Do Juveniles Have to Register as Sex Offenders in Michigan?

No. A juvenile accused or found responsible for a sex offense in Michigan does not automatically have to register under the Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA). Registration depends on several separate questions: which court path the prosecutor uses, whether the result legally counts as a conviction under SORA, whether the offense is a listed offense and at what tier, the child's age, whether the disposition is open to the general public, when the case occurred, and whether another state is involved.

That answer is especially important after Michigan made most juvenile case records nonpublic beginning January 1, 2021. A public courtroom does not necessarily mean the dispositional order is a public record. It is also important to separate two issues that people often combine: a duty to register and appearance on Michigan's public internet registry are not always the same thing.

This overview is current through August 31, 2026. Because a child's exact charge, court papers, dates, and record status can change the answer, families should obtain an individualized review before relying on a general rule.

The first question: what kind of juvenile case is it?

Michigan has more than one way to handle a case involving a person who was under 18 at the time of the alleged conduct. The label on the case is not just procedural. It can determine whether the result is a juvenile disposition or a criminal conviction.

Ordinary delinquency

An ordinary delinquency case remains in the Family Division of circuit court. If the allegations are proved or admitted, the child is adjudicated and the court enters a juvenile disposition. Michigan law generally says that an order of disposition in this track is not a criminal conviction. See MCL 712A.1.

SORA has a special rule for a Michigan juvenile disposition that is not a designated case. Under MCL 28.722(a)(iii), that disposition counts as a SORA conviction only if all three conditions are met: the order is open to the general public, the juvenile was at least 14 at the time of the offense, and the disposition was for an offense that would be Tier III if committed by an adult.

Since 2021, Michigan's Juvenile Code has generally made juvenile case records nonpublic and available only to persons with a legitimate interest. See MCL 712A.28. That usually prevents a current ordinary, non-designated disposition from satisfying SORA's “open to the general public” requirement. It does not justify saying that juvenile registration is impossible. Older cases, records from another state, an order with a different public status, or a criminal conviction produced through another court path can lead to a different result.

Designated proceedings and adult-court proceedings

A case can remain physically in Family Division yet be “designated” as a criminal proceeding. A designated case ends in a judgment of conviction, not an ordinary juvenile adjudication. A traditional waiver can transfer a child age 14 or older to adult criminal court, and an automatic-waiver prosecution can begin against a child age 14 or older for a statutory specified juvenile violation. Those routes also can produce criminal convictions.

SORA's ordinary conviction definition applies to those convictions. In other words, the nonpublic-record protection that often controls an ordinary delinquency disposition is not a universal shield for every case heard in Family Division. For a plain-language explanation of these tracks, see when a Michigan juvenile can be charged as an adult.

A public hearing is not the same as a public dispositional order

Michigan court rules generally allow the public to attend formal juvenile hearings, subject to specific exceptions and courtroom orders. But Michigan statutes generally restrict access to the case file and dispositional record. Those are different concepts. A family should not assume registration is required merely because someone could sit in the courtroom, and it should not assume registration is avoided merely because the court file is difficult to obtain.

The correct review starts with the actual judgment or order and the legal track shown on the docket. Counsel may also need to review the version of SORA and the juvenile-record statutes in effect on relevant dates.

If the result counts as a conviction, the offense and tier come next

Counting as a conviction does not end the analysis. The underlying offense must be a “listed offense” under SORA, and the correct tier must be identified. Michigan generally uses these registration periods, excluding time incarcerated or civilly committed:

• Tier I: 15 years.
• Tier II: 25 years.
• Tier III: life.

The statutory label, the victim's age, the actor's age, the relationship between the people involved, and the precise subsection can all matter. A plea to a differently worded charge may have a very different registration consequence. Families should not use the everyday name of an allegation as a substitute for the statute and subsection printed on the complaint or judgment.

Registration and the public internet registry are separate questions

A person can have SORA duties without appearing on the public internet database. Under MCL 28.728, the public website generally excludes a person whose only basis is an ordinary, non-designated Michigan juvenile disposition. It also generally excludes an out-of-state juvenile disposition and a person with only one Tier I conviction.

