[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30210-30234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10210]



[[Page 30209]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part IV





Department of Justice





-----------------------------------------------------------------------



The National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification; 
Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 103 / Wednesday, May 30, 2007 / 
Notices  

[[Page 30210]]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[Docket No. OAG 121; A.G. Order No. 2880-2007].
RIN 1105-AB28


 Office of the Attorney General; The National Guidelines for Sex 
Offender Registration and Notification

AGENCY: Department of Justice.

ACTION: Notice; Proposed guidelines.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Department of Justice is publishing Proposed 
Guidelines to interpret and implement the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act.

DATES: Comments must be received by August 1, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Laura L. Rogers, Director, SMART 
Office, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of 
Justice, 810 7th Street NW., Washington, DC 20531. To ensure proper 
handling, please reference OAG Docket No. 121 on your correspondence. 
You may view an electronic version of these proposed guidelines at 
http://www.ojp.gov/smart or http://www.regulations.gov. You may also 
comment via the Internet to the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, 
Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART Office) of 
the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs at 
[email protected]. Electronically submitted comments must include 
Docket No. OAG 121 in the subject box.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura L. Rogers, Director, SMART 
Office, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of 
Justice, Washington, DC 202-514-4689.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since the enactment of the Jacob Wetterling 
Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act 
(42 U.S.C. 14071) in 1994, there have been national standards for sex 
offender registration and notification in the United States. All states 
currently have sex offender registration and notification programs and 
have endeavored to implement the Wetterling Act standards in their 
existing programs.
    Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 
(Pub. L. 109-248), the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act 
(SORNA), contains a comprehensive revision of the national standards 
for sex offender registration and notification. The SORNA reforms are 
generally designed to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of sex 
offender registration and notification for the protection of the 
public, and to eliminate potential gaps and loopholes under the pre-
existing standards by means of which sex offenders could attempt to 
evade registration requirements or the consequences of registration 
violations.
    These proposed guidelines carry out a statutory directive to the 
Attorney General in section 112(b) of SORNA (42 U.S.C. 16912(b)) to 
issue guidelines to interpret and implement SORNA. They provide 
guidance and assistance to the states and other jurisdictions in 
incorporating the SORNA requirements into their sex offender 
registration and notification programs. Matters addressed in the 
guidelines include general principles for SORNA implementation; the 
jurisdictions responsible for implementing the SORNA standards in their 
programs; the sex offenders required to register under SORNA and the 
registration and notification requirements they are subject to based on 
the nature of their offenses and the extent of their recidivism; the 
information to be included in the sex offender registries and the 
disclosure and sharing of such information; the jurisdictions in which 
sex offenders are required to register; the procedures for initially 
registering sex offenders and for keeping the registration current and 
the registration information up to date; the duration of registration; 
and the means of enforcing registration requirements.
Proposed National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification

Contents

I. Introduction
II. General Principles
    A. Terminology
    B. Minimum National Standards
    C. Retroactivity
    D. Automation--Electronic Databases and Software
    E. Implementation
III. Covered Jurisdictions
IV. Covered Sex Offenses and Sex Offenders
    A. Convictions Generally
    B. Foreign Convictions
    C. Sex Offenses Generally
    D. Specified Offenses Against Minors
    E. Protected Witnesses
V. Classes of Sex Offenders
VI. Required Registration Information
VII. Disclosure and Sharing of Information
    A. Sex Offender Web Sites
    B. Community Notification and Targeted Disclosures
VIII. Where Registration Is Required
IX. Initial Registration
X. Keeping the Registration Current
    A. Changes of Name, Residence, Employment, or School Attendance
    B. Changes in Other Registration Information
    C. International Travel
XI. Verification/Appearance Requirements
XII. Duration of Registration
XIII. Enforcement of Registration Requirements

I. Introduction

    The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (``SORNA'' or 
``the Act''), which is title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 
Safety Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-248), provides a new comprehensive set 
of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in 
the United States. These guidelines are issued to provide guidance and 
assistance to covered jurisdictions--the 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, the principal U.S. territories, and Indian tribal 
governments--in implementing the SORNA standards in their registration 
and notification programs.
    The adoption of these guidelines carries out a statutory directive 
to the Attorney General, appearing in SORNA section 112(b), to issue 
guidelines to interpret and implement SORNA. Other provisions of SORNA 
establish the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, 
Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (the ``SMART Office''), a 
component of the Office of Justice Programs of the U.S. Department of 
Justice. The SMART Office is authorized by law to administer the 
standards for sex offender registration and notification that are set 
forth in SORNA and interpreted and implemented in these guidelines. It 
is further authorized to cooperate with and provide assistance to 
States, local governments, tribal governments, and other public and 
private entities in relation to sex offender registration and 
notification and other measures for the protection of the public from 
sexual abuse or exploitation. See SORNA section 146(c). Accordingly, 
the SMART Office should be regarded by jurisdictions discharging 
registration and notification functions as their key partner and 
resource in the federal government in further developing and 
strengthening their sex offender registration and notification 
programs, and the SMART Office will provide all possible assistance for 
this purpose.
    The development of sex offender registration and notification 
programs in the United States has proceeded rapidly since the early 
1990s, and at the present time such programs exist in all of the 
States, the District of Columbia, and some of the territories and 
tribes. These programs serve a number of important public safety 
purposes. In their most basic character, the registration aspects of 
these programs are systems for

[[Page 30211]]

tracking sex offenders following their release into the community. If a 
sexually violent crime occurs or a child is molested, information 
available to law enforcement through the registration program about sex 
offenders who may have been present in the area may help to identify 
the perpetrator and solve the crime. If a particular released sex 
offender is implicated in such a crime, knowledge of the sex offender's 
whereabouts through the registration system may help law enforcement in 
making a prompt apprehension. The registration program may also have 
salutary effects in relation to the likelihood of registrants 
committing more sex offenses. Registered sex offenders will perceive 
that the authorities' knowledge of their identities, locations, and 
past offenses reduces the chances that they can avoid detection and 
apprehension if they reoffend, and this perception may help to 
discourage them from doing so.
    Registration also provides the informational base for the other key 
aspect of the programs--notification--which involves making information 
about released sex offenders more broadly available to the public. The 
means of public notification currently include sex offender Web sites 
in all States, the District of Columbia, and some territories, and may 
involve other forms of notice as well. The availability of such 
information helps members of the public to take common sense measures 
for the protection of themselves and their families, such as declining 
the offer of a convicted child molester to watch their children or head 
a youth group, or reporting to the authorities approaches to children 
or other suspicious activities by such a sex offender. Here as well, 
the effect is salutary in relation to the sex offenders themselves, 
since knowledge by those around them of their sex offense histories 
reduces the likelihood that they will be presented with opportunities 
to reoffend.
    While sex offender registration and notification in the United 
States are generally carried out through programs operated by the 
individual States and other non-federal jurisdictions, their 
effectiveness depends on also having effective arrangements for 
tracking of registrants as they move among jurisdictions and some 
national baseline of registration and notification standards. In a 
federal union like the United States with a mobile population, sex 
offender registration could not be effective if registered sex 
offenders could simply disappear from the purview of the registration 
authorities by moving from one jurisdiction to another, or if 
registration and notification requirements could be evaded by moving 
from a jurisdiction with an effective program to a nearby jurisdiction 
that required little or nothing in terms of registration and 
notification.
    Hence, there have been national standards for sex offender 
registration in the United States since the enactment of the Jacob 
Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Act 
(42 U.S.C. 14071) in 1994. The national standards from their inception 
have addressed such matters as the offenses for which registration 
should be required, updating and periodic verification of registration 
information, the duration of registration, public notification, and 
continued registration and tracking of sex offenders when they relocate 
from one jurisdiction to another.
    Following the enactment of the Wetterling Act in 1994, that Act was 
amended a number of times, in part reflecting and in part promoting 
trends in the development of the State registration and notification 
programs. Ultimately, Congress concluded that the patchwork of 
standards that had resulted from piecemeal amendments should be 
replaced with a comprehensive new set of standards--the SORNA reforms, 
whose implementation these Guidelines concern--that would close 
potential gaps and loopholes under the old law, and generally 
strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and 
notification programs. Important areas of reform under the SORNA 
standards include:
     Extending the jurisdictions in which registration is 
required beyond the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
principal U.S. territories, to include Indian tribal jurisdictions.
     Extending the classes of sex offenders and sex offenses 
for which registration is required.
     Consistently requiring that sex offenders in the covered 
classes register and keep the registration current in the jurisdictions 
in which they reside, work, or go to school.
     Requiring more extensive registration information.
     Adding to the national standards periodic in-person 
appearances by registrants to verify and update the registration 
information.
     Broadening the availability of information concerning 
registered sex offenders to the public, through posting on sex offender 
Web sites and by other means.
     Adopting reforms affecting the required duration of 
registration.
    In addition, SORNA strengthens the federal superstructure elements 
that leverage and support the sex offender registration and 
notification programs of the registration jurisdictions. These 
strengthened elements are: (i) Stepped-up federal investigation and 
prosecution efforts to assist jurisdictions in enforcing sex offender 
registration requirements; (ii) new statutory provisions for the 
national database and national Web site (i.e., the National Sex 
Offender Registry and the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Web 
site) that effectively compile information obtained under the 
registration programs of the States and other jurisdictions and make it 
readily available to law enforcement or the public on a nationwide 
basis; (iii) development by the federal government of software tools, 
which the States and other registration jurisdictions will be able to 
use to facilitate the operation of their registration and notification 
programs in conformity with the SORNA standards; and (iv) establishment 
of the SMART Office to administer the national standards for sex 
offender registration and notification and to assist registration 
jurisdictions in their implementation.
    Through the cooperative effort of the 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, the U.S. territories, and Indian tribal governments with the 
responsible federal agencies, the SORNA goal of an effective and 
comprehensive national system of registration and notification programs 
can be realized, with great benefit to the ultimate objective of 
``protect[ing] the public from sex offenders and offenders against 
children.'' SORNA section102. These Guidelines provide the blueprint 
for that effort.
Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

II. General Principles

    Before turning to the specific SORNA standards and requirements 
discussed in the remainder of these Guidelines, certain general points 
should be noted concerning the interpretation and application of the 
Act and these Guidelines:

A. Terminology

    These Guidelines use key terms with the meanings defined in SORNA. 
In particular, the term ``jurisdiction'' is consistently used with the 
meaning set forth in SORNA section 111(10). As defined in that 
provision, it refers to the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the 
five principal U.S. territories--i.e., the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana

[[Page 30212]]

Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands--and Indian tribes that 
elect to function as registration jurisdictions under SORNA section 
127. (For more concerning covered jurisdictions, see Part III of these 
Guidelines.) Thus, when these Guidelines refer to ``jurisdictions'' 
implementing the SORNA registration and notification requirements, the 
reference is to implementation of these requirements by the 
jurisdictions specified in SORNA section 111(10). Likewise, the term 
``sex offense'' is not used to refer to any and all crimes of a sexual 
nature, but rather to those covered by the definition of ``sex 
offense'' appearing in SORNA section 111(5), and the term ``sex 
offender'' has the meaning stated in SORNA section 111(1). (For more 
concerning covered sex offenses and offenders, see Part IV of these 
Guidelines.)
    SORNA itself includes a number of references relating to 
implementation by jurisdictions of the requirements of ``this title.'' 
Section 125 provides a mandatory 10% reduction in certain federal 
justice assistance funding for jurisdictions that fail, as determined 
by the Attorney General, to substantially implement ``this title'' 
within the time frame specified in section 124, and section 126 
authorizes a Sex Offender Management Assistance grant program to help 
offset the costs of implementing ``this title.'' In the context of 
these provisions, the references to ``this title'' function as a 
shorthand for the SORNA sex offender registration and notification 
standards. They do not mean that funding under these provisions is 
affected by a jurisdiction's implementation or non-implementation of 
reforms unrelated to sex offender registration and notification that 
appear in later portions of title I of the Adam Walsh Act Child 
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (particularly, subtitle C of that 
title).
    Section 125(d) of SORNA states that the provisions of SORNA ``that 
are cast as directions to jurisdictions or their officials constitute, 
in relation to States, only conditions required to avoid the reduction 
of Federal funding under this section.'' Statements in these Guidelines 
that SORNA requires jurisdictions to adopt certain measures should be 
understood accordingly in their application to the States. Since the 
SORNA requirements relating to sex offender registration and 
notification are, in relation to the States, only partial funding 
eligibility conditions, creation of these requirements is within the 
constitutional authority of the federal government.

