I am a 290 registrant. Do I have to wear a GPS tracker? For how long?

Under Proposition 83, which became effective on November 8, 2006, if you: (1) have been convicted of a felony that requires you to register as a sex offender, AND (2) were sentenced to prison, then the law says that you must wear a GPS tracking device (usually an ankle bracelet) during your parole, and for the rest of your life.[532]

The GPS requirement does not apply to persons who were convicted AND already paroled, given probation, or otherwise released from custody BEFORE November 8, 2006.[533]

However, there are other laws that allow parole authorities, the court, and the Board of Parole Hearings to require parolees to wear GPS tracking devices.[534]

  1. 532

    Penal Code § 3004(b); see also Penal Code § 3000.07(a). Also, please note that it is unclear whether the lifetime GPS rule is being enforced (it appears that it is not); and in an interesting development, the U.S. Supreme Court held that forcing a person to wear a GPS device for life constitutes a “search” under the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. The Court sent the case back to the state courts to rule on whether such a requirement is unreasonable. Grady v. North Carolina (2015) __ U.S.__; 135 S.Ct.1368. ↑

  2. 533

    Doe v. Schwarzenegger (E.D.Cal. 2007) 476 F.Supp.2d 1178. ↑

  3. 534

    Cal. Penal Code § 3004(a), 3010-3010.7. ↑