Hendry County Sex Offenders

Hendry County sex offenders must register with the Hendry County Sheriff's Office in LaBelle, the county seat. This southwest Florida county covers a large rural area that includes Clewiston and LaBelle, with a combined population of about 43,000 people. Registration data is submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement within 24 hours of each local registration event, where it is added to the statewide public registry. Hendry County residents can search FDLE's database for free to see who is registered in their area and review the details of each registrant's record.

Hendry County Sheriff's Office

The Hendry County Sheriff's Office handles sex offender registration for Hendry County, which covers Clewiston and LaBelle in southwest Florida. Hendry County registrants must follow the same state-mandated registration rules as those in any other Florida county.

All registrations in Hendry County take place in person at the sheriff's office. The agency collects photographs, fingerprints, and required personal information from each registrant and submits the data to FDLE within 24 hours. Florida does not offer remote registration by phone or online. Anyone who establishes a residence in Hendry County and is required to register under Florida law must appear at the sheriff's office within 48 hours of arriving.

Deputies from the Hendry County Sheriff's Office conduct periodic compliance checks on registered individuals to verify that they are living at their reported addresses. When a registrant moves from Hendry County to a neighboring county, the Hendry office notifies the receiving county's sheriff's office so the person can complete their registration there. Members of the public who suspect a registrant is not in compliance can report concerns directly to the Hendry County Sheriff's Office.

Registration Requirements in Hendry County

Sex offender registration in Hendry County is governed by Florida Statute § 943.0435. This law applies to all people with qualifying convictions, regardless of when or where the offense occurred. Out-of-state convictions that would trigger registration under Florida law require compliance in Hendry County as soon as the person establishes a presence here.

New registrants must appear at the Hendry County Sheriff's Office within 48 hours of establishing residency in the county. This applies to people arriving from other Florida counties, those coming from out of state, and individuals released from correctional facilities into Hendry County. The 48-hour window begins when the person establishes their local presence, not when they notify anyone else.

After initial registration, the required check-in frequency depends on the registrant's classification. Standard sex offenders must re-register twice a year, once in their birth month and once six months later. Sexual predators must register every three months, which comes to four visits per year. The quarterly schedule reflects the higher-risk designation that courts assign to predators at sentencing, and it applies no matter how long ago the conviction occurred.

All changes in personal information must be reported within 48 hours. This includes a new home address, a change in work location, school enrollment, a new or changed vehicle, a new phone number, and any new email address or online identifier. All of these updates require an in-person appearance at the Hendry County Sheriff's Office. A transient registrant with no fixed address must check in every 30 days and describe the locations where they typically spend time. Florida registration is a lifetime requirement for most qualifying offenses. Failure to register as required is a third-degree felony; a repeat offense is a second-degree felony.

Sexual Predators vs. Sexual Offenders

Florida law recognizes two distinct categories of people on the sex offender registry: sexual predators and sex offenders. Both appear in FDLE search results for Hendry County, but the two groups have different reporting schedules, different community notification requirements, and different designations in the public database.

Sexual predators are designated by the court at sentencing under Florida Statute § 775.21. The designation is reserved for those convicted of the most serious qualifying sexual offenses and for people with more than one qualifying conviction. Courts must explicitly make this finding; it does not happen automatically. When a sexual predator establishes a new address in Hendry County, law enforcement must notify nearby residents and institutions such as schools and daycares. Predators must register every three months.

Sex offenders fall under § 943.0435 and represent a broader category of people convicted of qualifying offenses who do not meet the threshold for the predator label. They check in twice a year. Community notification requirements for offenders are less intensive than for predators. Every record in the FDLE Hendry County search results is labeled with the appropriate classification so anyone searching the database can identify the category that applies.

Searching the Hendry County Registry

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains the public sex offender registry for all of Florida, including Hendry County. The database is free and open to any member of the public. No login or account is required. FDLE continuously updates the registry as sheriff offices across the state submit new and updated registration data.

To find sex offenders in Hendry County, visit the FDLE Sex Offender Search and select Hendry County from the county filter. You can also search by name to look up a specific individual, or by ZIP code to check a particular area of the county, such as the Clewiston or LaBelle ZIP codes. Each result includes a photograph, the registrant's current reported address, their physical description, and the offense that resulted in registration. Both sexual predators and sex offenders from Hendry County appear in the same results, each clearly labeled.

The registry reflects the address most recently reported by the registrant to the Hendry County Sheriff's Office. If a registrant has not kept their information current, the address shown may be outdated. For time-sensitive concerns about a specific individual, the Hendry County Sheriff's Office is the best direct contact.

The FDLE search database at offender.fdle.state.fl.us lets you filter results by county, making it easy to view all registered sex offenders and predators currently in Hendry County.

Residency Restrictions in Hendry County

Florida Statute § 775.215 prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare center, park, or playground. The measurement is taken from property line to property line. In Hendry County, where communities like LaBelle and Clewiston have relatively small housing markets, this restriction can eliminate a meaningful portion of available residential options for registrants.

Florida law also allows local governments to adopt stricter rules than the state minimum. Hendry County or any of its municipalities may have local ordinances that expand the buffer distance or add new protected locations beyond what the state requires. Registrants planning to move to Hendry County should review both state law and local ordinances before committing to an address. The Hendry County Sheriff's Office can help confirm whether a particular address falls inside a restricted zone. Not knowing about the restriction at the time of moving is not a valid defense to a violation charge.

Florida Offender Alert

Hendry County residents can sign up for free email notifications through the Florida Offender Alert service. You provide an address and a notification radius, and the system automatically monitors the FDLE registry on your behalf. When a sex offender or sexual predator registers, changes address, or updates their information within your chosen area, you receive an email.

This is a practical alternative to checking the FDLE site manually on a regular basis. The service is free, requires only an email address and a location to monitor, and can be set up at the Florida Offender Alert website in just a few minutes. Multiple addresses can be monitored at once if you want to track both your home and another location in or near Hendry County.

Cities in Hendry County

Hendry County has no cities that meet the population threshold for a dedicated city page. LaBelle and Clewiston are the county's main communities. All sex offender registrations in Hendry County are processed at the Hendry County Sheriff's Office in LaBelle, regardless of which town the registrant lives in.

Nearby Counties

Hendry County borders six other Florida counties. FDLE maintains a single registry covering all of them. Each county's local registration is managed by its own sheriff's office.