B. Minimum National Standards

    SORNA establishes a national baseline for sex offender registration 
and notification programs. In other words, the Act generally 
constitutes a set of minimum national standards and sets a floor, not a 
ceiling, for jurisdictions' programs. Hence, for example, a 
jurisdiction may have a system that requires registration by broader 
classes of convicted sex offenders than those identified in SORNA, or 
that requires, in addition, registration by certain classes of non-
convicts (such as persons acquitted on the ground of insanity of 
sexually violent crimes or child molestation offenses, or persons 
released following civil commitment as sexually dangerous persons). A 
jurisdiction may require verification of the registered address or 
other registration information by sex offenders with greater frequency 
than SORNA requires, or by other means in addition to those required by 
SORNA (e.g., through the use of mailed address verification forms, in 
addition to in-person appearances). A jurisdiction may require sex 
offenders to register for longer periods than those required by the 
SORNA standards. A jurisdiction may require that changes in 
registration information be reported by registrants on a more stringent 
basis than the SORNA minimum standards--e.g., requiring that changes of 
residence be reported before the sex offender moves, rather than within 
three business days following the move. A jurisdiction may extend Web 
site posting to broader classes of registrants than SORNA requires and 
may post more information concerning registrants than SORNA and these 
Guidelines require.
    Such measures, which encompass the SORNA baseline of sex offender 
registration and notification requirements but go beyond them, 
generally have no negative implication concerning jurisdictions' 
implementation of or compliance with SORNA. This is so because the 
general purpose of SORNA is to protect the public from sex offenders 
and offenders against children through effective sex offender 
registration and notification, and it is not intended to preclude or 
limit jurisdictions' discretion to adopt more extensive or additional 
registration and notification requirements to that end. There are 
exceptions to this general rule, however. For example, SORNA section 
118(b) requires that certain limited types of information, such as 
victim identity and registrants' Social Security numbers, be excluded 
from jurisdictions' publicly accessible sex offender Web sites, as 
discussed in Part VII of these Guidelines. In most other respects, 
jurisdictions' discretion to go further than the SORNA minimum is not 
limited.

C. Retroactivity

    The applicability of the SORNA requirements is not limited to sex 
offenders whose predicate sex offense convictions occur following a 
jurisdiction's implementation of a conforming registration program. 
Rather, SORNA's requirements apply to all sex offenders, including 
those whose convictions predate the enactment of the Act. The Attorney 
General has so provided in 28 CFR part 72, pursuant to the authority 
under SORNA section 113(d) to ``specify the applicability of the 
requirements of [SORNA] to sex offenders convicted before the enactment 
of this Act or its implementation in a particular jurisdiction.'' As 
noted in the rulemaking document for the cited regulations, the 
application of the SORNA standards to sex offenders whose convictions 
predate SORNA creates no ex post facto problem ``because the SORNA sex 
offender registration and notification requirements are intended to be 
non-punitive, regulatory measures adopted for public safety purposes, 
and hence may validly be applied (and enforced by criminal sanctions) 
against sex offenders whose predicate convictions occurred prior to the 
creation of these requirements. See Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003).'' 
72 FR 8894, 8896 (Feb. 28, 2007).
    As a practical matter, jurisdictions may not be able to identify 
all sex offenders who fall within the SORNA registration categories, 
where the predicate convictions predate the enactment of SORNA or the 
jurisdiction's implementation of the SORNA standards in its 
registration program, particularly where such sex offenders have left 
the justice system and merged into the general population long ago. But 
many sex offenders with such convictions will remain in (or reenter) 
the system because:

     They are incarcerated or under supervision, either for the 
predicate sex offense or for some other crime;
     They are already registered or subject to a pre-existing 
sex offender registration requirement under the jurisdiction's law; or
     They hereafter reenter the jurisdiction's justice system 
because of conviction for some other crime (whether or not a sex 
offense).

Sex offenders in these three classes are within the cognizance of the

[[Page 30213]]

jurisdiction, and the jurisdiction will often have independent reasons 
to review their criminal histories for penal, correctional, or 
registration/notification purposes. Accordingly, a jurisdiction will be 
deemed to have substantially implemented the SORNA standards with 
respect to sex offenders whose predicate convictions predate the 
enactment of SORNA or the implementation of SORNA in the jurisdiction's 
program if it registers these sex offenders, when they fall within any 
of the three classes described above, in conformity with the SORNA 
standards. (For more about the registration of sex offenders in these 
classes, see the discussion under ``retroactive classes'' in Part IX of 
these Guidelines.)
    The required retroactive application of the SORNA requirements will 
also be limited in some cases by the limits on the required duration of 
registration. As discussed in Part XII of these Guidelines, SORNA 
requires minimum registration periods of varying length for sex 
offenders in different categories, defined by criteria relating to the 
nature of their sex offenses and their history of recidivism. This 
means that a sex offender with a pre-SORNA conviction may have been in 
the community for a greater amount of time than the registration period 
required by SORNA. For example, SORNA section 115 requires registration 
for 25 years for a sex offender whose offense satisfies the ``tier II'' 
criteria of section 111(3). A sex offender who was released from 
imprisonment for such an offense in 1980 is already more than 25 years 
out from the time of release. In such cases, a jurisdiction may credit 
the sex offender with the time elapsed from his or her release (or the 
time elapsed from sentencing, in case of a non-incarcerative sentence), 
and does not have to require the sex offender to register on the basis 
of the conviction, even if the criteria for retroactive application of 
the SORNA standards under this Part are otherwise satisfied.
    As with other requirements under SORNA and these Guidelines, the 
foregoing discussion identifies only the minimum required for SORNA 
compliance. Jurisdictions are free to require registration for broader 
classes of sex offenders with convictions that predate SORNA or the 
jurisdiction's implementation of the SORNA standards in its program.

D. Automation--Electronic Databases and Software

    Several features of SORNA contemplate, or will require as a 
practical matter, the use of current electronic and cyber technology to 
track seamlessly sex offenders who move from one jurisdiction to 
another, ensure that information concerning registrants is immediately 
made available to all interested jurisdictions, and make information 
concerning sex offenders immediately available to the public as 
appropriate. These include provisions for immediate information sharing 
among jurisdictions under SORNA section 113(c); a requirement in 
section 119(b) that the Attorney General ensure ``that updated 
information about a sex offender is immediately transmitted by 
electronic forwarding to all relevant jurisdictions''; and requirements 
in section 121(b) that sex offender registration information and 
updates thereto be provided immediately to various public and private 
entities and individuals. (For more about these information sharing 
requirements and associated time frames, see Parts VII.B and X of these 
Guidelines.)
    Carrying out the SORNA information sharing requirements accordingly 
will entail maintenance by jurisdictions of their registries in the 
form of electronic databases, whose included information can be 
electronically transmitted to other jurisdictions and entities. This 
point is further discussed in connection with the specific SORNA 
standards, particularly in Parts VI, VII, and X of these Guidelines.
    Section 123 of SORNA directs the Attorney General, in consultation 
with the jurisdictions, to develop and support registry management and 
Web site software. The purposes of the software include facilitating 
the immediate exchange of sex offender information among jurisdictions, 
public access through the Internet to sex offender information and 
other forms of community notification, and compliance in other respects 
with the SORNA requirements. As required by section 123, the Department 
of Justice will develop and make available to the jurisdictions 
software tools for the operation of their sex offender registration and 
notification programs, which will, as far as possible, be designed to 
automate these processes and enable the jurisdictions to implement 
SORNA's requirements by utilizing the software.

E. Implementation

    Section 124 of SORNA sets a general time frame of three years for 
implementation, running from the date of enactment of SORNA, i.e., from 
July 27, 2006. The Attorney General is authorized to provide up to two 
one-year extensions of this deadline. Failure to comply within the 
applicable time frame would result in a 10% reduction of Federal 
justice assistance funding under 42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq. (``Byrne 
Justice Assistance Grant'' funding). See SORNA section 125(a). Funding 
withheld from jurisdictions because of noncompliance would be 
reallocated to other jurisdictions that are in compliance, or could be 
reallocated to the noncompliant jurisdiction to be used solely for the 
purpose of SORNA implementation.
    While SORNA sets minimum standards for jurisdictions' registration 
and notification programs, it does not require that its standards be 
implemented by statute. Hence, in assessing compliance with SORNA, the 
totality of a jurisdiction's rules governing the operation of its 
registration and notification program will be considered, including 
administrative policies and procedures as well as statutes.
    The SMART Office will be responsible for determining whether a 
jurisdiction has substantially implemented the SORNA requirements. The 
affected jurisdictions are encouraged to submit information to the 
SMART Office concerning existing and proposed sex offender registration 
and notification provisions with as much lead time as possible, so the 
SMART Office can assess the adequacy of existing or proposed measures 
to implement the SORNA requirements and work with the submitting 
jurisdictions to overcome any shortfalls or problems. At the latest, 
submissions establishing compliance with the SORNA requirements should 
be made to the SMART Office at least three months before the deadline 
date of July 27, 2009--i.e., by April 27, 2009--so that the matter can 
be determined before the Byrne Grant funding reduction required by 
SORNA section 125 for noncompliant jurisdictions takes effect. If it is 
anticipated that a submitting jurisdiction may need an extension of 
time as described in SORNA section 124(b), the submission to the SMART 
Office--which should be made by April 27, 2009, as noted--should 
include a description of the jurisdiction's implementation efforts and 
an explanation why an extension is needed.
    SORNA section 125 refers to ``substantial'' implementation of 
SORNA. The standard of ``substantial implementation'' is satisfied with 
respect to an element of the SORNA requirements if a jurisdiction 
carries out the requirements of SORNA as interpreted and explained in 
these Guidelines. Hence, the standard is satisfied if a jurisdiction 
implements

[[Page 30214]]

measures that these Guidelines identify as sufficient to implement (or 
``substantially'' implement) the SORNA requirements.
    The ``substantial'' compliance standard also contemplates that 
there is some latitude to approve a jurisdiction's implementation 
efforts, even if they do not exactly follow in all respects the 
specifications of SORNA or these Guidelines. For example, section 116 
of SORNA requires periodic in-person appearances by sex offenders to 
verify their registration information. In some cases this will be 
impossible, such as the case of a sex offender who is hospitalized and 
unconscious as a result of an injury at the time of a scheduled 
appearance. In other cases, the appearance may not be literally 
impossible, but there may be reasons to allow some relaxation of the 
requirement. For example, a sex offender may unexpectedly need to deal 
with a family emergency at the time of a scheduled appearance, where 
failure to make the appearance will mean not verifying the registration 
information within the exact time frame specified by SORNA section 116. 
A jurisdiction may wish to authorize rescheduling of the appearance in 
such cases. Doing so would not necessarily undermine substantially the 
objectives of the SORNA verification requirements, so long as the 
jurisdiction's rules or procedures require that the sex offender notify 
the official responsible for monitoring the sex offender of the 
difficulty, and that the appearance promptly be carried out once the 
interfering circumstance is resolved.
    In general, the SMART Office will consider on a case-by-case basis 
whether jurisdictions' rules or procedures that do not exactly follow 
the provisions of SORNA or these Guidelines ``substantially'' implement 
SORNA, assessing whether the departure from a SORNA requirement will or 
will not substantially disserve the objectives of the requirement. If a 
jurisdiction is relying on the authorization to approve measures that 
``substantially'' implement SORNA as the basis for an element or 
elements in its system that depart in some respect from the exact 
requirements of SORNA or these Guidelines, the jurisdiction's 
submission to the SMART Office should identify these elements and 
explain why the departure from the SORNA requirements should not be 
considered a failure to substantially implement SORNA.
    Beyond the general standard of substantial implementation, SORNA 
section 125(b) includes special provisions for cases in which the 
highest court of a jurisdiction has held that the jurisdiction's 
constitution is in some respect in conflict with the SORNA 
requirements. If a jurisdiction believes that it faces such a 
situation, it should inform the SMART Office. The SMART Office will 
then work with the jurisdiction to see whether the problem can be 
overcome, as the statute provides. If it is not possible to overcome 
the problem, then the SMART Office may approve the jurisdiction's 
adoption of reasonable alternative measures that are consistent with 
the purposes of SORNA.
    Section 125 of SORNA, as discussed above, provides for a funding 
reduction for jurisdictions that do not substantially implement SORNA 
within the applicable time frame. Section 126 of SORNA authorizes 
positive funding assistance--the Sex Offender Management Assistance 
(``SOMA'') grant program--to all registration jurisdictions to help 
offset the costs of SORNA implementation, with enhanced payments 
authorized for jurisdictions that effect such implementation within one 
or two years of SORNA's enactment. Congress has not appropriated 
funding for the SOMA program at the time of the issuance of these 
Guidelines. If funding for this program is forthcoming in the future, 
additional guidance will be provided concerning application for grants 
under the program.

III. Covered Jurisdictions

    Section 112(a) of SORNA states that ``[e]ach jurisdiction shall 
maintain a jurisdiction-wide sex offender registry conforming to the 
requirements of this title,'' and section 124 provides specific 
deadlines for ``jurisdictions'' to carry out the SORNA implementation. 
Related definitions appear in section 111(9) and (10). Section 111(9) 
provides that ``sex offender registry'' means a registry of sex 
offenders and a notification program.
    Section 111(10) provides that ``jurisdiction'' refers to:

     The 50 States;
     The District of Columbia;
     The five principal U.S. territories--the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
the United States Virgin Islands; and
     Indian tribes to the extent provided in section 127.

