Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Adam Walsh Act/SORNA 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. The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas is requesting FY14 AWA grant funds to continue ongoing work related to the enhancements of the Tribal Sex Offender Registry Program, as they meet both requirements to maintain a sex offender registry and require sex offenders to register and maintain current registration at all times. The tribe's four project goals include: 1) coordinating efforts with Federal, state, and local governments focused on establishing and/or enhancing multi-jurisdictional approaches to monitoring and apprehending sex offenders; 2) providing tribal departments with mentoring and partnering opportunities to implement internal sex offenders guidelines that will enable the enhancement of the Tribal Sex Offender Program; 3) hiring project staff to fulfill the requirements of SORNA and conduct community awareness training; and 4) broadening educational outreach and public awareness of the Tribal and National Sex Offender Registry, and sex offender program. ca/ncf