Department of Justice Works with Jurisdictions to Comply with Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, today opened the 2011 National Workshop on the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

"This workshop provides an opportunity for the Department of Justice to further assist jurisdictions who are working to implement reliable and effective sex offender registration and notification systems in conformance with the Adam Walsh Act," said Assistant Attorney General Robinson.

More than 240 SORNA jurisdictional representatives from states, territories and tribes gathered to participate in a workshop designed to further assist jurisdictions in their efforts to implement SORNA, Title I of the Adam Walsh Act of 2006, before the final deadline of July 27, 2011. The SORNA Workshop was convened by the Justice Department's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART).

Coinciding with the Workshop was the Department of Justice's release of supplemental guidelines for SORNA. The SORNA Supplemental Guidelines address, among other things, public notification of juveniles adjudicated delinquent for serious sex crimes, the posting of sex offender information, such as email addresses and other Internet identifiers, and reporting of international travel requirements. Other issues addressed in the Supplemental Guidelines include on-going review of SORNA implementation, the sharing of information across jurisdictions, and the application of SORNA to newly federally-recognized Indian tribes.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims.  OJP has seven bureaus and offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; the Community Capacity Development Office, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART).  More information about OJP and its components can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.

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SOURCE Office of Justice Programs