Missouri statutes 559.106 and 217.735 were enacted by the legislature and became law effective January 1, 2017. Both establish the requirement that persons convicted of certain sex offenses be supervised by the Board of Probation and Parole for the remainder of their natural life, and electronically monitored by global positioning technology to show their exact location at all times. 

Section 559.106 applies to any person “granted probation” and 217.735 applies to any person “found guilty of” the following offenses based on an act committed on or after August 28, 2006: 

• 566.030 Rape 1st Degree
• 566.032 Statutory Rape/Attempt 1st Degree
• 566.060 Sodomy 1st Degree
• 566.062 Statutory Sodomy/Attempt 1st Degree
• 566.067 Child Molestation 1st
• 566.083 Sexual Misconduct Involving Child
• 566.100 Sexual Abuse 1st Degree
• 566.151 Enticement of a Child
• 568.020 Incest

For any case involving probation or a finding of guilt based on an offense committed on or after January 1, 2017 against a victim less than 14 years of age and where the defendant is a prior sexual offender for an offense under:

• 566.068 Child Molestation 2nd Degree
• 566.069 Child Molestation 3rd Degree
• 566.211 Sex Trafficking of a Child 2nd Degree
• 566.210 Sex Trafficking of a Child 1st Degree
• 573.200 Child Used in a Sexual Performance
• 573.205 Promoting Sexual Performance of a Child

Pursuant to the authority granted to the Board under 217.040 the legislature has given the Board the authority to “adopt rules relating to the supervision and electronic monitoring of offenders under this section.” 

In certain unspecified “appropriate” cases after a risk assessment is conducted the Board has the discretion to release a person 65 years of age or older from the supervision requirements in these statutes. 

As if the lifetime supervision and GPS monitoring by the Board were not enough, Missouri law also makes it a class D felony to “knowingly violate a condition of probation, parole, or conditional release when such condition was imposed by an order of a court under 559.106 or an order of the board of probation and parole under section 217.735.” 

¹ This is important to understand because even if the conviction occurred after 2006, if the offense conduct for which the person was convicted occurred prior to 2006, lifetime registration will apply.
² A prior sex offender is any person previously convicted for an offense under chapter 566, or 568.020, or 568.045.1(2).