St. Petersburg Sex Offenders Registry

St. Petersburg sex offenders register with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office through a dedicated unit called SPOT, which stands for Sex and Predator Offender Tracking. Registration in St. Petersburg is not handled by the St. Pete Police Department or at any local substation. All registrants in Pinellas County, including those living in St. Petersburg, must appear in person at the SPOT Unit office in Clearwater. A critical detail for St. Petersburg residents: the SPOT Unit is only open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Anyone who needs to register on a Monday or Friday must wait for the next available day within the 48-hour deadline, so timing your initial registration requires careful planning. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains the public searchable database for all Pinellas County registrants, including those in St. Petersburg.

Where to Register in St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg residents who are required to register as sex offenders or predators must go to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office SPOT Unit in Clearwater. The SPOT Unit office is not in St. Petersburg. It is at the PCSO facility on 49th Street North in Clearwater. The St. Petersburg Police Department does not accept sex offender registrations. You must travel to the Clearwater location regardless of where in St. Petersburg you live.

The limited schedule is important. The SPOT Unit does not see walk-ins on Mondays, Fridays, or weekends. If you arrive at PCSO on a day when SPOT is not open, you will not be registered that day. This creates a timing challenge for St. Petersburg residents who are released from custody or who move into the area near a weekend. If you have a 48-hour window that starts on a Thursday evening, you must appear on the following Tuesday or you will be out of compliance. Contact SPOT at 727-582-7768 or spot@pcsonet.com well in advance if you face this situation, and document your attempts to comply.

On the days SPOT is open, plan to arrive with valid government-issued photo ID and all relevant court or conviction paperwork. The intake process for a first-time registration includes photographs, fingerprints, and collection of detailed information about your vehicles, online accounts, and regular locations. Allow at least an hour.

St. Petersburg Sex Offender Registration Requirements

The legal basis for sex offender registration in St. Petersburg is Florida Statute § 943.0435. This law applies uniformly across Florida, meaning St. Petersburg residents have the same obligations as sex offenders in Miami, Jacksonville, or any other Florida city. The specific office they report to is the Pinellas County Sheriff's SPOT Unit, but the requirements themselves come from state law.

Initial registration must happen within 48 hours. This 48-hour clock starts when a person is convicted of a qualifying sexual offense, when they are released from custody following such a conviction, or when they establish any residence, even temporary, in Pinellas County. Moving to St. Petersburg from another Florida county or from outside the state starts the same clock. The law makes no exception for people who did not know where to go or for weekends when the SPOT Unit is closed. If you know you will need to register, contact SPOT before you arrive to plan a compliant timeline.

After initial registration, re-registration happens on a schedule set by the classification. Standard sex offenders return to SPOT twice per year at minimum. Those with more serious offense classifications must appear four times per year. Each re-registration visit confirms or updates all information on file. If anything changes between visits, including home address, vehicle, online accounts, or email addresses, the registrant must report the change to SPOT within 48 hours.

Transient offenders with no fixed address check in at SPOT every 30 days. St. Petersburg's waterfront areas and city parks attract a transient population, and PCSO tracks these individuals through the monthly check-in process. Failing to appear at any required registration session is a felony under Florida law. There is no grace period and no system for registering remotely or by mail.

Registration in Florida is a lifetime obligation for most covered individuals. Removal from the registry requires a court order and is available only under narrow circumstances. Most St. Petersburg registrants remain on the public registry indefinitely.

Sexual Predators in St. Petersburg

Sexual predators in St. Petersburg are subject to the Florida Sexual Predators Act under Florida Statute § 775.21. This law imposes stricter requirements than those that apply to standard sex offenders. Predators must register with SPOT four times per year instead of twice, and they face active community notification when they move into a new area.

When a sexual predator registers a St. Petersburg address, PCSO notifies the surrounding neighborhood, nearby schools, and licensed childcare facilities. The notification is active, meaning it goes out to community members directly rather than waiting for residents to check the registry on their own. St. Petersburg has dense residential neighborhoods, a large arts district, and numerous schools and parks throughout the city. Predator notifications can reach many residents in the affected area.

