Okeechobee County Sex Offenders

Okeechobee County Sheriff and Sex Offender Registration

The Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office is the agency responsible for sex offender registration throughout Okeechobee County. Every person convicted of a qualifying sex offense who lives, works, or regularly spends time in Okeechobee County must register in person with the sheriff. City of Okeechobee police do not process sex offender registrations. All registration activity runs through the sheriff's office at 504 NW 4th St.

Registration appointments involve collection of a photograph, fingerprints, and all required identifying information. This includes home address, vehicle details, employer information, and all internet identifiers. The sheriff submits that information to FDLE within 24 hours of any update, keeping the public database current. Okeechobee County's agricultural community and significant migrant worker population mean the sheriff's office handles registration for some individuals whose housing situation is less stable than typical county residents.

Anyone new to Okeechobee County must register in person at the sheriff's office within 48 hours of establishing any residence in the county. That deadline applies to temporary stays and seasonal addresses as well as permanent housing. Call (863) 763-3117 before you go to confirm current registration hours. Small county offices may have limited registration windows during the week.

Okeechobee County borders Osceola, Indian River, Martin, Palm Beach, Glades, Highlands, and St. Lucie Counties. The county sits at the junction of many south Florida regions, and travel between counties is common. Regularly working or spending time in a neighboring county can create a registration obligation there. Contact the relevant sheriff's office if you spend significant time in any of these bordering counties.

Registration Requirements in Okeechobee County

Florida's sex offender registration law is at Florida Statute § 943.0435. That statute sets the same requirements for all 67 Florida counties. Registered sex offenders must report to the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office twice per year. Sexual predators must report four times per year. Both groups must report additional times whenever registered information changes within 48 hours of the change.

The 48-hour change rule is one of the most frequently misunderstood parts of Florida registration law. Any change in address, vehicle, employer, phone number, or online account must be reported within two days. That two-day window does not extend over weekends or public holidays. A move on a Friday requires a report by Sunday. People who assume they can wait until the next scheduled check-in often find themselves charged with a felony for something they thought was a minor delay.

Transient offenders in Okeechobee County who do not have a fixed address must report every 30 days. The county's agricultural workforce includes some individuals who move between seasonal work locations, and the law treats lack of a permanent address as transient status. Staying in farm worker housing, migrant camps, or other temporary accommodations all qualify as transient if there is no registered fixed address. The 30-day cycle continues until a permanent address is established and registered.

Registration in Florida is a lifetime obligation in most cases. There is no automatic expiration after a set number of years. Removal from the registry requires a court order and is difficult to obtain. Any false statement at registration, including deliberate omissions, is a third-degree felony with a maximum penalty of five years in state prison. This applies equally to everyone on the Okeechobee County registry regardless of their employment or housing situation.

Sexual Predators and Sexual Offenders in Okeechobee County

Florida law separates registered individuals into two categories: sexual offenders and sexual predators. The category a person falls into affects how often they must report and how actively FDLE notifies the community when they register in a new area.

Sexual predators are designated under Florida Statute § 775.21, the Florida Sexual Predators Act. The designation comes from a court at sentencing, based on the severity of the offense or a pattern of sexual crimes. It is permanent in most cases. Sexual predators in Okeechobee County report to the sheriff four times per year. FDLE is required to notify local law enforcement and may notify nearby residents and community institutions when a predator registers or changes address in the county.

Sexual offenders are governed under § 943.0435. This broader category covers everyone with a qualifying sex offense conviction who did not receive the formal predator designation. They report twice per year. Both categories appear in the FDLE public database, with each profile labeled to show which category applies. Anyone searching Okeechobee County records can immediately see whether a listed person is a sexual offender or a sexual predator.

Community notification for sexual predators in Okeechobee County can reach schools, child care facilities, and in some cases immediate neighbors. The process is automatic under Florida law. Standard sexual offenders do not trigger the same active notification process, though their registry profiles are equally available to anyone who searches FDLE. Both groups are fully visible in the public database.

Searching Okeechobee County Sex Offenders

The official database for finding registered sex offenders in Okeechobee County is maintained by FDLE. The FDLE offender search tool lets you filter by county. Select Okeechobee County to pull all current registrations. Results include each person's name, photograph, current registered address, and offense details. The search is free and requires no account.

You can look up a specific person by name or browse all registrants in Okeechobee County at once. Results show the current registered address, updated within 24 hours when the sheriff processes a change. For the most current information on any specific individual, call the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office at (863) 763-3117. Third-party sites that compile FDLE data may not always reflect the most recent updates.

FDLE is the authoritative source for Okeechobee County sex offender searches. The state database covers all registered offenders and predators in the county, and searching it costs nothing.

Residency Restrictions in Okeechobee County

Florida Statute § 775.215 sets the residency restriction that applies to sex offenders and sexual predators across the state. Under that statute, a registered sex offender may not live within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center, park, playground, or any location where children regularly gather. The 1,000 feet is measured from the property line of the restricted location to the offender's residence.

Okeechobee County's mix of developed areas near the city of Okeechobee and large rural and agricultural areas means that restricted zones are concentrated around schools and parks in the more populated parts of the county. Rural areas near the lake may have fewer restricted locations per square mile, but the rule applies uniformly. Anyone subject to the registry must verify their proposed address against nearby restricted locations before moving in. The Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office can provide guidance on specific addresses.

Local governments in Okeechobee County can impose stricter restrictions than the state baseline. The City of Okeechobee could adopt local ordinances extending the buffer zone or adding new restricted location types beyond what state law covers. Always check local ordinances in addition to the state statute before selecting an address.

FDLE Sex Offender Registry

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains the official statewide sex offender registry. All Okeechobee County registrants are included in this database.

The FDLE registry is updated within 24 hours whenever the Okeechobee County Sheriff processes a registration change. The FDLE homepage provides direct access to the public offender search, the alert signup system, and resources for people navigating the registration process in Florida.

FDLE Offender Search Portal

Use the FDLE offender search tool to find registered sex offenders in Okeechobee County by name or location.

Filter results by selecting Okeechobee County from the dropdown menu. Each profile shows the registrant's photograph, current address, and offense information. No fee or login is required to search.

Florida Offender Alert Notifications

The Florida Offender Alert system provides free email notifications when a sex offender registers near an address you choose to monitor. The service operates statewide and covers Okeechobee County.

Sign up at the Florida Offender Alert website by entering an address and setting a monitoring radius. When a registration falls within that area, you receive an email notification. For residents of Okeechobee County, this is a practical way to stay aware of registry changes without checking the FDLE database manually on a regular basis.

Notifications draw from the same FDLE data used for public searches. They go out within hours of a registry update. Both new registrations and address changes by existing registrants trigger alerts. You will receive a notification when a nearby offender moves within your monitoring radius, not only when someone entirely new enters the system.

Cities in Okeechobee County

No cities in Okeechobee County meet the population threshold for a dedicated page on this site. The city of Okeechobee is the county seat and the only incorporated municipality in the county. Sex offender registration for all Okeechobee County residents is handled through the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office at 504 NW 4th St in Okeechobee.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Okeechobee County. Each has its own sheriff's office handling sex offender registration.