    Some of the provisions in SORNA are formulated as directions to sex 
offenders, including those appearing in sections 113(a)-(b), 113(c) 
(first sentence), 114(a), 115(a), and 116. Other SORNA provisions are 
cast as directions to jurisdictions or their officials, such as those 
appearing in sections 113(c) (second sentence), 113(e), 114(b), 117(a), 
118, 121(b), and 122. To meet the requirement under sections 112 and 
124 that covered jurisdictions must implement SORNA in their 
registration and notification programs, each jurisdiction must 
incorporate in the laws and rules governing its registration and 
notification program the requirements that SORNA imposes on sex 
offenders, as well as those that are addressed directly to 
jurisdictions and their officials.
    While the ``jurisdictions'' assigned sex offender registration and 
notification responsibilities by SORNA are the 50 States, the District 
of Columbia, the principal territories, and Indian tribes (to the 
extent provided in section 127), as described above, this does not 
limit the ability of these jurisdictions to carry out these functions 
through their political subdivisions. For example, a jurisdiction may 
assign responsibility for initially registering sex offenders upon 
their release from imprisonment to correctional personnel who are 
employees of the jurisdiction's government, but the responsibility for 
continued tracking and registration of sex offenders thereafter may be 
assigned to personnel of local police departments, sheriffs' offices, 
or supervision agencies who are municipal employees. Moreover, in 
carrying out their registration and notification functions, 
jurisdictions are free to utilize (and to allow their agencies and 
political subdivisions to utilize) entities and individuals who may not 
be governmental agencies or employees in a narrow sense, such as 
contractors, volunteers, and community-based organizations that are 
capable of discharging these functions. SORNA does not limit 
jurisdictions' discretion concerning such matters. Rather, so long as a 
jurisdiction's laws and rules provide consistently for the discharge of 
the required registration and notification functions by some 
responsible individuals or entities, the specifics concerning such 
assignments of responsibility are matters within the jurisdiction's 
discretion. References in these Guidelines should be understood 
accordingly, so that (for example) a reference to an ``official'' 
carrying out a registration function does not mean that the function 
must be carried out by a government employee, but rather is simply a 
way of referring to whatever individual is assigned responsibility for 
the function.
    With respect to Indian tribes, SORNA recognizes that tribes may 
vary in their capacities and preferences regarding the discharge of sex 
offender registration

[[Page 30215]]

and notification functions, and accordingly section 127 of SORNA has 
special provisions governing the treatment of Indian tribes as 
registration jurisdictions or the delegation of registration and 
notification functions to the States. Specifically, section 127(a)(1) 
generally affords federally recognized Indian tribes a choice between 
electing to carry out the sex offender registration and notification 
functions specified in SORNA in relation to sex offenders subject to 
its jurisdiction, or delegating those functions to a State or States 
within which the tribe is located. (Delegation to the State or States 
is automatic for a tribe subject to state law enforcement jurisdiction 
under 18 U.S.C. 1162, however--see the discussion of section 127(a)(2) 
below.) The choice by a tribe whether to become a SORNA registration 
jurisdiction or to delegate registration and notification functions to 
a State or States must be made within one year of SORNA's enactment on 
July 27, 2006.
    If a tribe elects to become a SORNA registration jurisdiction, its 
functions and responsibilities regarding sex offender registration and 
notification are the same as those of a State. Duplication of 
registration and notification functions by tribes and States is not 
required, however, and such tribes may enter into cooperative 
agreements with the States for the discharge of these functions, as 
discussed below in connection with section 127(b). If a tribe elects to 
delegate to a State, then the State is fully responsible for carrying 
out the SORNA registration and notification functions, and the 
delegation includes an undertaking by the tribe to ``provide access to 
its territory and such other cooperation and assistance as may be 
needed to enable [the State] to carry out and enforce the requirements 
of [SORNA].'' SORNA section 127(a)(1)(B).
    The election to become a SORNA registration jurisdiction, or to 
delegate to a State or States, must be made by resolution or other 
enactment of the tribal council or comparable governmental body. Hence, 
the decision must be made by a tribal governmental entity--''the tribal 
council or comparable governmental body''--that has the legal authority 
to make binding legislative decisions for the tribe. The tribal 
government should promptly notify the SMART Office of its decision and 
forward the text of the resolution or other enactment to the SMART 
Office by a reliable means of transmission--preferably by the decision 
deadline of July 27, 2007, or if that is not feasible, as soon 
thereafter as possible.
    To satisfy the requirements of SORNA section 127(a)(1), the 
resolution or enactment must be adopted on or prior to July 27, 2007, 
and must state a decision by the tribal council (or comparable 
governmental body) to do one of the following:
     Carry out the SORNA requirements relating to sex offender 
registration and notification as a jurisdiction subject to those 
requirements; or
     Delegate the tribe's functions relating to sex offender 
registration and notification under SORNA to the State or States within 
which the territory of the tribe is located and provide access to its 
territory and such other cooperation and assistance as may be needed to 
enable the State or States to carry out and enforce the SORNA 
requirements.

Additional suggested elements for inclusion in the tribal resolution 
(or other enactment) include the following:

     Authorization of an appropriate tribal official or 
officials to negotiate or enter into cooperative agreements with state 
or local governments, if the tribe elects to become a SORNA 
registration jurisdiction, and if it is expected that the SORNA 
requirements will be carried out wholly or in part through such 
agreements.
     A direction to tribal officials and agencies to provide 
such cooperation and assistance as the State or States may need to 
carry out and enforce the SORNA requirements, if the tribe elects to 
delegate the SORNA functions to a State or States.
     A date or timing notation that shows the resolution was 
adopted on or prior to July 27, 2007.
     A direction that the SMART Office of the U.S. Department 
of Justice be notified of the tribe's election and that the resolution 
or enactment be transmitted to the SMART Office.

    Subsection (a)(2) of SORNA section 127 specifies three 
circumstances in which registration and notification functions are 
deemed to be delegated to the State or States in which a tribe is 
located, even if the tribe does not make an affirmative decision to 
delegate:
     Under subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(2), these 
functions are always delegated to the State if the tribe is subject to 
the law enforcement jurisdiction of the State under 18 U.S.C. 1162. (If 
a tribe's land is in part subject to state law enforcement jurisdiction 
under 18 U.S.C. 1162 and in part outside of the areas subject to 18 
U.S.C. 1162, then: (i) Sex offender registration and notification 
functions are automatically delegated to the relevant State in the 
portion of the tribal land subject to 18 U.S.C. 1162, and (ii) the 
tribe has a choice between functioning as a registration jurisdiction 
or delegating registration and notification functions to the State in 
the portion of its land that is not subject to 18 U.S.C. 1162.)
     Under subparagraph (B) of subsection (a)(2), these 
functions are delegated to the State or States if the tribe does not 
make an affirmative election to function as a registration jurisdiction 
within one year of the enactment of SORNA--i.e., within one year of 
July 27, 2006--or rescinds a previous election to function as a 
registration jurisdiction.
     Under subparagraph (C) of subsection (a)(2), these 
functions are delegated to the State or States if the Attorney General 
determines that the tribe has not substantially implemented the 
requirements of SORNA and is not likely to become capable of doing so 
within a reasonable amount of time.
    If a tribe does elect under section 127 to become a SORNA 
registration jurisdiction, section 127(b) specifies that this does not 
mean that the tribe must duplicate registration and notification 
functions that are fully carried out by the State or States within 
which the tribe is located, and subsection (b) further authorizes the 
tribes and the States to make cooperative arrangements for the 
discharge of some or all of these functions. For example, SORNA section 
118 requires jurisdictions to make information concerning their sex 
offenders available to the public through the Internet. If a tribe did 
not want to maintain a separate sex offender Web site for this purpose, 
it would not need to do so, as long as a cooperative agreement was made 
with the State to have information concerning the tribe's registrants 
posted on the State's sex offender Web site. Likewise, a tribe that 
elects to be a SORNA registration jurisdiction remains free to make 
cooperative agreements under which the State (or a political 
subdivision thereof) will handle registration of the tribe's sex 
offenders--such as initially registering these sex offenders, 
conducting periodic appearances of the sex offenders to verify the 
registration information, and receiving reports by the sex offenders 
concerning changes in the registration information--to the extent and 
in a manner mutually agreeable to the tribe and the State. In general, 
the use of cooperative agreements affords tribes flexibility in 
deciding which functions under SORNA they would seek to have state 
authorities perform, and which they wish to control or discharge 
directly. For example, the State could carry out certain registration 
functions, but the tribe could retain jurisdiction over the arrest 
within its territory of sex

[[Page 30216]]

offenders who fail to register, update registrations, or make required 
verification appearances, if a cooperative agreement between the tribe 
and the State so provided.

IV. Covered Sex Offenses and Sex Offenders

    SORNA refers to the persons required to register under its 
standards as ``sex offenders,'' and section 111(1) of SORNA defines 
``sex offender'' in the relevant sense to mean ``an individual who was 
convicted of a sex offense.'' ``Sex offense'' is in turn defined in 
section 111(5) and related provisions. The term encompasses a broad 
range of offenses of a sexual nature under the law of any 
jurisdiction--including offenses under federal, military, state, 
territorial, local, tribal, and foreign law, but with some 
qualification regarding foreign convictions as discussed below.

A. Convictions Generally

    A ``sex offender'' defined in SORNA section 111(1) is a person who 
was ``convicted'' of a sex offense. Hence, whether an individual has a 
sex offense ``conviction'' determines whether he or she is within the 
minimum categories for which the SORNA standards require registration.
    The convictions for which SORNA requires registration include 
convictions for sex offenses by any United States jurisdiction, 
including convictions for sex offenses under federal, military, state, 
territorial, or local law. Indian tribal court convictions for sex 
offenses are generally to be given the same effect as convictions by 
other United States jurisdictions. It is recognized, however, that 
Indian tribal court proceedings may differ from those in other United 
States jurisdictions in that the former do not uniformly guarantee the 
same rights to counsel that are guaranteed in the latter. Accordingly, 
a jurisdiction may choose not to require registration based on a tribal 
court conviction resulting from proceedings in which: (i) The defendant 
was denied the right to the assistance of counsel, and (ii) the 
defendant would have had a right to the assistance of counsel under the 
United States Constitution in comparable state proceedings. A 
jurisdiction will not be deemed to have failed to substantially 
implement SORNA based on its adoption of such an exception.
    Since the SORNA registration requirements are predicated on 
convictions, registration (or continued registration) is normally not 
required under the SORNA standards if the predicate conviction is 
reversed, vacated, or set aside, or if the person is pardoned for the 
offense on the ground of innocence. This does not mean, however, that 
nominal changes or terminological variations that do not relieve a 
conviction of substantive effect negate the SORNA requirements. For 
example, the need to require registration would not be avoided by a 
jurisdiction's having a procedure under which the convictions of sex 
offenders in certain categories (e.g., young adult sex offenders who 
satisfy certain criteria) are referred to as something other than 
``convictions,'' or under which the convictions of such sex offenders 
may nominally be ``vacated'' or ``set aside,'' but the sex offender is 
nevertheless required to serve what amounts to a criminal sentence for 
the offense. Rather, an adult sex offender is ``convicted'' for SORNA 
purposes if the sex offender remains subject to penal consequences 
based on the conviction, however it may be styled. Likewise, the 
sealing of a criminal record or other action that limits the publicity 
or availability of a conviction, but does not deprive it of continuing 
legal validity, does not change its status as a ``conviction'' for 
purposes of SORNA.
    ``Convictions'' for SORNA purposes include convictions of juveniles 
who are prosecuted as adults. It does not include juvenile delinquency 
adjudications, except under the circumstances specified in SORNA 
section 111(8). Section 111(8) provides that delinquency adjudications 
count as convictions ``only if the offender is 14 years of age or older 
at the time of the offense and the offense adjudicated was comparable 
to or more severe than aggravated sexual abuse (as described in section 
2241 of title 18, United States Code), or was an attempt or conspiracy 
to commit such an offense.''

    Hence, SORNA does not require registration for juveniles 
adjudicated delinquent for all sex offenses for which an adult sex 
offender would be required to register, but rather requires 
registration only for a defined class of older juveniles who are 
adjudicated delinquent for committing particularly serious sexually 
assaultive crimes or child molestation offenses. Considering the 
definition of the federal ``aggravated sexual abuse'' offense 
referenced in section 111(8), offenses under a jurisdiction's laws 
``comparable to'' that offense are those that cover:
     Engaging in a sexual act with another by force or the 
threat of serious violence (see 18 U.S.C. 2241(a));
     Engaging in a sexual act with another by rendering 
unconscious or involuntarily drugging the victim (see 18 U.S.C. 
2241(b)); or
     Engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 12 
(see 18 U.S.C. 2241(c)). ``Sexual act'' for this purpose should be 
understood to include any of the following: (i) Oral-genital or oral-
anal contact, (ii) any degree of genital or anal penetration, and (iii) 
direct genital touching of a child under the age of 16. This follows 
from the definition of sexual act in 18 U.S.C. 2246(2), which applies 
to the 18 U.S.C. 2241 ``aggravated sexual abuse'' offense.

    As with other aspects of SORNA, the foregoing defines minimum 
standards. Hence, the inclusions and exclusions in the definition of 
``conviction'' for purposes of SORNA do not constrain jurisdictions 
from requiring registration by additional individuals--e.g., more 
broadly defined categories of juveniles adjudicated delinquent for sex 
offenses--if they are so inclined.

