State v Millner, 2026 N.J. Super. LEXIS 30 (N.J. Ct. App. 2026)

The New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division held that when individuals convicted of sex offenses in other states relocate to New Jersey, they are entitled to a hearing assessing whether their out-of-state conviction is “similar to” New Jersey Megan’s Law offenses before indicting individuals for failure to register, pursuant to their due process rights.

The court stated in relevant part: We hold that an out-of-state sex offender’s requirement to register in the state where they have been convicted does not, by operation of law, eliminate the Legislature’s clear due process mandate in N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(b)(3). That mandate requires the State to find that an out-of-state sex offender’s crime is similar to a New Jersey Megan’s Law offense prior to charging that out-of-state offender with failure to register in New Jersey. If the State determines that the offender’s out-of-state crime is similar to a New Jersey Megan’s Law offense, then the offender has a right to challenge that determination in the Law Division, before being charged. See Matter of A.A., 461 N.J. Super. 385, 390, 221 A.3d 603 (App. Div. 2019). The out-of-state offender’s failure to notify the supervising authorities of their home state prior to relocating to New Jersey does not overcome the due process mandate established by our Legislature prior to being charged in this state.