That answer comes from the official NSOPW FAQ. Offenders.io is an independent commercial service for teams that need a documented sex offender registry API; it is not an official NSOPW API or a U.S. Department of Justice service.
What NSOPW Provides
The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website lets the public search participating jurisdiction registries through a browser. The underlying registration information is maintained by the individual jurisdictions, rather than one central NSOPW registry database.
For an occasional public lookup, start with the official NSOPW website and follow the relevant jurisdiction's reference to verify the result. NSOPW FAQ.
Does NSOPW Offer an API or Web Service?
No. The official FAQ explicitly says the browser interface is the way to search NSOPW and that no API or web service is offered for programmatic searches.
NSOPW's use of web services to communicate with jurisdictions is not the same as offering a public developer API. An internal request observed in a browser is not a supported integration contract. Read the FAQ.
Choose the Right Search Path
Occasional public lookup
Use the official NSOPW search website or the relevant jurisdiction's public registry. Review its conditions of use and verify the available source details.
Manual team review
Use Offenders.io's Search Dashboard when your team needs an account-based, no-code workflow for reviewing candidate records and their official source references.
Product integration or repeatable workflows
Use the Offenders.io REST API for documented requests and structured responses. For CSV lists, review Batch Processing; for an AI-agent integration, review the MCP documentation.
What Offenders.io Adds for Application Integration
Offenders.io provides a documented sex offender search API, source references for official records, structured results, and a Dashboard for manual review. Supported search paths include available name and date-of-birth inputs, address or location context, and GIS radius searches.
The published coverage is 184 U.S. registry jurisdictions and 900K+ registry records after reasonable cross-jurisdiction deduplication. Results and field availability vary by jurisdiction and source.
Standard data is continuously synchronized; Extensive Mode performs live registry lookups where available. Review the API documentation and current Pricing before selecting a search mode.
Keep Official-Source Verification in the Workflow
Whether you begin with an official registry website or an API, review candidate identity and available source details before relying on a possible match. A registry entry, a linked record, and a confirmed identity are not interchangeable.
Standard Offenders.io access is not intended for HIPAA-regulated inputs or FCRA-regulated purposes. Those workflows require separate approval and written scope.
NSOPW API Questions
Is Offenders.io an official NSOPW API?
No. Offenders.io is an independent commercial registry-data service. For official public searches and government guidance, use NSOPW and the relevant jurisdiction registry.
Do I need to pay for an occasional public registry search?
No. NSOPW is a free public resource. A commercial API serves a different need: integrating structured registry search into software and operational workflows.
Can I test an integration before paying?
Offenders.io currently includes the first 50 API requests each month at no charge for standard access. Review Pricing and the API documentation for the available plans and access boundaries.
Official-source reference: NSOPW Frequently Asked Questions, reviewed September 19, 2026.
Build With a Documented Registry API
Explore the Search product, review the API documentation, and validate the search path your application needs.
Explore Offenders.io SearchRead the API Documentation