B. Foreign Convictions

    Section 111(5)(B) of SORNA instructs that registration need not be 
required on the basis of a foreign conviction if the conviction ``was 
not obtained with sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and 
due process for the accused under guidelines or regulations established 
[by the Attorney General].'' The following standards are adopted 
pursuant to section 111(5)(B):
     Sex offense convictions under the laws of Canada, Great 
Britain, Australia, and New Zealand are deemed to have been obtained 
with sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process, 
and registration must be required for such convictions on the same 
footing as domestic convictions.
     Sex offense convictions under the laws of any foreign 
country are deemed to have been obtained with sufficient safeguards for 
fundamental fairness and due process if the U.S. State Department, in 
its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, has concluded that an 
independent judiciary generally (or vigorously) enforced the right to a 
fair trial in that country during the year in which the conviction 
occurred. Registration must be required on the basis of such 
convictions on the same footing as domestic convictions.
     With respect to sex offense convictions in foreign 
countries that do not satisfy the criteria stated above, a jurisdiction 
is not required to register the convicted person if the jurisdiction 
determines--through whatever process or procedure it may choose to 
adopt--that the conviction does not constitute a reliable indication of 
factual guilt because of the lack of an impartial tribunal, because of 
denial of the right to respond to the evidence against the person or to 
present exculpatory evidence, or because of denial of the right to the 
assistance of counsel.


[[Page 30217]]


    The foregoing standards do not mean that jurisdictions must 
incorporate these particular criteria or procedures into their 
registration systems, if they wish to register foreign sex offense 
convicts with fewer qualifications or no qualifications. Rather, the 
stated criteria define the minimum categories of foreign convicts for 
whom registration is required for compliance with SORNA, and as is 
generally the case under SORNA, jurisdictions are free to require 
registration more broadly than the SORNA minimum.

C. Sex Offenses Generally

    The general definition of sex offenses for which registration is 
required under the SORNA standards appears in section 111(5)(A). The 
clauses in the definition cover the following categories of offenses:

     Sexual Act And Sexual Contact Offenses (section 
111(5)(A)(i)): The first clause in the definition covers ``a criminal 
offense that has an element involving a sexual act or sexual contact 
with another.'' (``Criminal offense'' in the relevant sense refers to 
offenses under any body of criminal law, including state, local, 
tribal, foreign, military, and other offenses, as provided in section 
111(6).) The offenses covered by this clause should be understood to 
include all sexual offenses whose elements involve: (i) Any type or 
degree of genital, oral, or anal penetration, or (ii) any sexual 
touching of or contact with a person's body, either directly or through 
the clothing. Cf. 18 U.S.C. 2246(2)-(3) (federal law definitions of 
sexual act and sexual contact).
     Specified Offenses Against Minors (section 111(5)(A)(ii)): 
The second clause in the definition covers ``a criminal offense that is 
a specified offense against a minor.'' The statute provides a detailed 
definition of ``specified offense against a minor'' in section 111(7), 
which is discussed separately below.
     Specified Federal Offenses (section 111(5)(A)(iii)): The 
third clause covers most sexual offenses under federal law. The covered 
chapters and offense provisions in the federal criminal code are 
explicitly identified by citation.
     Specified Military Offenses (section 111(5)(A)(iv)): The 
fourth clause covers sex offenses under the Uniform Code of Military 
Justice, as specified by the Secretary of Defense.
     Attempts And Conspiracies (section 111(5)(A)(v)): The 
final clause in the definition covers attempts and conspiracies to 
commit offenses that are otherwise covered by the definition of ``sex 
offenses.'' This includes both offenses prosecuted under general 
attempt or conspiracy provisions, where the object offense falls under 
the SORNA ``sex offense'' definition, and particular offenses that are 
defined as, or in substance amount to, attempts or conspiracies to 
commit offenses that are otherwise covered. For example, in the latter 
category, a jurisdiction may define an offense of ``assault with intent 
to commit rape.'' Whether or not the word ``attempt'' is used in the 
definition of the offense, this is in substance an offense that covers 
certain attempts to commit rapes and hence is covered under the final 
clause of the SORNA definition.

    SORNA section 111(5)(C) qualifies the foregoing definition of ``sex 
offense'' to exclude ``[a]n offense involving consensual sexual conduct 
* * * if the victim was an adult, unless the adult was under the 
custodial authority of the offender at the time of the offense, or if 
the victim was at least 13 years old and the offender was not more than 
four years older than the victim.'' The general exclusion with respect 
to consensual sexual offenses involving adult victims means, for 
example, that a jurisdiction does not have to require registration 
based on prostitution offenses that consist of the offender paying or 
receiving payment from an adult for a sexual act between them (unless 
the victim is under the custodial authority of the offender). The 
exclusion for certain cases involving child victims based on victim age 
and age difference means that a jurisdiction may not have to require 
registration in some cases based on convictions under provisions that 
prohibit sexual acts or contact (even if consensual) with underage 
persons. For example, under the laws of some jurisdictions, an 18-year-
old may be criminally liable for engaging in consensual sex with a 15-
year-old. The jurisdiction would not have to require registration in 
such a case to comply with the SORNA standards, since the victim was at 
least 13 and the offender was not more than four years older.

D. Specified Offenses Against Minors

    The offenses for which registration is required under the SORNA 
standards include any ``specified offense against a minor'' as defined 
in section 111(7). The SORNA section 111(7) definition of specified 
offense against a minor covers any offense against a minor--i.e., a 
person under the age of 18, as provided in section 111(14)--that 
involves any of the following:
     Kidnapping or False Imprisonment of a Minor (section 
111(7)(A)-(B)): These clauses cover ``[a]n offense (unless committed by 
a parent or guardian) involving kidnapping [of a minor]'' and ``[a]n 
offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian) involving false 
imprisonment [of a minor].'' The relevant offenses are those whose 
gravamen is abduction or unlawful restraint of a person, which go by 
different names in different jurisdictions, such as ``kidnapping,'' 
``criminal restraint,'' or ``false imprisonment.'' Jurisdictions can 
implement the offense coverage requirement of these clauses by 
requiring registration for persons convicted of offenses of this type 
(however designated) whose victims were below the age of 18. It is left 
to jurisdictions' discretion under these clauses whether registration 
should be required for such offenses in cases where the offender is a 
parent or guardian of the victim.
     Solicitation of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Conduct 
(section 111(7)(C)): This clause covers ``[s]olicitation [of a minor] 
to engage in sexual conduct.'' ``Solicitation'' under this clause and 
other SORNA provisions that use the term should be understood broadly 
to include any direction, request, enticement, persuasion, or 
encouragement of a minor to engage in sexual conduct. ``Sexual 
conduct'' should be understood to refer to any sexual activity 
involving physical contact. (See the discussion later in this list of 
``criminal sexual conduct'' under section 111(7)(H).) Hence, 
jurisdictions can implement the offense coverage requirement under this 
clause by requiring registration, in cases where the victim was below 
the age of 18, based on:

    [cir] Any conviction for an offense involving solicitation of the 
victim under a general attempt or solicitation provision, where the 
elements of the object offense include sexual activity involving 
physical contact, and
    [cir] Any conviction for an offense involving solicitation of the 
victim under any provision defining a particular crime whose elements 
include soliciting or attempting to engage in sexual activity involving 
physical contact.

     Use of a Minor in a Sexual Performance (section 
111(7)(D)): This clause covers offenses involving ``[u]se [of a minor] 
in a sexual performance.'' That includes both live performances and 
using minors in the production of pornography, and has some overlap 
with section 111(7)(G), which expressly covers child pornography 
offenses.
     Solicitation of a Minor to Practice Prostitution (section 
111(7)(E)): This

[[Page 30218]]

clause covers offenses involving ``[s]olicitation [of a minor] to 
practice prostitution.'' Jurisdictions can implement the offense 
coverage requirement under this clause by requiring registration, in 
cases where the victim was below the age of 18, based on:
    [cir] Any conviction for an offense involving solicitation of the 
victim under a general attempt or solicitation provision, where the 
object offense is a prostitution offense, and
    [cir] Any conviction for an offense involving solicitation of the 
victim under any provision defining a particular crime whose elements 
include soliciting or attempting to get a person to engage in 
prostitution.
     Video Voyeurism Involving a Minor (section 111(7)(F)): 
This clause covers ``[v]ideo voyeurism as described in section 1801 of 
title 18, United States Code [against a minor].'' The cited federal 
offense in essence covers capturing the image of a private area of 
another person's body, where the victim has a reasonable expectation of 
privacy against such conduct. Jurisdictions can implement the offense 
coverage requirement under this clause by requiring registration for 
offenses of this type, in cases where the victim was below the age of 
18.
     Possession, Production, or Distribution of Child 
Pornography (section 111(7)(G)): This clause covers ``possession, 
production, or distribution of child pornography.'' Jurisdictions can 
implement the offense coverage requirement under this clause by 
requiring registration for offenses whose gravamen is creating or 
participating in the creation of sexually explicit visual depictions of 
persons below the age of 18, making such depictions available to 
others, or having or receiving such depictions.
     Criminal Sexual Conduct Involving a Minor and Related 
Internet Activities (section 111(7)(H)): This clause covers 
``[c]riminal sexual conduct involving a minor, or the use of the 
Internet to facilitate or attempt such conduct.'' The definition has 
two parts:
    [cir] The ``criminal sexual conduct involving a minor'' language in 
this definition covers sexual offenses whose elements involve physical 
contact with the victim--such as provisions defining crimes of 
``rape,'' ``sexual assault,'' ``sexual abuse,'' or ``incest''--in cases 
where the victim was below 18 at the time of the offense. In addition, 
it covers offenses whose elements involve using other persons in 
prostitution--such as provisions defining crimes of ``pandering,'' 
``procuring,'' or ``pimping''--in cases where the victim was below 18 
at the time of the offense. Coverage is not limited to cases where the 
victim's age is an element of the offense, such as prosecution for 
specially defined child molestation or child prostitution offenses. 
Jurisdictions can implement the offense coverage requirement under the 
``criminal sexual conduct involving a minor'' language of this clause 
by requiring registration for ``criminal sexual conduct'' offenses as 
described above whenever the victim was in fact below the age of 18 at 
the time of the offense. (Section 111(7)(C) and (E) separately require 
coverage of offenses involving solicitation of a minor to engage in 
sexual conduct or to practice prostitution, but registration must be 
required for offenses involving sexual conduct with a minor or the use 
of a minor in prostitution in light of section 111(7)(H), whether or 
not the offense involves ``solicitation'' of the victim.)
    [cir] Jurisdictions can implement the ``use of the Internet to 
facilitate or attempt such conduct'' part of this definition by 
requiring registration for offenses that involve use of the Internet in 
furtherance of criminal sexual conduct involving a minor as defined 
above, such as attempting to lure minors through Internet 
communications for the purpose of sexual activity.
     Conduct By Its Nature A Sex Offense Against a Minor 
(section 111(7)(I)): The final clause covers ``[a]ny conduct that by 
its nature is a sex offense against a minor.'' It is intended to ensure 
coverage of convictions under statutes defining sexual offenses in 
which the status of the victim as a minor is an element of an offense, 
such as specially defined child molestation or child prostitution 
offenses, and other offenses prohibiting sexual activity with underage 
persons. Jurisdictions can comply with the offense coverage requirement 
under this clause by including convictions for such offenses in their 
registration requirements.

E. Protected Witnesses

    The requirement that jurisdictions substantially implement SORNA 
does not preclude their taking measures needed to protect the security 
of individuals who have been provided new identities and relocated 
under the federal witness security program (see 18 U.S.C. 3521 et seq.) 
or under other comparable witness security programs operated by non-
federal jurisdictions. A jurisdiction may conclude that it is necessary 
to exclude an individual afforded protection in such a program from its 
sex offender registry or from public notification for security reasons, 
though the individual otherwise satisfies the criteria for registration 
and notification under SORNA. Alternatively, the jurisdiction may 
choose not to waive registration but may identify the registrant in the 
registration system records only by his or her new identity or data, if 
such modifications can be so devised that they are not transparent and 
do not permit the registrant's original identity or participation in a 
witness security program to be inferred. Jurisdictions are permitted 
and encouraged to make provision in their laws and procedures to 
accommodate consideration of the security of such individuals and to 
honor requests from the United States Marshals Service and other 
agencies responsible for witness protection in order to ensure that 
their original identities are not compromised.
    With respect to witnesses afforded federal protection, 18 U.S.C. 
3521(b)(1)(H) specifically authorizes the Attorney General to ``protect 
the confidentiality of the identity and location of persons subject to 
registration requirements as convicted offenders under Federal or State 
law, including prescribing alternative procedures to those otherwise 
provided by Federal or State law for registration and tracking of such 
persons.'' U.S. Department of Justice Witness Security Program 
officials accordingly determine on a case-by-case basis whether such 
witnesses will be required to register, and if registration occurs, 
whether it will utilize new identities, modified data, or other special 
conditions or procedures that are warranted to avoid jeopardizing the 
safety of the protected witnesses.

