Highlights of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

 

I. New Changes to Current Law: General

 

Ø Full Integration: The bill fully integrates Megan’s Law and the “Lychner Amendments” into the Wetterling Act. 

 

Ø Expands Covered Offenses against Children: The bill adds the “use of the Internet to facilitate or commit a crime against a minor” as one that could trigger registration.

 

Ø Tribal Lands: For the first time, the sex offender law will cover “federally recognized tribal lands.”

 

II. New Requirements for Sex Offenders

 

Ø Prior to Release: A sex offender will have to register prior to release from prison or supervised release.  Current law requires registration after release.

 

Ø Bi-annual, In-Person Registration: Requires that a sex offender register/update their registry in person at an office designated by the state twice a year (every three months for a sexually violent predator) – not just once.

 

Ø Increase of Duration for Periodic Registration: The duration to register for a first-time sex offender increases from 10 years to 20 years and for second offenders and sexually violent offenders for their lifetime.

 

Ø Shortened Time to Comply: Any change of status requiring a registry update (change of address, employment, etc) must be made three days after the change occurs – not ten days. 

 

Ø Social Security Number: Social Security numbers will now be a required piece of information that sex offenders must supply to the state registries.  However, that information will not be released on state sex offender notification websites.

 

Ø Fingerprints and Photographs:  The bill adds a mandatory annual update (current law is just once) to the taking of a sex offender’s photograph and fingerprints.  The state is required to maintain that information as part of their registry. 

 

Ø Tracking Devices: Requires a first-time sex offender to wear a tracking device for the duration of their supervised release and requires a second-time offender to wear the device for their lifetime (sexually violent predators must wear a device for their lifetime).  The type of device will be determined by the U.S. Attorney General after consulting with the states.

 

Ø New Notification Requirements for those Attending Educational Institutions: Requires an individual to notify police when they enroll or attend (current law is just attend) high schools, vocational/technical institutions or higher education institutions.

 

III. New State Requirements

 

Ø Searchable Statewide Sex Offender Registry: Requires the states, not local governments, to maintain a multi-field, searchable sex offender registry. 

 

Ø Tracking of Persons in Prison: provides funding for law enforcement to purchase programs – like JusticeXchange -- to identify individuals currently in jail.

 

 

IV. New Federal Requirements

 

Ø Immediate Electronic Notification to States of a Sex Offender’s Intent to Relocate: Requires the Attorney General, through the National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR), to send out an immediate electronic notification of a sex offender’s intent to move to a new domicile state once the Attorney General is notified by the current domiciliary state of the sex offender’s intent to relocate.  The state can then forward that information to local communities as it sees fit. 

 

Ø Sex Offender DNA Database: Establishes a new federally maintained sex offender DNA database to be used by law enforcement and prosecutors.

 

Ø Model Sex Offender Registry: Requires the U.S. Attorney General, in consultation with the states, to develop a sex offender registry that can be used by those states that currently do not have such a registry or prefer a better system.

 

Ø Strict Liability Crime: Makes failing to register or update the registry as proscribed in the act a strict liability crime.  In other words, failing to comply with the law – whether or not the sex offender had any intent to do so – is a crime.

 

Ø Felony: Makes failing to register or updating registry information a federal felony.

 

Ø Taxpayer and Social Security Information: Allows for the release of taxpayer and Social Security information to law enforcement, when necessary, in trying to locate the sex offender or verify information supplied by the sex offender.

 

Ø Immigration Provision: makes failing to provide registration information as a sex offender a deportable offense. 

 

Ø Releasing Numbers of Sex Offenders to the Public: Requires the U.S. Attorney General to poll states every three months to assess the total number of sex offenders in their registry and release that information to the public.

 

Ø Study: Requires the U.S. Attorney General to examine ways for law enforcement to do a better job of actively notifying communities when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

 

V. Compliance

 

Ø Bonus Payments: provides bonus payments to states for complying with this act sooner than the three-year timeline set out in this measure.

 

Ø Penalties: provides a 10% reduction in justice assistance grants and certain reductions of Sex Offender Management Assistance Program monies for those states that do not comply.