The U.S. Department of Justice has submitted its proposed National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification, as required by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The guidelines set minimum standards for who must register, how long offenders must stay in a registry, the type of information jurisdictions must disclose about registrants, how frequently and under what circumstances jurisdictions must update information on offenders, and how such requirements should be enforced.
The guidelines are intended to ensure that states are collecting certain common information about offenders. Jurisdictions will be able to enforce more rigorous requirements for their own registries.
The proposed guidelines are at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/smart/guidelines.htm. The public is invited to comment to GetSMART@usdoj.gov, until Aug. 1.
