NSOPW U.S. Public Registry Search Scraper

Search source-native public sex offender registry records exposed through the National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). Export names, aliases, jurisdiction IDs, source registry links, images, and location fields into an Apify Dataset for public-records research, registry lookup, and source monitoring.

This is an unofficial tool and is not affiliated with NSOPW, the U.S. Department of Justice, or any participating jurisdiction.

What the Actor does

• Searches by first and last name with optional city, county, and jurisdiction filters.
• Searches up to five ZIP codes.
• Performs supported 1-, 2-, or 3-mile geographic searches.
• Returns current state, territory, Indian Country, radius, and distance filter metadata.
• Selects one source-native record from a live search context by exact offender URL or ID.
• Preserves the originating jurisdiction and registry URL instead of pretending all participating registries are one identity system.

NSOPW matching semantics are source-defined. A search for a name can return exact names, aliases, spelling variations, and records whose alias matches the query. Do not interpret a returned row as proof that two people are the same person.

Supported operations

Operation	Required input	Dataset result
search	Name pair, ZIP list, or complete geographic search	Normalized source-native registry records
item	Exact offenderUri or offenderId plus the original search context	One matching registry record
search_filters	None	One current filter-directory object
probe	None	Health summary in OUTPUT; no person Dataset rows

The default input is the current jurisdiction/filter directory. It produces a nonempty Dataset without silently adding person-search fields to ZIP or geographic inputs.

Ready-to-run examples

Name and jurisdiction search

{
  "operation": "search",
  "firstName": "john",
  "lastName": "smith",
  "jurisdictions": ["AL"],
  "limit": 10,
  "proxy": "direct"
}

ZIP search

{
  "operation": "search",
  "zip": ["36117"],
  "limit": 10,
  "proxy": "direct"
}

Geographic search

Geographic mode requires latitude, longitude, distance, and at least one supported jurisdiction. Do not combine it with name or ZIP fields.

{
  "operation": "search",
  "latitude": 32.3617,
  "longitude": -86.2792,
  "distance": 1,
  "jurisdictions": ["AL"],
  "limit": 10,
  "proxy": "direct"
}

Filter and jurisdiction discovery

{
  "operation": "search_filters",
  "refresh": false,
  "proxy": "direct"
}

Select one record from search context

item is intentionally source-aware: it repeats the supplied search and selects the exact ID or URL from that response. It is not a universal person-detail lookup.

{
  "operation": "item",
  "offenderId": "17994482",
  "firstName": "john",
  "lastName": "smith",
  "jurisdictions": ["AL"],
  "proxy": "direct"
}

IDs and registry participation can change. For durable workflows, take id or source_url from a fresh search result and pass the same search context to item.

Input rules

• Name mode requires both firstName and lastName.
• ZIP mode accepts one to five numeric five-character ZIP codes.
• Geographic mode requires latitude, longitude, distance, and at least one jurisdiction.
• Supported distances are 1, 2, and 3 miles.
• Do not combine geographic mode with name or ZIP search.
• limit is bounded from 1 to 500. Use small limits for scheduled monitoring.
• includeJurisdictionStatus can add source response diagnostics to OUTPUT; it does not create additional person rows.

Dataset fields

Person rows can include:

• source-native id and slug;
• full, first, middle, and last names;
• aliases;
• age, gender, and absconder flag when supplied by the participating registry;
• jurisdiction ID and registry domain;
• exact source record URL;
• image URLs;
• residence, employment, or school location objects supplied by the source;
• primary city, county, state, ZIP, latitude, and longitude.

Empty fields are omitted. Filter discovery returns a different, source-appropriate row shape containing jurisdiction and radius options.

The OUTPUT record contains the operation status, structured errors, access diagnostics, requested/published item counts, and charge-limit information.

Saved Task use cases

Three bounded Saved Tasks are recommended:

1. nsopw-alabama-name-search — demonstrate a source-native name and jurisdiction search.
2. nsopw-zip-registry-search — demonstrate a bounded ZIP-area lookup.
3. nsopw-jurisdiction-directory — discover current searchable jurisdictions before building a workflow.

The exact inputs and buyer use cases are documented in SAVED_TASKS.md.

Proxy behavior

• direct — cheapest verified route and the recommended default.
• auto — currently starts with direct access.
• apify — Apify server/datacenter proxy diagnostics.
• residential — U.S. residential proxy diagnostics; more expensive.
• special — special Apify proxy diagnostics only; not recommended for routine runs.

The current official backend works without a browser. Paid proxies should only be used after reproducible direct failures.

API and Dataset workflow

Start a run:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/dromb~nsopw-offender-search/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN&waitForFinish=120" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"operation":"search","firstName":"john","lastName":"smith","jurisdictions":["AL"],"limit":10,"proxy":"direct"}'

Then read the run's defaultDatasetId and request:

$curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/DATASET_ID/items?clean=true&format=json&token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

Because this data is sensitive, no generic CRM or Telegram person-alert template is bundled. Integrations should include access control, purpose limitation, retention rules, and human verification against the official source.

Responsible-use limitations

• NSOPW aggregates participating jurisdictions; coverage and availability vary.
• A jurisdiction may be offline, delayed, or return zero records.
• Names and aliases are not unique identifiers.
• A match should be verified at the linked official registry before action is taken.
• Do not use this Actor to harass, threaten, discriminate against, or unlawfully profile anyone.
• Do not treat the Dataset as a substitute for legally compliant screening procedures or use it to make decisions prohibited by applicable employment, housing, credit, insurance, privacy, or anti-discrimination law.
• Users are responsible for NSOPW terms, participating-registry terms, and applicable law.