Chehalis Tribe's SORNA Project FY 2012

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 Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation is working towards improving public sex offender registry systems in an effort to support SORNA compliance within its jurisdiction. Actions that the Tribes plan to complete include: (1) implement system to obtain offender's digital finger and palm prints; (2) obtain grant requested equipment; (3) train all law enforcement staff on operation of the TouchPrint machine; (4) enhance current practices to better implement collection, storage, and submission of sex offender digital finger and palm prints; and (5) review and refine mechanism for evaluating sex offender registration, notification, enforcement, tracking, and education process.

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