V. Classes of Sex Offenders

    Section 111(2)-(4) of SORNA defines three ``tiers'' of sex 
offenders. The tier classifications have implications in three areas: 
(i) Under section 115, the required duration of registration depends 
primarily on the tier; (ii) under section 116, the required frequency 
of in-person appearances by sex offenders to verify registration 
information depends on the tier; (iii) under section 118(c)(1), 
information about tier I sex offenders convicted of offenses other than 
specified offenses against a minor may be exempted from Web site 
disclosure.
    The use of the ``tier'' classifications in SORNA relates to 
substance, not form or terminology. Thus, to implement the SORNA 
requirements, jurisdictions do not have to label their sex offenders as 
``tier I,'' ``tier II,'' and ``tier III,'' and do not have to adopt any 
other particular approach to labeling or categorization of sex 
offenders. Rather, the SORNA

[[Page 30219]]

requirements are met so long as sex offenders who satisfy the SORNA 
criteria for placement in a particular tier are consistently subject to 
at least the duration of registration, frequency of in-person 
appearances for verification, and extent of Web site disclosure that 
SORNA requires for that tier.
    For example, suppose that a jurisdiction decides to subject all sex 
offenders to lifetime registration, quarterly verification appearances, 
and full Web site posting as described in Part VII of these Guidelines. 
That would meet the SORNA requirements with respect to sex offenders 
satisfying the ``tier III'' criteria, and exceed the minimum required 
by SORNA with respect to sex offenders satisfying the ``tier II'' or 
``tier I'' criteria. Hence, such a jurisdiction would be able to 
implement the SORNA requirements with respect to all sex offenders 
without any labeling or categorization, and without having to assess 
individual registrants against the tier criteria in the SORNA 
definitions. Likewise, any other approach a jurisdiction may devise is 
acceptable if it ensures that sex offenders satisfying the criteria for 
each SORNA tier are subject to duration of registration, appearance 
frequency, and Web site disclosure requirements that meet those SORNA 
requires for the tier.
    Turning to the specific tier definitions, SORNA section 111(2) 
defines ``tier I sex offender'' to mean ``a sex offender other than a 
tier II or tier III sex offender.'' Thus, tier I is a residual class 
that includes all sex offenders who do not satisfy the criteria for 
tier II or tier III. For example, tier I includes a sex offender whose 
registration offense is not punishable by imprisonment for more than 
one year, a sex offender whose registration offense is the receipt or 
possession of child pornography, and a sex offender whose registration 
offense is a sexual assault against an adult that involves sexual 
contact but not a completed or attempted sexual act.
    The definitions of tier II and tier III--in section 111(3) and 
111(4) respectively--are both limited to cases in which the offense for 
which the sex offender is required to register ``is punishable by 
imprisonment for more than 1 year.'' This means that the statutory 
maximum penalty possible for the offense exceeds one year. It does not 
mean that inclusion in these tiers is limited to cases in which the sex 
offender is actually sentenced to more than a year of imprisonment.
    Because the definitions of tier II and tier III are limited to 
certain offenses punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, and 
federal law does not permit imprisonment for more than one year based 
on Indian tribal court convictions, all tribal court convictions are 
tier I offenses. Moreover, regardless of which jurisdiction convicts 
the sex offender, the requirements with respect to the potential length 
of imprisonment under the statute relate to individual offenses rather 
than to aggregate penalties. For example, suppose that a sex offender 
is charged in three counts with the commission of sex offenses each of 
which is punishable by at most one year of imprisonment, and upon 
conviction is sentenced to three consecutive terms of six months of 
incarceration. Though the aggregate penalty is 18 months, these 
convictions do not place the sex offender above tier I, because each 
offense was not punishable by more than one year of imprisonment.
    If the requirement of an offense punishable by imprisonment for 
more than one year is satisfied, the remaining offense-related criteria 
for tier II are that the registration offense falls within one of two 
lists. In general terms, these lists cover most sexual abuse or 
exploitation offenses against minors. (Here as elsewhere in SORNA, 
``minor'' means a person under the age of 18--see SORNA section 
111(14).) The first list, appearing in section 111(3)(A), covers 
offenses committed against minors that are comparable to or more severe 
than a number of cited federal offenses--those under 18 U.S.C. 1591, 
2422(b), 2423(a), and 2244--and attempts and conspiracies to commit 
such offenses. The second list, appearing in section 111(a)(3)(B), 
covers use of a minor in a sexual performance, solicitation of a minor 
to practice prostitution, and production or distribution of child 
pornography. Determining whether a jurisdiction's offenses satisfy the 
criteria for this tier is simplified by recognizing that the various 
cited and described offenses essentially cover:
     Offenses involving the use of minors in prostitution, and 
inchoate or preparatory offenses (including attempts, conspiracies, and 
solicitations) that are directed to the commission of such offenses;
     Offenses against minors involving sexual contact--i.e., 
any sexual touching of or contact with the intimate parts of the body, 
either directly or through the clothing--and inchoate or preparatory 
offenses (including attempts, conspiracies, and solicitations) that are 
directed to the commission of such offenses;
     Offenses involving use of a minor in a sexual performance; 
and
     Offenses involving the production or distribution of child 
pornography, i.e., offenses whose gravamen is creating or participating 
in the creation of sexually explicit visual depictions of minors or 
making such depictions available to others.
    Hence, jurisdictions can implement the relevant SORNA requirements 
by according ``tier II'' treatment to sex offenders convicted of 
offenses of these four types. The sex offenders who must be so treated 
are not limited to those convicted of offenses of these types whose 
elements require that the victim be below a certain age, but rather 
include as well those convicted of more generally defined offenses that 
may be committed against either adult or child victims, in cases in 
which the victim was in fact below the age of 18. For example, in a 
case in which the sex offender was convicted of a generally defined 
``sexual contact'' offense, whose elements include no specification as 
to victim age, tier II treatment is required if the victim was in fact 
below 18.
     The corresponding offense coverage specifications for ``tier III'' 
in section 111(4)(A)-(B) cover offenses punishable by more than one 
year of imprisonment in the following categories:
     Offenses comparable to or more severe than aggravated 
sexual abuse or sexual abuse as described in 18 U.S.C. 2241 and 2242, 
or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such an offense. Considering the 
definitions of the cited federal offenses, comparable offenses under 
the laws of other jurisdictions would be those that cover:
    [cir] Engaging in a sexual act with another by force or threat (see 
18 U.S.C. 2241(a), 2242(1));
    [cir] Engaging in a sexual act with another who has been rendered 
unconscious or involuntarily drugged, or who is otherwise incapable of 
appraising the nature of the conduct or declining to participate (see 
18 U.S.C. 2241(b), 2242(2)), or
    [cir] Engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 12 
(see 18 U.S.C. 2241(c)).
    Considering the related definition in 18 U.S.C. 2246(2), ``sexual 
act'' for this purpose would include: (i) Oral-genital or oral-anal 
contact, (ii) any degree of genital or anal penetration, and (iii) 
direct genital touching of a child under the age of 16. (This 
definition of ``sexual act'' is the same as that applicable in the 
SORNA requirement of registration based on certain juvenile delinquency 
adjudications--see Part IV.A of these Guidelines--but the range of 
covered offenses is in some respects broader here, as indicated; 
compare SORNA section 111(4)(A)(i), which references both aggravated 
sexual abuse and sexual abuse, with SORNA section 111(8), the

[[Page 30220]]

juvenile coverage provision, which references only aggravated sexual 
abuse.)
     Offenses against a child below the age of 13 that are 
comparable to or more severe than abusive sexual contact as defined in 
18 U.S.C. 2244, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such an offense. 
Considering the definitions of the federal offenses in 18 U.S.C. 2244 
and the related definition in 18 U.S.C. 2246(3), comparable offenses 
under the laws of other jurisdictions would be those that cover sexual 
touching of or contact with the intimate parts of the body, either 
directly or through the clothing, where the victim is under 13.
     Kidnapping of a minor (unless committed by a parent or 
guardian).
    Hence, jurisdictions can implement the relevant SORNA requirements 
by according ``tier III'' treatment to sex offenders convicted of 
offenses of these three types.
    In addition to including criteria relating to the nature of the 
registration offense, the definitions of tier II and tier III accord 
significance to a registrant's history of recidivism. Specifically, 
section 111(3)(C) places in tier II any sex offender whose registration 
offense is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, where 
that offense ``occurs after the offender becomes a tier I sex 
offender.'' Thus, any sex offender whose registration offense is 
punishable by more than one year of imprisonment who has a prior sex 
offense conviction is at least in tier II. Likewise, section 111(4)(C) 
places in tier III any sex offender whose registration offense is 
punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, where that offense 
``occurs after the offender becomes a tier II sex offender.'' Thus, any 
sex offender whose registration offense is punishable by more than one 
year of imprisonment, and who at the time of that offense already 
satisfied the criteria for inclusion in tier II, is in tier III.

VI. Required Registration Information

    Section 114 of SORNA defines the required minimum informational 
content of sex offender registries. It is divided into two lists. The 
first list, set forth in subsection (a) of section 114, describes 
information that the registrant will normally be in a position to 
provide. The second list, set forth in subsection (b), describes 
information that is likely to require some affirmative action by the 
jurisdiction to obtain, beyond asking the sex offender for the 
information. Supplementary to the information that the statute 
explicitly describes, section 114(a)(7) and (b)(8) authorize the 
Attorney General to specify additional information that must be 
obtained and included in the registry. This expansion authority is 
utilized to require including in the registries a number of additional 
types of information, such as information about registrants' e-mail 
addresses, telephone numbers, and the like, information concerning the 
whereabouts of registrants who lack fixed abodes or definite places of 
employment, and information about temporary lodging, as discussed 
below.
    In order to implement requirements for the sharing or disclosure of 
registration information appearing in other sections of SORNA (sections 
113(c), 119(b), 121(b)--see Parts VII and X of these Guidelines for 
discussion), jurisdictions will need to maintain all required 
registration information in digitized form that will enable it to be 
immediately accessed by or transmitted to various entities. Hence, the 
jurisdiction's registry must be an electronic database, and 
descriptions of required types of information in section 114 should 
consistently be understood as referring to digitizable information 
rather than hard copies or physical objects. This does not mean, 
however, that all required registration information must be reproduced 
in a single segregated database, since the same effect may be achieved 
by including in the central registry database links or identification 
numbers that provide access to the information in other databases in 
which it is included (e.g., with respect to criminal history, 
fingerprint, and DNA information). These points are further discussed 
in connection with the relevant informational items.
    As with SORNA's requirements generally, the informational 
requirements of section 114 and these Guidelines define a floor, not a 
ceiling, for jurisdictions' registries. Hence, jurisdictions are free 
to obtain and include in their registries a broader range of 
information than the minimum requirements described in this Part.
    The required minimum informational content for sex offender 
registries is as follows:
     Name, Aliases, and Remote Communication Identifiers and 
Addresses (section 114(a)(1), (a)(7)):
    [cir] Names and Aliases (section 114(a)(1)): The registry must 
include ``[t]he name of the sex offender (including any alias used by 
the individual).'' The names and aliases required by this provision 
include, in addition to the registrant's primary or given name, 
nicknames and pseudonyms generally, regardless of the context in which 
they are used, any designations or monikers used for self-
identification in Internet communications or postings, and traditional 
names given by family or clan pursuant to ethnic or tribal tradition.
    [cir] Internet Identifiers and Addresses (section 114(a)(7)): In 
the context of Internet communications there may be no clear line 
between names or aliases that are required to be registered under SORNA 
section 114(a)(1) and addresses that are used for routing purposes. 
Moreover, regardless of the label, including in registries information 
on designations used by sex offenders for purposes of routing or self-
identification in Internet communications--e.g., e-mail and instant 
messaging addresses--serves the underlying purposes of sex offender 
registration and notification. Among other potential uses, having this 
information may help in investigating crimes committed online by 
registered sex offenders--such as attempting to lure children or 
trafficking in child pornography through the Internet--and knowledge by 
sex offenders that their Internet identifiers are known to the 
authorities may help to discourage them from engaging in such criminal 
activities. The authority under section 114(a)(7) is accordingly 
exercised to require that the information included in the registries 
must include all designations used by sex offenders for purposes of 
routing or self-identification in Internet communications or postings.
    [cir] Telephone Numbers (section 114(a)(7)): Requiring sex 
offenders to provide their telephone numbers (both for fixed location 
phones and cell phones) furthers the objectives of sex offender 
registration. One obvious purpose in having such information is to 
facilitate communication between registration personnel and a sex 
offender in case issues arise relating to the sex offender's 
registration. Moreover, as communications technology advances, the 
boundaries blur between text-based and voice-based communications 
media. Telephone calls may be transmitted through the Internet. Text 
messages may be sent between cell phones. Regardless of the particular 
communication medium, and regardless of whether the communication 
involves text or voice, sex offenders may potentially utilize remote 
communications in efforts to contact or lure potential victims. Hence, 
including phone numbers in the registration information may help in 
investigating crimes committed by registrants that involved telephonic 
communication with the victim, and knowledge that their phone numbers 
are known to the authorities may help sex offenders to resist the 
temptation to commit crimes

