SORNA Substantial Implementation Update

The SMART Office has received and reviewed a tremendous amount of information and material from the States, territories, and the District of Columbia about their progress toward substantial implementation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42 U.S.C. ?? 16925(a) (Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006). To date, the SMART Office has received and reviewed full substantial implementation packages from 39 States and territories and conducted preliminary reviews or analyses of proposed legislation from 10 additional States and territories. The office has determined that 17 States—Colorado being the latest—and 3 territories have substantially implemented SORNA. For information on tribal jurisdictions, see SORNA Implementation in Indian Country in this issue.

Numerous tools and resources from the SMART Office are available to further jurisdictions’ work toward SORNA implementation:

• Technical assistance: SMART Office staff are available to clarify SORNA’s requirements, analyze existing or proposed code and policy, and meet with stakeholders, either remotely or in person. See SORNA Implementation Policy Advisor Contacts by Jurisdiction for contact information.
• Documents: Multiple documents are available on the SMART Office website that may assist jurisdictions as they work to implement SORNA:
• Implementation Documents address certain SORNA requirements such as juvenile registration, community notification, and homeless offenders.
• The SORNA Implementation Checklist outlines, element by element, SORNA’s specific requirements.
• Other helpful resources can be found on the SMART Office’s SORNA Tools and Newsletters & Publications webpages.
• Tools:
• The SORNA Exchange Portal is equipped to transfer registration information about sex offenders from jurisdiction to jurisdiction when offenders relocate, and 53 of the 56 non-tribal SORNA jurisdictions (States, territories, the District of Columbia) are now responding to offender relocation tasks.
• The Sex Offender Registry Tool (SORT) is a free sex offender management application provided by the SMART Office. SORT serves a dual purpose: it provides local registration agencies with their own specialized public sex offender registry websites and it functions as the State-level administrative registry system.