Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), requires that jurisdictions include in their registries certain juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent of a sex offense. More specifically, SORNA requires the registration of juveniles who 1) were 14 years of age or older at the time of the offense, and 2) were adjudicated delinquent of an offense equivalent to or more severe than aggravated sexual abuse (as described in 18 U.S.C. § 2241). Because of the severity of these offenses, these juveniles are categorized as tier III offenders under SORNA and are subject to applicable duration and in-person verification requirements. However, SORNA does not require lifetime registration without qualification, allowing registration to be terminated after 25 years for those offenders who have maintained a clean record.  

The National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification specify that the offenses requiring registration for these juveniles are limited to those equivalent to 18 U.S.C. § 2241(a) or (b), which are sex offenses generally involving forcible penetration. 

Notification to the Public and Community 

In 2011, Supplemental Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification were issued that specifically granted jurisdictions discretion in whether to post information about persons adjudicated delinquent of a sex offense on the jurisdiction’s public sex offender registry website. In other words, jurisdictions are no longer required to post such information publicly in order to substantially implement SORNA, but may do so, if they so choose. Moreover, jurisdictions may want to consider some form of notification to community agencies or individuals when a person adjudicated delinquent of a sex offense is in a community as a resident, student or employee.  

For example, a jurisdiction may consider establishing or preserving a notification process whereby registering agencies will notify secondary school officials when a juvenile sex offender enrolls in their school. Similarly, a jurisdiction may want to develop a policy so that the responsible law enforcement agency, student services department or other appropriate office at an institution of higher education in the community is notified when a juvenile sex offender commences coursework or changes their registration information. In addition, protection of the public might necessitate a limited community notification process, whereby agencies and/or institutions tasked with protecting the interests and welfare of children or concerned parents may proactively request or petition for disclosure of information about registered juvenile sex offenders. 

Substantial Implementation 

A third set of guidelines, the Supplemental Guidelines for Juvenile Registration Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (Juvenile Supplemental Guidelines), released in August 2016, addressed the standards utilized by the SMART Office in reviewing a jurisdiction’s juvenile sex offender registration and notification system. 

In the event that a jurisdiction does not exactly conform to the juvenile registration requirements under SORNA, the Juvenile Supplemental Guidelines permit the SMART Office to expand its inquiry in the process of making a determination as to whether a jurisdiction has substantially implemented SORNA’s juvenile registration provisions. Specifically, the Juvenile Supplemental Guidelines allow the SMART Office to review and consider the following: 

1. Policies and practices to prosecute as adults juveniles who commit serious sex offenses
2. Policies and practices to register juveniles adjudicated delinquent for serious sex offenses
3. Other policies and practices to identify, track, monitor or manage juveniles adjudicated delinquent for serious sex offenses who are in the community and to ensure that the records of their identities and sex offenses are available as needed for public safety purposes 

The SMART Office will determine that a jurisdiction relying on these factors has substantially implemented SORNA's juvenile registration requirement only if it concludes that these factors, in conjunction with that jurisdiction’s other policies and practices, have resulted or will result in the registration, identification, tracking, monitoring or management of juveniles who commit serious sex offenses, and in the availability of the identities and sex offenses of such juveniles as needed for public safety purposes, in a manner that does not substantially disserve SORNA's objectives.

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