[[Page 30221]]

by this means. The authority under section 114(a)(7) is accordingly 
exercised to require that the information included in the registries 
must include sex offenders' telephone numbers and any other 
designations used by sex offenders for purposes of routing or self-
identification in telephonic communications.
     Social Security Number (section 114(a)(2), (a)(7)): The 
registry must include ``[t]he Social Security number of the sex 
offender.'' In addition to any valid Social Security number issued to 
the registrant by the government, the information the jurisdiction 
requires registrants to provide under this heading must include any 
number that the registrant uses as his or her purported Social Security 
number since registrants may, for example, attempt to use false Social 
Security numbers in seeking employment that would provide access to 
children. To the extent that purported (as opposed to actual) Social 
Security numbers may be beyond the scope of the information required by 
section 114(a)(2), the authority under section 114(a)(7) is exercised 
to require that information on such purported numbers be obtained and 
included in the registry as well.
     Residence, Lodging, and Travel Information (section 
114(a)(3), (a)(7)):
    [cir] Residence Address (section 114(a)(3)): The registry must 
include ``the address of each residence at which the sex offender 
resides or will reside.'' As provided in SORNA section 111(13), 
residence refers to ``the location of the individual's home or other 
place where the individual habitually lives.'' (For more as to the 
meaning of ``resides'' under SORNA, see Part VIII of these Guidelines.) 
The statute refers to places in which the sex offender ``will reside'' 
so as to cover situations in which, for example, a sex offender is 
initially being registered prior to release from imprisonment, and 
hence is not yet residing in the place or location to which he or she 
expects to go following release.
    [cir] Other Residence Information (section 114(a)(7)): Sex 
offenders who lack fixed abodes are nevertheless required to register 
in the jurisdictions in which they reside, as discussed in Part VIII of 
these Guidelines. Such sex offenders cannot provide the residence 
address required by section 114(a)(3) because they have no definite 
``address'' at which they live. Nevertheless, some more or less 
specific description should normally be obtainable concerning the place 
or places where such a sex offender habitually lives--e.g., information 
about a certain part of a city that is the sex offender's habitual 
locale, a park or spot on the street (or a number of such places) where 
the sex offender stations himself during the day or sleeps at night, 
shelters among which the sex offender circulates, or places in public 
buildings, restaurants, libraries, or other establishments that the sex 
offender frequents. Having this type of location information serves the 
same public safety purposes as knowing the whereabouts of sex offenders 
with definite residence addresses. Hence, the authority under SORNA 
section 114(a)(7) is exercised to require that information be obtained 
about where sex offenders who lack fixed abodes habitually live with 
whatever definiteness is possible under the circumstances. Likewise, in 
relation to sex offenders who lack a residence address for any other 
reason--e.g., a sex offender who lives in a house in a rural or tribal 
area that has no street address--the registry must include information 
that identifies where the individual has his or her home or habitually 
lives.
    [cir] Temporary Lodging Information (section 114(a)(7)): Sex 
offenders who reoffend may commit new offenses at locations away from 
the places in which they have a permanent or long-term presence. 
Indeed, to the extent that information about sex offenders' places of 
residence is available to the authorities, but information is lacking 
concerning their temporary lodging elsewhere, the relative 
attractiveness to sex offenders of molesting children or committing 
other sexual crimes while traveling or visiting away from home 
increases. Hence, to achieve the objectives of sex offender 
registration, it is valuable to have information about other places in 
which sex offenders are staying, even if only temporarily. The 
authority under SORNA section 114(a)(7) is accordingly exercised to 
provide that jurisdictions must require sex offenders to provide 
information about any place in which the sex offender is staying for 
seven or more days, including identifying the place and the period of 
time the sex offender is staying there. The benefits of having this 
information include facilitating the successful investigation of crimes 
committed by sex offenders while away from their normal places of 
residence, employment, or school attendance, and decreasing the 
attractiveness to sex offenders of committing crimes in such 
circumstances.
    [cir] Travel and Immigration Documents (section 114(a)(7)): The 
authority under SORNA section 114(a)(7) is exercised to provide that 
registrants must be required to produce or provide information about 
their passports, if they have passports, and that registrants who are 
aliens must be required to produce or provide information about 
documents establishing their immigration status. The registry must 
include digitized copies of these documents, the critical information 
from these documents, or links to another database or databases that 
contain such information. Having this type of information in the 
registries serves various purposes, including helping to locate and 
apprehend registrants who may attempt to leave the United States after 
committing new sex offenses or registration violations; facilitating 
the tracking and identification of registrants who leave the United 
States but later reenter while still required to register (see SORNA 
section 128); and crosschecking the accuracy and completeness of other 
types of information that registrants are required to provide--e.g., if 
immigration documents show that an alien registrant is in the United 
States on a student visa but the registrant fails to provide 
information concerning the school attended as required by SORNA section 
114(a)(5).
     Employment Information (section 114(a)(4), (a)(7)):
    [cir] Employer Name and Address (section 114(a)(4)): The registry 
must include ``[t]he name and address of any place where the sex 
offender is an employee or will be an employee.'' SORNA section 111(12) 
explains that ``employee'' includes ``an individual who is self-
employed or works for any other entity, whether compensated or not.'' 
As the definitional provisions indicate, the information required under 
this heading is not limited to information relating to compensated work 
or a regular occupation, but includes as well name and address 
information for any place where the registrant works as a volunteer or 
otherwise works without remuneration.
    [cir] Other Employment Information (section 114(a)(7)): A sex 
offender who is employed may not have a fixed place of employment--
e.g., a long-haul trucker whose ``workplace'' is roads and highways 
throughout the country, or a self-employed handyman who works out of 
his home and does repair or home-improvement work at other people's 
homes. Knowing as far as possible where such a sex offender is in the 
course of employment serves the same public safety purposes as the 
corresponding information regarding a sex offender who is employed at a 
fixed location. The authority under section 114(a)(7) is accordingly 
exercised to require that information be obtained and included in the 
registry concerning the

[[Page 30222]]

places where such a sex offender works with whatever definiteness is 
possible under the circumstances, such as information about normal 
travel routes or the general area(s) in which the sex offender works.
    [cir] Professional Licenses (section 114(a)(7)): The authority 
under section 114(a)(7) is exercised to require that information be 
obtained and included in the registry concerning all licensing of the 
registrant that authorizes the registrant to engage in an occupation or 
carry out a trade or business. Information of this type may be helpful 
in locating the registrant if he or she absconds, may provide a basis 
for notifying the responsible licensing authority if the registrant's 
conviction of a sex offense may affect his or her eligibility for the 
license, and may be useful in crosschecking the accuracy and 
completeness of other information the registrant is required to 
provide--e.g., if the registrant is licensed to engage in a certain 
occupation but does not provide name or place of employment information 
as required by section 114(a)(4) for such an occupation.
     School Information (section 114(a)(5)): The registry must 
include ``[t]he name and address of any place where the sex offender is 
a student or will be a student.'' Section 111(11) defines ``student'' 
to mean ``an individual who enrolls in or attends an educational 
institution, including (whether public or private) a secondary school, 
trade or professional school, and institution of higher education.'' As 
the statutory definition indicates, the requirement extends to all 
types of educational institutions. Hence, this information must be 
provided for private schools as well as public schools, including both 
parochial and non-parochial private schools, and regardless of whether 
the educational institution is attended for purposes of secular, 
religious, or cultural studies. The registration information 
requirement of section 114(a)(5) refers to the names and addresses of 
educational institutions where a sex offender has or will have a 
physical presence as a student. It does not require information about a 
sex offender's participating in courses only remotely through the mail 
or the Internet. (Internet identifiers and addresses used by a sex 
offender in such remote communications, however, must be included in 
the registration information as provided in the discussion of 
``Internet Identifiers and Addresses'' earlier in this list.)
     Vehicle Information (section 114(a)(6), (a)(7)): The 
registry must include ``[t]he license plate number and a description of 
any vehicle owned or operated by the sex offender.'' This includes, in 
addition to vehicles registered to the sex offender, any vehicle that 
the sex offender regularly drives, either for personal use or in the 
course of employment. A sex offender may not regularly use a particular 
vehicle or vehicles in the course of employment, but may have access to 
a large number of vehicles for employment purposes, such as using many 
vehicles from an employer's fleet in a delivery job. In a case of this 
type, jurisdictions are not required to obtain information concerning 
all such vehicles to satisfy SORNA's minimum informational 
requirements, but jurisdictions are free to require such information if 
they are so inclined. The authority under section 114(a)(7) is 
exercised to define and expand the required information concerning 
vehicles in two additional respects. First, the term ``vehicle'' should 
be understood to include watercraft and aircraft, in addition to land 
vehicles, so descriptive information must be required for all such 
vehicles owned or operated by the sex offender. The information must 
include the license plate number if it is a type of vehicle for which 
license plates are issued, or if it has no license plate but does have 
some other type of registration number or identifier, then information 
concerning such a registration number or identifier must be included. 
To the extent that any of the information described above may be beyond 
the scope of section 114(a)(6), the authority under section 114(a)(7) 
is exercised to provide that it must be obtained and included in the 
registry. Second, the sex offender must be required to provide and the 
registry must include information concerning the place or places where 
the registrant's vehicle or vehicles are habitually parked, docked, or 
otherwise kept. Having information of this type may help to prevent 
flight, facilitate investigation, or effect an apprehension if the 
registrant is implicated in the commission of new offenses or violates 
registration requirements.
     Date of Birth (section 114(a)(7)). The authority under 
section 114(a)(7) is exercised to require date of birth information for 
registrants, which must be included in the registry. Since date of 
birth is regularly utilized as part of an individual's basic 
identification information, having this information in the registry is 
of obvious value in helping to identify, track, and locate registrants. 
The information the jurisdiction requires registrants to provide under 
this heading must include any date that the registrant uses as his or 
her purported date of birth--not just his or her actual date of birth--
since registrants may, for example, provide false date of birth 
information in seeking employment that would provide access to 
children.
     Physical Description (section 114(b)(1)): The registry 
must include ``[a] physical description of the sex offender.'' This 
must include a description of the general physical appearance or 
characteristics of the sex offender, and any identifying marks, such as 
scars or tattoos.
     Text of Registration Offense (section 114(b)(2)): The 
registry must include ``[t]he text of the provision of law defining a 
criminal offense for which the sex offender is registered.'' As with 
other information in the registries, this does not mean that the 
registry must be a paper records system that includes a hard copy of 
the statute defining the registration offense. Rather, the registry 
must be an electronic database, and the relevant statutory provision 
must be included as electronic text. Alternatively, this requirement 
can be satisfied by including in the central registry database a link 
or citation to the statute defining the registration offense if: (i) 
Doing so provides online access to the linked or cited provision, and 
(ii) the link or citation will continue to provide access to the 
offense as formulated at the time the registrant was convicted of it, 
even if the defining statute is subsequently amended.
     Criminal History and Other Criminal Justice Information 
(section 114(b)(3)): The registry must include ``[t]he criminal history 
of the sex offender, including the date of all arrests and convictions; 
status of parole, probation, or supervised release; registration status 
[i.e., whether the sex offender is in violation of the registration 
requirement and unlocatable]; and the existence of any outstanding 
arrest warrants for the sex offender.'' This requirement can be 
satisfied by including the specified types of information in the 
central registry database, or by including in that database links or 
identifying numbers that provide access to these types of information 
in criminal justice databases that contain them.
     Current Photograph (section 114(b)(4)): The registry 
information must include ``[a] current photograph of the sex 
offender.'' As with other information in the registries, this does not 
mean that the registry must be a paper records system that includes 
physical photographs. Rather, the photographs of sex offenders must be 
included in digitized form in an electronic registry, so as to permit 
the

[[Page 30223]]

electronic transmission of registration information that is necessary 
to implement other SORNA requirements. (For more about the taking of 
photographs and keeping them current, see the discussion of periodic 
in-person appearances in Part XI of these Guidelines.)
     Fingerprints and Palm Prints (section 114(b)(5)): The 
registry information must include ``[a] set of fingerprints and palm 
prints of the sex offender.'' As with other registration information, 
this should be understood to refer to digitized fingerprint and palm 
print information rather than physical fingerprint cards and palm 
prints. The requirement can be satisfied by including such digitized 
fingerprint and palm print information in the central registry 
database, or by providing links or identifying numbers in the central 
registry database that provide access to fingerprint and palm print 
information in other databases for each registered sex offender.
     DNA (section 114(b)(6)): The registry information must 
include ``[a] DNA sample of the sex offender.'' This means that a DNA 
sample must be taken, or must have been taken, from the sex offender, 
for purposes of analysis and entry of the resulting DNA profile into 
the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The requirement is satisfied by 
including information in the central registry database that confirms 
collection of such a sample from the sex offender for purposes of 
analysis and entry of the DNA profile into CODIS or inclusion of the 
sex offender's DNA profile in CODIS.

Driver's License or Identification Card (section 114(b)(7)): The 
registry information must include ``[a] photocopy of a valid driver's 
license or identification card issued to the sex offender by a 
jurisdiction.'' The requirement can be satisfied by including a 
digitized photocopy of the specified documents in the central registry 
database for each sex offender to whom such a document has been issued. 
Alternatively, it can be satisfied by including in the central registry 
database links or identifying numbers that provide access in other 
databases (such as a Department of Motor Vehicles database) to the 
information that would be shown by such a photocopy.