Those exclusions have exceptions. One important example involves child sexually abusive material. A conviction under MCL 750.145c(4) for knowingly possessing, seeking, or accessing that material is classified as Tier I, but the statute specifically makes it an exception to the usual single-Tier-I public-website exclusion. Production and certain distribution conduct under other subsections can be Tier II. The precise subsection and how the case was resolved therefore matter.

This does not mean that an ordinary current juvenile disposition for a Tier I or Tier II offense automatically triggers SORA. SORA's special definition for an ordinary Michigan juvenile disposition requires a public Tier III disposition. It does mean that, if a designated or adult-track conviction otherwise creates a registration duty, the public-website result may be more serious than the words “Tier I” alone suggest.

Close-in-age rules are real, but they are not blanket exceptions

Michigan SORA contains exceptions for certain consensual conduct when the people are close in age and other statutory conditions are met. The exceptions are offense-specific. They do not create a general “Romeo and Juliet” defense to every sex charge, and they should not be extended to allegations involving images or videos.

For some disputed-registration situations, Michigan law permits a claimant to seek a court determination under MCL 28.723a. The person seeking the exception bears the burden of proving the required facts by a preponderance of the evidence. That is a fact-specific legal process, not an automatic exemption.

Teen image and phone cases require an exact-facts review

Allegations involving a phone, social-media account, shared folder, or cloud backup can raise several different questions: who made the image, who sent it, who requested it, whether receipt was knowing, whether it was accessed or saved, and whether it was forwarded. Those facts may point to different subsections with different tiers and penalties.

An unsolicited image does not by itself answer whether a person later knowingly possessed or accessed it. Deleting a message, forwarding it, or relying on an app's disappearing-message feature is not a safe do-it-yourself solution. A child should not be interviewed about the phone or asked to unlock a device without obtaining legal advice, and no one should destroy, alter, or coach evidence.

Can a juvenile registration duty later end?

Sometimes, but not through a single general rule. Michigan law has limited petition and discontinuation provisions in MCL 28.728c. One provision may allow a person whose only basis is an open Michigan juvenile Tier III disposition to petition after 25 years, if all statutory conditions are met. Other provisions address some conduct committed before age 14 and certain older cases.

Setting aside or sealing a juvenile matter and ending SORA duties are separate legal questions. A family should not assume that success in one process automatically completes the other. The person's full criminal and juvenile history, compliance history, offense date, and statutory eligibility must be reviewed.

Michigan's constitutional cases do not erase SORA

Michigan appellate decisions have treated SORA as punishment for some state constitutional analyses. Most recently, the Michigan Supreme Court's December 2025 decision in People v Kardasz addressed the 2021 SORA and a Tier III challenge. It did not invalidate the registry across the board. A constitutional issue may be important in an individual case, but it is not safe to ignore current reporting or verification duties unless a court has granted relief.

What should a parent gather for a registration review?

A useful review usually starts with:

• the petition, complaint, warrant, and every amended charge;
• the adjudication, plea, verdict, disposition, judgment, and sentencing orders;
• the child's age and the exact alleged offense date;
• the statute and subsection for every count;
• documents showing whether the matter was ordinary delinquency, designated, traditionally waived, or automatically waived;
• any SORA notice, registration form, or law-enforcement letter;
• records from another state, if any; and
• information about earlier juvenile or criminal matters that could affect classification or relief.

If a case is still pending, registration consequences should be analyzed before a plea or trial decision. The charge chosen, the court track, and the language of the final judgment can matter long after probation ends.

Talk with a Michigan juvenile-defense lawyer

Baldori Law represents people facing criminal and juvenile matters in Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton Counties. If your family needs help identifying the court path, evaluating a possible SORA consequence, or responding to a pending charge, learn more about our criminal-defense practice or contact us to request a consultation. No result can be promised, and the available strategy depends on the facts and procedural posture of the case.

This article provides general information, not legal advice. Reading this article, using this website, or sending information through the site does not create an attorney-client relationship. Such a relationship exists only after the firm agrees to represent you in a written engagement agreement.