Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website

Since its inception in 2005, the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) has been an extremely valuable public safety tool used widely to identify registered sex offenders within communities. Recently, NSOPW underwent a transformation—the site was redesigned with an improved layout, enhanced navigation, added features, and new graphics. In addition to improving its look and making it simpler to use, the redesign also prepared the site for many new features that, once implemented, will make it an even more valuable resource.

SMART Office staff are working with participating jurisdictions to post additional information on the site, such as offender images, multiple addresses, name aliases, address mapping, and other identifying information. This new address-based search capability will allow users to view information about offenders living within a specified geographic radius of the address entered.

To make supplying this additional information as easy as possible, the SMART Office has created the NSOPW Web Service Application. This application removes the complexity of creating the National Information Exchange Model-based Web Service that is required to meet the new NSOPW participation requirements. Currently, Louisiana is the only state using the Web Service Application. The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is in the final stages of implementing the application, which will make them the first Indian tribe to participate in NSOPW.

With close to 20 million users and counting, NSOPW clearly is an invaluable resource. With the help of participating jurisdictions, the SMART Office will continue to enhance the site, improving its communications power and increasing public safety within our communities.