VII. Disclosure and Sharing of Information

    The SORNA requirements for disclosure and sharing of information 
about registrants appear primarily in section 118, which is concerned 
with sex offender Web sites, and section 121, which is concerned with 
community notification in a broader sense and with some more targeted 
types of disclosures. The two sections will be discussed separately.

A. Sex Offender Web Sites

    Section 118(a) of SORNA states a general rule that jurisdictions 
are to ``make available on the Internet, in a manner that is readily 
accessible to all jurisdictions and to the public, all information 
about each sex offender in the registry.'' This general requirement is 
subject to certain mandatory and discretionary exemptions, appearing in 
subsections (b) and (c) of section 118, which are discussed below. 
Currently, all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 
Guam have sex offender Web sites that make information about registered 
sex offenders available to the public. The listed jurisdictions may 
need to modify their existing Web sites to varying degrees to implement 
the requirements of section 118.
    Beyond stating a general rule of Web site posting for sex offender 
information, subsection (a) of section 118 includes requirements about 
the field-search capabilities of the jurisdictions' Web sites. In part, 
it states that these field search capabilities must include searches by 
``zip code or geographic radius set by the user.'' In other words, the 
Web sites must be so designed that members of the public who access a 
Web site are able to specify particular zip code areas, and are able to 
specify geographic radii--e.g., within one mile of a specified 
address--and thereby bring up on the Web site the information about all 
of the posted sex offenders in the specified zip code or geographic 
area.
    Subsection (a) of section 118 further states that each Web site 
``shall also include * * * all field search capabilities needed for 
full participation in the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Web 
site and shall participate in that Web site as provided by the Attorney 
General.'' The statutory basis for the referenced National Sex Offender 
Public Web site (NSOPW) appears in SORNA section 120. It is operated by 
the Department of Justice at the address http://www.nsopr.gov. All 50 
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam currently 
participate in the NSOPW, which provides public access to the 
information in their respective sex offender Web sites through single-
query searches on a national site. As noted, participation in the NSOPW 
is a required element of SORNA implementation. To satisfy the 
requirement under section 118(a) of having ``all field search 
capabilities needed for full participation in [the NSOPW],'' 
jurisdictions' sex offender Web sites must allow searches by name, 
county, and city/town, as well as having the zip code and geographic 
radius search capacities mentioned specifically in the statute.
    Other SORNA requirements relating to sex offender Web sites are 
discussed in the remainder of this subpart under the following 
headings: mandatory exemptions, discretionary exemptions and required 
inclusions, remote communication addresses, and other provisions.
Mandatory Exemptions
    Section 118(b)(1)-(3) identifies three types of information that 
are mandatorily exempt from disclosure, and section 118(b)(4) gives the 
Attorney General the authority to create additional mandatory 
exemptions. The limitations of subsection (b) only constrain 
jurisdictions in relation to the information made available on their 
publicly accessible sex offender Web sites. They do not limit the 
discretion of jurisdictions to disclose these types of information in 
other contexts. The types of information that are within the mandatory 
exemptions from public sex offender Web site disclosure are as follows:
     Victim Identity: Section 118(b)(1) exempts ``the identity 
of any victim of a sex offense.'' The purpose of this exemption is to 
protect victim privacy. So long as the victim is not identified, this 
does not limit jurisdictions' discretion to include on the Web site 
information about the nature and circumstances of the offense, which 
may include information relating to the victim, such as the age and 
gender of the victim, and the conduct engaged in by the sex offender 
against the victim.
     Social Security Number: Section 118(b)(2) exempts ``the 
Social Security number of the sex offender.''
     Arrests Not Resulting in Conviction: Section 118(b)(3) 
exempts ``any reference to arrests of the sex offender that did not 
result in conviction.'' As noted, this mandatory exemption, like the 
others, only affects the information that may be posted on a 
jurisdiction's public sex offender Web site. It does not limit a 
jurisdiction's use or disclosure of arrest information in any other 
context, such as disclosure to law enforcement agencies for law 
enforcement purposes, or disclosure to the public (by means other than 
posting on the sex offender Web site) under ``open records'' laws.
     Travel and Immigration Document Numbers: The authority 
under section 118(b)(4) is exercised to exempt the numbers assigned to 
registrants'

[[Page 30224]]

passports and immigration documents. This exemption reflects concerns 
that public posting of such information could facilitate identity theft 
and could provide a source of passport and immigration document numbers 
to individuals seeking to enter, remain in, or travel from the United 
States using forged documents or false identities. Like the other 
mandatory exemptions, this exemption only affects the information that 
may be posted on a jurisdiction's public sex offender Web site. It does 
not limit a jurisdiction's use or disclosure of registrants' travel or 
immigration document information in any other context, such as 
disclosure to agencies with law enforcement, immigration, or national 
security functions.
Discretionary Exemptions and Required Inclusions
    Section 118(c)(1)-(3) provides three optional exemptions, which 
describe information that jurisdictions may exempt from their Web sites 
in their discretion. The first of these is ``any information about a 
tier I sex offender convicted of an offense other than a specified 
offense against a minor.'' The meaning of ``tier I sex offender'' is 
explained in Part V of these Guidelines, and the meaning of ``specified 
offense against a minor'' is explained in Part IV.D of these 
Guidelines. The second and third optional exemptions are, respectively, 
``the name of an employer of the sex offender'' and ``the name of an 
educational institution where the sex offender is a student.'' As 
noted, these exclusions are discretionary. Jurisdictions are free to 
include these types of information on their sex offender Web sites if 
they are so inclined.
    Section 118(c)(4) provides a further optional exemption of ``any 
other information exempted from disclosure by the Attorney General.'' 
This authorization recognizes that there are some additional types of 
information that are required to be included in sex offender registries 
by section 114, but whose required disclosure through public sex 
offender Web sites may reasonably be regarded by particular 
jurisdictions as inappropriate or unnecessary. For example, public 
access to registrants' remote communication routing addresses (such as 
e-mail addresses) presents both risks and benefits. Minimizing the 
risks and maximizing the benefits depends on the appropriate design of 
the means and form of access. The recommended treatment of such 
information is discussed later in this subpart. A number of other types 
of required registration information, such as fingerprints, palm 
prints, and DNA information, are primarily or exclusively of interest 
to law enforcement.
    Following the exclusion of types of information that are exempt 
from public Web site disclosure on a mandatory basis under section 
118(b), that are expressly identified as subject to discretionary 
exemptions under section 118(c)(1)-(3), or that will be allowed as 
additional discretionary exemptions on the basis of section 118(c)(4), 
several core types of information remain whose public disclosure 
through the sex offender Web sites has the greatest value in promoting 
public safety by enabling members of the public to identify sex 
offenders, to know where they are, and to know what crimes they have 
committed. These core informational items, which are not within a 
mandatory or discretionary exemption, and do have to be included by 
jurisdictions on their public sex offender Web sites, are as follows:

     The name of the sex offender, including any aliases.
     The address of each residence at which the sex offender 
resides or will reside and, if the sex offender does not have any 
(present or expected) residence address, other information about where 
the sex offender has his or her home or habitually lives. If current 
information of this type is not available because the sex offender is 
in violation of the requirement to register or unlocatable, the Web 
site must so note.
     The address of any place where the sex offender is an 
employee or will be an employee and, if the sex offender is employed 
but does not have a definite employment address, other information 
about where the sex offender works.
     The address of any place where the sex offender is a 
student or will be a student.
     The license plate number and a description of any vehicle 
owned or operated by the sex offender.
     A physical description of the sex offender.
     The sex offense for which the sex offender is registered 
and any other sex offense for which the sex offender has been 
convicted.
     A current photograph of the sex offender.
    Part VI of these Guidelines includes more detailed explanation 
concerning the informational items that the list above requires to be 
included on the public sex offender Web sites. This list remains 
subject to the discretionary authority of jurisdictions under section 
118(c)(1) to exempt information about a tier I sex offender convicted 
of an offense other than a specified offense against a minor.
Remote Communication Addresses
    Public access to or disclosure of sex offenders' remote 
communication routing addresses and their equivalent--such as e-mail 
addresses and telephone numbers--is discussed separately because the 
issue presents both risks and benefits and merits careful handling by 
jurisdictions.
    On the one hand, appropriately designed forms of access to such 
information may further the public safety objectives of sex offender 
registration and notification. For example, the operators of Internet 
social networking services that serve children may validly wish to 
check whether the e-mail addresses of individuals on their user lists 
are those of registered sex offenders, so that they can prevent sex 
offenders from using their services as avenues for Internet luring of 
children for purposes of sexual abuse. Likewise, a parent may 
legitimately wish to check whether the e-mail address of an unknown 
individual who is communicating with his or her child over the Internet 
is that of a registered sex offender, for the same protective purpose.
    On the other hand, some forms of public disclosure of this type of 
information--such as including sex offenders' e-mail addresses as part 
of the information in their individual listings on the sex offender Web 
sites, which also include their names, locations, etc.--could raise 
serious concerns about unintended consequences and misuse. Posting of 
the information in this form could provide ready access by sex 
offenders to the e-mail addresses of other sex offenders, thereby 
facilitating networking among such offenders through the Internet for 
such purposes as: Exchanging information about or providing access to 
child victims for purposes of sexual abuse; recruiting confederates and 
accomplices for the purpose of committing child sexual abuse or 
exploitation offenses or other sexually violent crimes; trafficking in 
child pornography; and sharing ideas and information about how to 
commit sexual crimes, avoid detection and apprehension for committing 
such crimes, or evade registration requirements.
    The public safety benefits of public access in this context may be 
realized, and the risks and concerns addressed, by not including remote 
communication routing addresses or information that would enable sex 
offenders to contact each other on the individual public Web

[[Page 30225]]

site postings of registrants, but including on the Web sites a function 
by which members of the public may enter, e.g., an e-mail address or 
phone number and receive an answer whether the specified address or 
number has been registered as that of a sex offender. In the case of a 
concerned parent as described above, for example, this could enable the 
parent to ascertain that the e-mail address of an individual attempting 
to communicate through the Internet with his or her child is the 
address of a sex offender, but without providing sex offenders access 
to listings showing the e-mail addresses of other persons who may share 
their dispositions to commit sexual crimes.
    Jurisdictions are accordingly permitted and encouraged to provide 
public access to remote communication address information included in 
the sex offender registries, in the form described above, i.e., a 
function that allows checking whether specified addresses are included 
in the registries as the addresses of sex offenders. The registry 
management and Web site software that the Justice Department is 
developing pursuant to SORNA section 123 will include software for such 
a Web site function.
Other Provisions
    The final three subsections in section 118 contain additional Web 
site specifications as follows:
    Subsection (d) requires that sites ``include, to the extent 
practicable, links to sex offender safety and education resources.''
    Subsection (e) requires that sites ``include instructions on how to 
seek correction of information that an individual contends is 
erroneous.'' A jurisdiction could comply with this requirement, for 
example, by including on its Web site information identifying the 
jurisdiction's agency responsible for correcting erroneous information, 
and advising persons that they can contact this agency if they believe 
that information on the site is erroneous.
    Subsection (f) requires that sites include ``a warning that 
information on the site should not be used to unlawfully injure, 
harass, or commit a crime against any individual named in the registry 
or residing or working at any reported address,'' and further provides 
that the warning ``shall note that any such action could result in 
civil or criminal penalties.''

