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Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)

SMART FY 2024 Support for the Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program Application Guidance

April 2024
In this webinar, the SMART Office grants supervisory program manager, a grants management specialist and a senior policy advisor discuss eligibility, goals, objectives, deadlines and how to prepare an application for FY 2024 SMART FY 2024 Support for the Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant (AWA).

Case Law Summary

The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) monitors state and federal case law about sex offender registration and notification. This summary is provided as an overview.

SMART FY 2022 Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program

Closing Date
Grants.gov Deadline
Application JustGrants Deadline
This program assists states, the District of Columbia, principal territories and certain federally recognized Indian tribes with developing and enhancing programs designed to implement the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) (34 U.S.C. section 20901 et seq.). SORNA was enacted to provide a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. SORNA requires jurisdictions to maintain a...

SMART remembers, mourns the loss of tribal SORNA officers to COVID

 

In June and September, tribal communities lost two SORNA officers who had been key to implementing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) on tribal lands. In June, Navajo Nation Police Officer Michael Lee was the first Navajo officer to die from COVID-19. In September, White Mountain Apache Tribal Police SORNA Compliance Specialist Elmer Lamson also died of COVID-19. As SORNA officers, Lee and Lamson played...

SMART FY 2020 Keep Young Athletes Safe Continuation

Closing Date
The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) seeks applications to safeguard amateur athletes against abuse in sports through the prevention and investigation of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in the athletic programs of the United States Olympic Committee, each national governing body, and each Paralympic sports organization. The SMART Office assists states, the District of Columbia, territories and tribal jurisdictions...

SORNA Implementation Status

Select a jurisdiction from the drop-down menus or the map to view their SORNA implementation status.

An overview of the SORNA implementation status of all states, territories and the District of Columbia is available in this progress check.

For a list of jurisdictions that have substantially implemented SORNA, click here.

Recognizing a Decade of Progress at SMART

Luis C. Debaca

For the past 10 years, the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) has been at the forefront of implementing effective practices to register and manage sex offenders.

This summer, we'll be recognizing the 10th anniversary of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. This legislation, named after the 6-year-old boy whose senseless murder led to increased public...

How Tribes can "TAP" into Information Databases

TAP meeting

Ten tribes are participating in a new phase of the roll-out of the Tribal Access Program, a valuable tool available from the Department of Justice that improves public safety as it allows tribes to access and exchange criminal justice information. Launches have already occurred at Fort Peck, Makah and Standing Rock, and others are scheduled throughout the summer. The Attorney General recently highlighted TAP as...

What Do We Know About Sex Offenders?

SOMAPI KCMO
SOMAPI report authors Kevin Baldwin (from left), Dominique Simons, Roger Przybylski and Chris Labanov-Rostovsky present during the SMART Office National Symposium on Sex Offender Management and Accountability, July 26, 2016, in Kansas City, Missouri.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "sex offender"? We know that sex offenders, like the general criminal population, are not a monolithic group. Some sex offenders are pedophiles, some act out in response to their own abuse and some commit these crimes as part of an overall criminal lifestyle. While some may reoffend regardless of criminal justice intervention, some respond well to...

SMART Forges Partnerships to Manage Sex Offenders

SMART Symposium
Opening speakers at the 2019 National Symposium on Sex Offender Management and Accountability included (from left) Theresa Faris, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes; John R. Lausch Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Dawn Doran, acting SMART Office Director; Stacie B. Harris, National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, Department of Justice; and John F. Clark, President/CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

On July 27, 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh entered a Florida department store with his mother. He was abducted by a stranger, and his remains were found two weeks later. The tragedy of the young boy's murder—a brutal crime that was never brought to trial—shocked the nation. His devastated family and supporters channeled their grief and anger in a positive way―to protect other children from sexual...

SMART Office Welcomes New Director

Swearing in new Director, Kendel Ehrlich

In March, the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking welcomed a new Director, Kendel Ehrlich. She previously served as the Deputy Director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. In that position, Kendel specialized in external communications combatting the opioid crisis with particular emphasis on ONDCP's High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas and Drug-Free Communities programs.

Prior to joining the...

Indian Country

Indian Tribes, Nations and Pueblos Implementing SORNA

Under the Adam Walsh Act, all federally recognized Indian tribes are entitled to elect whether to carry out the sex offender registration and notification requirements of the Act or delegate the functions to the state(s) in which the tribal land is located, unless the tribe is subject to the criminal jurisdiction of a state under 18 U.S.C. §...

How the Sex Offender Registry Tool Can Help You

July 2019

The Sex Offender Registry Tool (SORT) is a sex offender management application provided to states and territories by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART). SORT helps states and territories to implement the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act registry system requirements. Available at no cost, SORT was designed to make the sex offender registry system setup and maintenance process as efficient and effective as possible.

New SMART Staff

The SMART Office announces the addition of two new staff to its team: Victoria Jolicoeur and Yahya Fouz.

Victoria Jolicoeur is a Program Specialist in the SMART Office. Ms. Jolicoeur manages SMART Office grant programs, including the Adam Walsh Implementation Act grant program. In addition to managing grants, she also works closely with policy advisors to assist States with the implementation of the Sex Offender...

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...