St. Lucie County Adam Walsh Act Sexual Offender Registration and Management Enhancement Program

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (AWA) (Pub. L. 109-248, 42 U.S.C. § 16901, et seq) authorizes the Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) Office to administer sex offender management grants. These grants assist state, local and tribal jurisdictions in implementing and/or enhancing sex offender registration and notification programs that support compliance with Title I of the AWA, known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). SORNA was enacted to protect the public from convicted sex offenders and offenders against children by establishing a comprehensive national system for the registration of those offenders.

The St. Lucie County Office of the Sheriff will expand the Sex Offender Unit staff in order to assist the agency in meeting the registration, monitoring, and management requirements under the AWA. By adding personnel, equipment, and supplies needed to support this unit/program expansion, the sheriff's office will undertake the following activities: 1) develop and enhance the Sex Offender/Predator Unit and functions; 2) improve the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office/Sex Offender/Predator unit's information sharing ability as it relates to investigation and prevention of sex crimes and offender accountability; 3) develop and/or enhance absconder apprehension efforts; 4) collection, storage, analysis, and processing of sex offender biometric data (fingerprints) and DNA for investigations; 5) provide additional support for coordinated interagency and inter-jurisdictional efforts; and 7) provide additional support to assist with the required address verification of Sex Offenders.

ca/ncf