It feels like an admission.

It is the opposite.

A person who has done nothing and has no lawyer is a person relying entirely on being believed, and being believed is not a plan.

It cost me nine thousand dollars.

If you do not have nine thousand dollars, a public defender’s office cannot help you because you have not been charged, but there are legal aid organizations that do exactly this and there is one in most large counties and almost nobody knows to call them.

Three. Learn what the registry is before you need to.