The Havasupai Tribe''s Adam Walsh Implementation Project

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.

This grant project will enhance equipment and technology resources of the Havasupai Tribe in order to assist the Tribe in its efforts to implement SORNA. The following objectives will address gaps identified as impacting implementation: (1) Identify and keep track of sex offenders who require registration under the Adam Walsh Act (Act) and the Havasupai Ordinance, and update the Havasupai Tribal Court's filing system through purchase and use of FullCourt Enterprise software, which will facilitate electronic record-keeping of sex offender convictions and documents, and allow for the digitization of past offender convictions; (2) Implement community notification that will increase awareness of sex offenders in the Havasupai jurisdiction and stabilize the Tribe's technology infrastructure such that community members can access the Tribe's public sex offender registry website; (3) Ensure tribal staff and law enforcement are adequately informed of their duties related to implementation by providing training to the prosecutor, court personnel, tribal security, IT personnel, law enforcement staff and any other tribal staff designated by Tribal Council with carrying out duties under the Ordinance; (4) Ensure law enforcement has the necessary equipment to carry out their registration duties under the Act through supporting equipment and supplies costs, such as computers, a server, a digital finger/palm print scanner and digital cameras; and (5) Enhance information sharing with other agencies by providing law enforcement and other criminal justice personnel resources to digitize and share information with other law enforcement agencies, and by stabilizing the Tribe's technology infrastructure through the provision of much needed equipment.

ca/ncf