FY 2018 AWA/SORNA

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (AWA) authorizes the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) to administer grants to assist states, the District of Columbia, U.S. 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, 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 will use AWA grant funds to support the upgrade of the infrastructure used to maintain sex offender registration fingerprints. Activities will include procurement of equipment and professional services to implement a fingerprint verification system. These improvements will allow for faster and more accurate identification of sex offenders during initial registration and verification appearances. ca/ncf