Sex Offender Registration Systems in the United States: Mapping the Information-Sharing Landscape

• In Event: Advances in Sex Offense Policy Research: Law Enforcement Uses of Sex Offender Registration Systems

Abstract

In 2006, the United States Congress passed the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), also known as Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, with a goal of improving the exchange and sharing of information about sex offenders living in the community among law enforcement agencies and across jurisdictions. Although sex offender registries in the U.S. have been extensively studied in the years since SORNA’s passage, there has been no systematic assessment to date of how, and to what extent, this information-sharing goal has been achieved. This presentation will discuss the first wave of findings from a comprehensive multi-year research project, undertaken through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, evaluating the information sharing functions of sex offender registration and notification systems. Specific project elements discussed will include a multi-dimensional analysis of state-level implementation of individual SORNA standards, a comprehensive review of federal-level systems and practices related to integrating the nation’s disparate SORN systems, and presentation of a model depicting the information-sharing “ecosystem” that has evolved since SORNA’s passage. Implications for policy, sex offender management practice, and research will be discussed.

Author

• Andrew Harris, University of Massachusetts Lowell