National Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) Implementation Inventory, Preliminary Results

• NCJ Number: 250132
• Author(s): Andrew J. Harris; Christopher Lobanov-Rostovsky
• Date Published: July 2016
• Length: 37 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2014-AW-BX-K003
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Legislation/Policy Description; Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Award: Information Sharing and the Role of Sex Offender Registration and Notification

Annotation

This report presents the findings of an examination of the levels of State compliance with the requirements of the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

Abstract

The data presented are based on reviews of 41 States by the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehension, Registration, and Tracking (SMART), which administers SORNA's implementation. The analysis assessed the extent to which each State's laws and policies were consistent with each of 14 SORNA standards. In order to achieve "substantial implementation" (SI) status, a State must have policies that either fully meet or do not substantially deviate from the purpose of each standard. States that do not meet these criteria for one or more SORNA standards do not receive SI. As of March 2016, 17 States had been determined by the Justice Department to have SI status; 33 States had not met this threshold. The analysis found that with one exception (Kansas), all States, both those with and without SI status, deviated from SORNA standards in some way. The majority of these deviations, however, have been determined by the SMART Office to be insignificant deviations from SORNA standards. This report identifies the SORNA standards that had the highest level of compliance in the States, and it also identifies the SORNA standards with which States without SI status failed to comply. It is anticipated that this report will be updated with information from additional States during the third quarter of 2016. 3 tables