SMART Watch Newsletter

By John Walsh

We were living in South Florida, and our 6-year-old son, Adam, loved nothing more than going to the beach. He loved to swim and snorkel. Like me, he was fascinated by the ocean and everything in it. Adam could name all the different types of fish and coral. He knew a trigger fish from a grouper.

My son was the kindest little boy to other children, especially younger kids. He’d share his toys with them, and his books, especially his favorite ones about the ocean and pirates. Like other boys his age, he was a baseball fan. But, frankly, he’d rather stop and examine a butterfly in the outfield than catch a fly ball.

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By Laura L. Rogers

It is an honor to serve as the Director of the SMART Office again. I rejoined the office on January 4, 2018. The growth and change in the office and in the implementation of SORNA since I left in 2009 is remarkable. When I departed the SMART Office at 11:50 a.m. January 20, 2009, the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System had gone live just minutes beforehand. I left relieved that the National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification had been published and that the International Sex Offender Working Group was well established. The SMART Office had grown from a staff of one (me) to a handful of dedicated professionals. On the horizon was the massive task of substantial implementation for a country still trying to digest the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act/Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and the National Guidelines.

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