ALPENA — Registered sex offenders don’t have to register, a federal judge said Monday — at least, not for now.

In Northeast Michigan, the roughly 300 people who are listed on the state’s database of people convicted of sex-related offenses don’t have to tell police where they live, what their phone number is, or whether they have a new email address — some of them for the first time in decades.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland said Monday enforcement of the registry’s strict mandates is suspended while the state battles the effects of the coronavirus.

The registry, which has been ruled unconstitutional several times since 2016 while legislators failed to fix it, was declared invalid in February by a federal judge, who gave lawmakers until March 20 to propose replacement language.

By mid-May, police were to stop enforcing sex offender registry requirements all together, unless an approved statue had been put in its place.

That plan has changed, the judge said in an order Monday.

Michigan’s response to the coronavirus, with lawmakers and employees alike kept from their regular work, has made it impossible for the law to be rewritten in a timely manner.

Instead of simply extending deadlines for Legislature once again, Cleland declared that none of the people listed on Michigan’s sex offender registry would be beholden to its regulations until Michigan is no longer in a state of emergency and registrants have been notified of what’s expected of them next.

The Legislature on Tuesday extended Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency declaration through the end of April as nearly 19,000 cases and 845 deaths have been reported statewide. One case has been confirmed in Presque Isle County, while zero cases have been confirmed in Alpena, Montmorency, and Alcona counties.

Already in February, police stopped enforcing registry rules against people whose crimes were committed before April 2011, eliminating the portion of the registry deemed most problematic. That affected about 70% of the 40-some registered sex offenders who live within a five-mile radius of downtown Alpena.

While registered offenders won’t be held to registration requirements, an offender who still wishes to register during Michigan’s state of emergency may still do so, the federal court order said.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.