Petersburg Sex Offender Registry
Petersburg is an independent city south of Richmond in the Tri-Cities area of Virginia, and all registered sex offenders with a Petersburg address are listed in the Virginia State Police public registry. The search is free and requires no login. This page covers how to search Petersburg sex offender records, how the Petersburg Police Department and Sheriff's Office manage compliance, and what Virginia law requires of registrants in the city.
Petersburg Overview
Search Petersburg Sex Offender Records
The Virginia State Police registry is at sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor. A second portal is at vspsor.com. Both are free and pull from the same database.
To find Petersburg offenders, search by zip codes 23803, 23804, 23805, or 23806. You can also search by the city name or enter a specific street address with a radius. Results show each registrant's name, photo, current address, date of birth, offense, and tier level. Petersburg has approximately 200 to 250 registered sex offenders. The registry updates daily on weekdays.
The National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) lets you search all 50 states at once. This is useful if you need to check a registration history from another state. The VSP registry also has a community notification email option, letting you sign up to receive alerts when an offender changes their address near a location you select. Contact VSP at (804) 674-2825 or sor.vsp@vsp.virginia.gov with questions about specific Petersburg entries.
Petersburg Police Department
The Petersburg Police Department is at 37 W. Tabb Street, Petersburg, VA 23803. Non-emergency: (804) 732-4222. A second number is (804) 733-2641. Chief Travis Christian leads the department. The department's page is at petersburgva.gov/police-department. Officers provide service 24 hours a day.
The Criminal Investigations Unit handles sex crime cases in Petersburg. Officers coordinate with the Virginia State Police on registration compliance. Regular address verification checks are conducted. Petersburg enforces residency restrictions for Tier III offenders with child victims, who cannot live within 500 feet of a school, daycare, or similar facility in Virginia.
Fingerprinting for registry compliance costs $20.00 and is available through the department. FOIA requests and police record copies go through the Records Section. Background check forms for the sex offender registry are submitted to the Virginia State Police, not to the local police department. Form SP-266 is used for sex offender registry searches; Form SP-167 covers general criminal history checks.
The Petersburg Police Department coordinates with both Dinwiddie County and Prince George County agencies, since Petersburg borders both. Offenders who move between the city and either county must update their registration within three days. All three agencies share compliance data with the Virginia State Police.
Petersburg Sheriff's Office
The Petersburg Sheriff's Office is at 35 N. Union Street, Petersburg, VA 23803. Phone: (804) 733-2364. The Sheriff's Office operates the city jail, handles court security for Petersburg courts, and processes civil paperwork. The city's Sheriff's Office page is at petersburgva.gov/sheriffs-office.
Offenders released from the Petersburg city jail who are required to register must complete or update their registration at or before the time of release. The Sheriff's Office coordinates with the Virginia State Police to make sure this step happens before any offender returns to the community. Fingerprinting services for registry purposes are available through the sheriff's office.
The Sheriff's Office also processes protective orders issued by Petersburg courts. When a court order involves a registered sex offender, the sheriff's office coordinates enforcement with the police department and the circuit court clerk. Protective order records are accessible through the clerk's office during business hours.
Virginia Sex Offender Registration Law
Virginia's registration law is at Virginia Code Title 9.1, Chapter 9. Full statutory text is also at law.justia.com/codes/virginia/title-9-1/chapter-9. Three tiers apply statewide. Tier I: annual for 15 years. Tier II: annual for 25 years. Tier III: every 90 days for life.
Anyone with a qualifying conviction must register within three days of release from jail or prison. If no incarceration was ordered, registration is due within three days of sentencing. Address changes must be reported within three days. Email and internet identifier changes must be reported within 30 minutes. Leaving Virginia for more than 10 days requires advance notice to the State Police.
Failure to register is a Class 1 misdemeanor for Tier I and Tier II, with up to 12 months and a $2,500 fine. For Tier III, it is a Class 6 felony carrying one to five years. Tier III offenders with child victims face additional location restrictions throughout Virginia.
What Registry Listings Show
Each Petersburg entry in the Virginia registry shows the person's full name, current address, photo, date of birth, offense, tier level, and next required check-in date. Work addresses are listed if the offender is employed elsewhere. Transient offenders without fixed addresses show a general area or last known location.
If a listing looks outdated or incorrect, the offender may have failed to report an address change, which is a violation. Report it to VSP at (804) 674-2825 or contact the Petersburg Police Department. The VSP registry also includes a supplemental section covering convictions from before 1994, when the current registration law took effect. Those older entries may have less detail but are still part of the public record.
The Virginia Department of Corrections offender locator at vadoc.virginia.gov/offenders/locator shows offenders in state prison facilities. Local jail inmates are not listed there. Use it if you need to confirm whether someone with a Petersburg address is currently in state custody.
Petersburg Registry Images
The Virginia State Police registry at sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor is the authoritative source for all Petersburg sex offender data, searchable by zip codes 23803 through 23806 or by street address radius.
The VSP alternate portal at vspsor.com provides a second access point for Petersburg registry data and covers the city's approximately 200 to 250 registered sex offenders alongside the full statewide registry.
The National Sex Offender Public Website at nsopw.gov provides a cross-state search tool that connects to Virginia State Police data for Petersburg residents and anyone with registration history in other states.
The NSOPW national registry links to Virginia State Police data and enables searches for Petersburg offenders alongside records from all 50 states.
County Information
Petersburg is an independent city adjacent to Prince George County in the Tri-Cities area. Offenders who live in Petersburg are registered within the city system, while those in the surrounding county register through the Prince George County Sheriff's Office. Both feed into the same Virginia State Police registry.
Nearby Virginia Cities
Use the links below to find sex offender registry information for cities near Petersburg.
Registry Use and Public Safety
Virginia law makes sex offender registry information available to the public to help protect communities. You can use the registry to check if an offender lives near your home, school, or workplace. The National Sex Offender Public Website at nsopw.gov also lets you search across all states at once. This is useful when checking on someone who may have moved to Virginia from out of state. The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services at dcjs.virginia.gov has more information about the registry program and community safety resources available to local agencies.
Note: Registry information is for public safety purposes only. Using it to harass or intimidate an offender is prohibited under Virginia law and can result in criminal charges.