SMART 2017 Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (AWA) (42 U.S.C. § 16909, et seq.; Pub. L. 113-235, 128 Stat. 2130, 2193) authorizes the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) to administer sex offender management grants. These grants assist states, the District of Columbia, U.S. principal territories 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 Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is requesting grant funds to develop and implement a new software system to maintain a sex offender registry (SOR). Funding of this proposal will facilitate, enhance and maintain Maryland’s ability to implement the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The grant funds will be used for the purposes of procuring a SOR application called OffenderWatch (OW) that will mitigate the risk of system failure by replacing the deteriorating outdated sex offender registry software application with a supported, stable, and configurable application that is both compliant with SORNA and with Maryland’s statutory requirements. The DPSCS is legislatively mandated to provide a sex offender registry application and website for its citizens. Pursuant to that charge the DPSCS developed and currently supports a Java software application and Oracle database designed to collect, store, and post to the public website legislatively required information about convicted sex offenders. In order to remain compliant with State mandates and Federal guidelines the application must be replaced. Years of disparate software modifications, made in attempts to comply with State and Federal law, have made the system slow and unstable. ca/ncf