Virgin Islands Implementation of the Adam Walsh Act

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (AWA) (Pub. L. 109-248, 42 U.S.C. § 16901, et seq) authorizes the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) to administer sex offender management grants. These grants assist state, local and tribal jurisdictions in developing and/or enhancing sex offender registration and notification programs that support substantial implementation of 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 Virgin Islands Department of Justice (VIDOJ) will utilize grant funds to enhance sex offender registration, tracking and monitoring in the territory and work to substantially implement the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The VIDOJ has assembled a multi-agency SORNA Task Force to assist the VIDOJ in accomplishing the following: 1) Compose a comprehensive revised sex offender statute which substantially complies with SORNA; 2) Implement a comprehensive program which monitors and tracks sex offenders who reside, work or attend school in the Virgin Islands community; 3) Activate a multi agency collaborative effort to enforce the requirements of the statute by sharing information and utilizing the resources of those agencies; 4) Address any multi jurisdictional challenges presented by the fact that the territory is uniquely situated outside of the continuous United States.

ca/ncf