The SPOT Unit also conducts neighborhood surveillance and compliance checks for registered individuals in Pinellas County. These are proactive visits by PCSO deputies to verify that registrants are living where they say they are and that their information is current. Both standard offenders and predators in St. Petersburg may be subject to these compliance checks at any time.

Sexual predator status is assigned by the courts at sentencing or by FDLE based on the specific offense. The public FDLE database labels each listing as either "Sex Offender" or "Sexual Predator" so any member of the public can see the classification when searching by name or location.

Search St. Petersburg Sex Offenders

The main resource for searching registered sex offenders in St. Petersburg is the FDLE sex offender search tool. Enter "St. Petersburg" in the city field or use a specific ZIP code to narrow results to your area of the city. The database returns current address, photo, offense history, vehicle information, and predator or offender classification for each result. The FDLE updates this database as PCSO sends in new registrations and updates from the SPOT Unit.

St. Petersburg spans a large area of the Pinellas peninsula, with different ZIP codes for downtown, the south side, the Skyway area, and the northern neighborhoods closer to Clearwater. Using a ZIP code search rather than just the city name can help you narrow results to a specific part of the city. You can search multiple ZIP codes to build a broader picture if needed.

Set up automatic email alerts through Florida Offender Alert. This free service sends notifications when a sex offender or predator registers or changes their address within a radius you define around your home. You choose the distance, and the system handles the monitoring. This is useful for St. Petersburg residents who want ongoing awareness without repeated manual searches, especially those near schools, parks, or daycare facilities.

Residency Restrictions near St. Petersburg

Florida's residency restriction under § 775.215 prohibits covered sex offenders and all sexual predators from living within 1,000 feet of any school, licensed childcare center, park, playground, or other place where children regularly gather. St. Petersburg has a high density of schools and parks, particularly in the more urban neighborhoods downtown and in the central parts of the city. Finding compliant housing in St. Petersburg is a known challenge for registrants.

The 1,000-foot measurement runs from the property boundary of the restricted location, not from the front door of a school or daycare. The buffer zone is larger than it might appear on a quick map check. Registrants and their families need to measure distances precisely before signing any lease or purchase agreement. Moves into non-compliant housing, whether intentional or through misreading distances, can result in criminal charges.

If a school or childcare facility opens near an existing registered address after the registrant moved in, the registrant must relocate. The obligation follows the person, not the address. St. Petersburg does not currently impose additional local ordinances beyond the state minimum 1,000-foot rule, but this can change at any time. Verify current local rules with PCSO SPOT at 727-582-7768 before making any housing decision.

FDLE Florida Registry

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains the official statewide sex offender and predator registry, updated regularly with registrations from all 67 Florida counties including Pinellas.

Search the FDLE registry for St. Petersburg registrants by name, city, or ZIP code. The database includes photos, current addresses, offense history, and predator or offender classification for all registered individuals in Pinellas County.

PCSO SPOT Unit

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Sex and Predator Offender Tracking unit handles all sex offender registrations, community notifications, and compliance checks for Pinellas County, including all St. Petersburg addresses.

Contact SPOT at 727-582-7768 or spot@pcsonet.com for registration questions. Remember: SPOT is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Visit pinellassheriff.gov/spot for more details.

Florida Offender Alert

The Florida Offender Alert system provides free email notifications to St. Petersburg residents when a sex offender or predator registers or changes their information within a distance you set from your home address. Sign up at the Florida Offender Alert website, enter your address, and choose a radius. The system monitors the FDLE registry automatically and sends alerts when a new registration event falls within your selected area.

This service is free and available to any Florida resident. St. Petersburg parents, schools, and neighborhood associations can all benefit from this alert system. If you want to monitor a specific location other than your home, such as a school or a park, you can also set alerts based on that address. There is no limit on the number of addresses or radii you can monitor through the service.

Pinellas County Sex Offender Records

St. Petersburg is the largest city in Pinellas County. All sex offender registrations for the city go through the PCSO SPOT Unit, which covers every address in the county. For full county-level registry information, registration details, and resources for all Pinellas County communities, visit the county page.

View Pinellas County Sex Offender Records

Nearby Florida Cities

Sex offender registration is a county function in Florida. St. Petersburg registrants use the Pinellas County SPOT Unit, while Tampa registrants use the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Find registry information for nearby cities below.