B. Community Notification and Targeted Disclosures

    Section 121(b) of SORNA states that ``immediately after a sex 
offender registers or updates a registration * * * the information in 
the registry (other than information exempted from disclosure by the 
Attorney General) about that offender'' must be provided to various 
specified entities and individuals. The requirement that the 
information must be provided to the specified recipients 
``immediately'' should be understood to mean that it must be provided 
within three business days. Cf. SORNA sections 113(b)(2), 117(a) 
(equating within three business days and ``immediately'' in relation to 
initial registration). The requirement that the information be provided 
immediately is qualified by section 121(c), which provides that 
recipients described in section 121(b)(6)-(7)--i.e., volunteer 
organizations in which contacts with minors or other vulnerable 
individuals might occur, and any organization, company, or individual 
who requests notification--``may opt to receive the notification * * * 
no less frequently than once every five business days.''
    These requirements will be discussed in turn in relation to two 
groups of recipients--a group of four types of recipients that require 
special treatment, followed by suggestions for a uniform approach in 
relation to the remaining types of recipients. The four types that 
require special treatment are as follows:
     National Databases: Section 121(b)(1) states that the 
information is to be provided to ``[t]he Attorney General, who shall 
include that information in the National Sex Offender Registry or other 
appropriate databases.'' The National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) is a 
national database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
(FBI), which compiles information from the registration jurisdictions' 
sex offender registries and makes it available to criminal justice 
agencies on a nationwide basis. The current statutory basis for NSOR 
appears in SORNA section 119(a). The statute refers to the Attorney 
General including the information submitted by jurisdictions in NSOR 
``or other appropriate databases'' because some types of registry 
information described in SORNA section 114, such as criminal history 
information, may be maintained by the FBI in other databases rather 
than directly in the NSOR database. In addition, the United States 
Marshals Service, which is the lead federal agency in investigating 
registration violations by sex offenders and assisting jurisdictions in 
enforcing their registration requirements, may establish an additional 
national database or databases to help in detecting, investigating, and 
apprehending sex offenders who violate registration requirements. 
Jurisdictions accordingly can implement the requirement of section 
121(b)(1) by submitting to the FBI within three business days the types 
of registry information that the FBI includes in NSOR or other national 
databases, and by submitting information within the same time frame to 
other federal agencies (such as the United States Marshals Service) in 
conformity with any requirements the Department of Justice or the 
Marshals Service may adopt for this purpose.
     Law Enforcement and Supervision Agencies: Section 
121(b)(2), in part, identifies as further required recipients 
``appropriate law enforcement agencies (including probation agencies, 
if appropriate) * * * in each area in which the individual resides, is 
an employee or is a student.'' ``Law enforcement agencies'' should be 
understood to refer to agencies with criminal investigation or 
prosecution functions, such as police departments, sheriffs' offices, 
and district attorneys' offices. ``Probation agencies, if appropriate'' 
should be understood to refer to all offender supervision agencies that 
are responsible for a sex offender's supervision. Jurisdictions can 
implement the requirement of section 121(b)(2) by making registration 
information available to these agencies within three business days, by 
any effective means--permissible options include electronic 
transmission of registration information and provision of online access 
to registration information. Jurisdictions may define the relevant 
``area[s]'' in which a registrant resides, is an employee, or is a 
student for purposes of section 121(b)(2) in accordance with their own 
policies, or may avoid the need to have to specify such areas by 
providing access to sex offender registry information to law 
enforcement and supervision agencies generally, since doing so makes 
the information available to recipients in all areas (however defined). 
The authority under the introductory language in section 121(b) to 
exempt information from disclosure is not exercised in relation to 
these recipients with respect to any of the information required to be 
included in registries under section 114 because law enforcement and 
supervision agencies need access to complete information about sex 
offenders to carry out their protective, investigative, prosecutorial, 
and supervisory functions.
     Jurisdictions: Section 121(b)(3) identifies as required 
recipients ``[e]ach jurisdiction where the sex offender resides, is an 
employee, or is a student, and each jurisdiction from or to which

[[Page 30226]]

a change of residence, employment, or student status occurs.'' This is 
part of a broader group of SORNA provisions concerning the exchange of 
registration information among jurisdictions and ensuring that all 
relevant jurisdictions have such information in an up-to-date form. The 
implementation of section 121(b)(3) and other provisions relating to 
these matters is discussed in Parts IX and X of these Guidelines.
     National Child Protection Act Agencies: Section 121(b)(4) 
identifies as required recipients ``[a]ny agency responsible for 
conducting employment-related background checks under section 3 of the 
National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119a).'' The National 
Child Protection Act (NCPA) provides procedures under which qualified 
entities (e.g., prospective employers of child care providers) may 
request an authorized state agency to conduct a criminal history 
background check to obtain information bearing on an individual's 
fitness to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of 
children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities. The authorized 
agency makes a determination whether the individual who is the subject 
of the background check has been convicted of, or is under indictment 
for, a crime bearing on the individual's fitness for such 
responsibilities, and conveys that determination to the qualified 
entity. Considering the nature of the recipients under section 
121(b)(4) and the functions for which they need information about sex 
offenders, jurisdictions can implement section 121(b)(4) by making 
available to such agencies--i.e., those authorized to conduct NCPA 
background checks--within three business days all criminal history 
information in the registry relevant to the conduct of such background 
checks.
    Beyond the four categories specified above, section 121(b) requires 
that sex offender registration information be provided to several other 
types of recipients, as follows:
     Each school and public housing agency in each area in 
which the sex offender resides, is an employee, or is a student 
(section 121(b)(2)).
     Social service entities responsible for protecting minors 
in the child welfare system (section 121(b)(5)).
     Volunteer organizations in which contact with minors or 
other vulnerable individuals might occur (section 121(b)(6)).
     Any organization, company, or individual who requests such 
notification pursuant to procedures established by the jurisdiction 
(section 121(b)(7)).
    Implementing the required provision of information about 
registrants to these entities potentially presents a number of 
difficulties for jurisdictions, such as problems in identifying and 
maintaining comprehensive lists of recipients in these categories, 
keeping those lists up to date, subdividing recipients by ``area'' with 
respect to the notification under section 121(b)(2), and developing 
means of transmitting or providing access to the information for the 
various types of recipients. The objectives of these provisions, 
however, can be achieved by augmenting public sex offender Web sites to 
include appropriate notification functions. Specifically, a 
jurisdiction will be deemed to have satisfied the requirements of these 
provisions of section 121(b) if it adopts an automated notification 
system that incorporates substantially the following features:
     The information required to be included on sex offender 
Web sites, as described in Part VII.A of these Guidelines, is posted on 
the jurisdiction's sex offender Web site within three business days.
     The jurisdiction's sex offender Web site includes a 
function under which members of the public and organizations can 
request notification when sex offenders commence residence, employment, 
or school attendance within zip code or geographic radius areas 
specified by the requester, where the requester provides an e-mail 
address to which the notice is to be sent.
     Upon posting on the jurisdiction's sex offender Web site 
of new residence, employment, or school attendance information for a 
sex offender within an area specified by the requester, the system 
automatically sends an e-mail notice to the requester that identifies 
the sex offender, thus enabling the requester to access the 
jurisdiction's Web site and view the new information about the sex 
offender.

VIII. Where Registration Is Required

    Section 113(a) of SORNA provides that a sex offender shall register 
and keep the registration current in each jurisdiction in which the sex 
offender resides, is an employee, or is a student. It further provides 
that, for initial registration purposes only, a sex offender must also 
register in the jurisdiction in which convicted if it is different from 
the jurisdiction of residence.
    Starting with the last-mentioned requirement--registration in 
jurisdiction of conviction if different from jurisdiction of 
residence--in some cases the jurisdiction in which a sex offender is 
convicted is not the same as the jurisdiction to which the sex offender 
goes to live immediately following release. For example, a resident of 
jurisdiction A is convicted for a sex offense in jurisdiction B. After 
being released following imprisonment or sentenced to probation in 
jurisdiction B, the sex offender returns immediately to jurisdiction A. 
Although jurisdiction B is not the sex offender's jurisdiction of 
residence following his release or sentencing, jurisdiction B as the 
convicting jurisdiction is in the best position initially to take 
registration information from the sex offender and to inform him of his 
registration obligations, as required by SORNA section 117(a), and is 
likely to be the only jurisdiction in a position to do so within the 
time frames specified in SORNA sections 113(b) and 117(a)--i.e., before 
release from imprisonment, or within 3 business days of sentencing for 
a sex offender with a non-incarcerative sentence. Hence, SORNA section 
113(a) provides for initial registration in the jurisdiction of 
conviction in such cases.
    Beyond the special case of initial registration in the conviction 
jurisdiction where it differs from the residence jurisdiction, section 
113(a) requires both registration and keeping the registration current 
in each jurisdiction where a sex offender resides, is an employee, or 
is a student. Starting with jurisdictions of residence, this means that 
a sex offender must initially register in the jurisdiction of residence 
if it is the jurisdiction of conviction, and must thereafter register 
in any other jurisdiction in which the sex offender subsequently 
resides.
    The notion of ``residence'' requires definition for this purpose. 
Requiring registration only where a sex offender has a residence or 
home in the sense of a fixed abode would be too narrow to achieve 
SORNA's objective of ``comprehensive'' registration of sex offenders 
(see section 102), because some sex offenders have no fixed abodes. For 
example, a sex offender may be homeless, living on the street or moving 
from shelter to shelter, or a sex offender may live in something that 
itself moves from place to place, such as a mobile home, trailer, or 
houseboat. SORNA section 111(13) accordingly defines ``resides'' to 
mean ``the location of the individual's home or other place where the 
individual habitually lives.'' This entails that a sex offender must 
register:
     In any jurisdiction in which he has his home; and
     In any jurisdiction in which he habitually lives (even if 
he has no home

[[Page 30227]]

or fixed address in the jurisdiction, or no home anywhere).
    The scope of ``habitually lives'' in this context is not self-
explanatory and requires further definition. An overly narrow 
definition would undermine the objectives of sex offender registration 
and notification under SORNA. For example, consider the case of a sex 
offender who nominally has his home in one jurisdiction--e.g., he 
maintains a mail drop there, or identifies his place of residence for 
legal purposes as his parents' home, where he visits occasionally--but 
he lives most of the time with his girlfriend in an adjacent 
jurisdiction. Registration in the nominal home jurisdiction alone in 
such a case would mean that the registration information is not 
informative as to where the sex offender is actually residing, and 
hence would not fulfill the public safety objectives of tracking sex 
offenders' whereabouts following their release into the community.
    ``Habitually lives'' accordingly should be understood to include 
places in which the sex offender lives with some regularity, and with 
reference to where the sex offender actually lives, not just in terms 
of what he would choose to characterize as his home address or place of 
residence for self-interested reasons. The specific interpretation of 
this element of ``residence'' these Guidelines adopt is that a sex 
offender habitually lives in the relevant sense in any place in which 
the sex offender lives for at least 30 days. Hence, a jurisdiction must 
require a sex offender to register in the jurisdiction as a resident 
under SORNA if the sex offender has a home in the jurisdiction, or if 
the sex offender lives in the jurisdiction for at least 30 days. 
Jurisdictions may choose how the 30-day requirement is satisfied (e.g., 
30 consecutive days, 30 nonconsecutive days over a 45-day period, or 30 
nonconsecutive days within a calendar year).
    SORNA also requires sex offenders to register and keep the 
registration current in any jurisdiction in which the sex offender is 
an employee. Hence, a sex offender who resides in jurisdiction A and 
commutes to work in an adjacent jurisdiction B must register and keep 
the registration current in both jurisdictions--in jurisdiction A as a 
resident, and in jurisdiction B as an employee. SORNA section 111(12) 
defines ``employee'' for this purpose to include ``an individual who is 
self-employed or works for any other entity, whether compensated or 
not.'' As with residence, the SORNA requirement to register in 
jurisdictions of employment is not limited to sex offenders who have 
fixed places of employment or definite employment addresses. For 
example, consider a person residing in jurisdiction A who works out of 
his home as a handyman, regularly doing repair or home-improvement work 
at other people's houses both in jurisdiction A and in an adjacent 
jurisdiction B. Since the sex offender works in both jurisdictions, he 
must register in jurisdiction B as well as jurisdiction A.
    The implementation measure for these SORNA requirements is for 
jurisdictions to require sex offenders who are employed in the 
jurisdiction, as described above, to register in the jurisdiction. To 
the extent that a sex offender has some employment-related presence in 
a jurisdiction, but does not have a fixed place of employment or 
regularly work within the jurisdiction, line drawing questions will 
arise, and jurisdictions may resolve these questions based on their own 
judgments. For example, if a sex offender who is a long haul trucker 
regularly drives through dozens of jurisdictions in the course of his 
employment, it is not required that all such jurisdictions must make 
the sex offender register based on his transient employment-related 
presence, but rather they may treat such cases in accordance with their 
own policies. (For more about required employment information, see the 
discussion in Part VI of these Guidelines.)
    The final SORNA basis of registration is being a student, which 
SORNA section 111(11) defines to mean ``an individual who enrolls in or 
attends an educational institution, including (whether public or 
private) a secondary school, trade or professional school, and 
institution of higher education.'' Hence, for example, a sex offender 
who resides in jurisdiction A, and is enrolled in a college in an 
adjacent jurisdiction B to which he commutes for classes, must be 
required to register in jurisdiction B as well as jurisdiction A. 
School enrollment or attendance in this context should be understood as 
referring to attendance at a school in a physical sense. It does not 
mean that a jurisdiction has to require a sex offender in some distant 
jurisdiction to register in the jurisdiction based on his taking a 
correspondence course through the mail with a school in the 
jurisdiction, or based on his taking courses at the school remotely 
through the Internet, unless the participation in the educational 
program also involves some physical attendance at the school in the 
jurisdiction.

IX. Initial Registration

    Under sections 113(b) and 117(a) of SORNA, jurisdictions must 
normally require that sex offenders be initially registered before 
release from imprisonment for the registration offense or, in case of a 
non-imprisonment sentence, within three business days of sentencing for 
the registration offense. Upon entry of the registration information 
into the registry, the initial registration jurisdiction must 
immediately forward the registration information to all other 
jurisdictions in which the sex offender is required to register. This 
is required by SORNA section 121(b)(3) (registration information is to 
be provided immediately to ``[e]ach jurisdiction where the sex offender 
resides, is an employee, or is a student.''). Hence, for example, if an 
imprisoned sex offender advises the conviction jurisdiction on initial 
registration that he will be residing in another jurisdiction following 
release, or that he will stay in the conviction jurisdiction but will 
be commuting to work in another jurisdiction, the conviction 
jurisdiction must notify the expected residence or employment 
jurisdiction by forwarding to that jurisdiction the sex offender's 
registration information (including the information about the expected 
residence or employment in that jurisdiction). The sex offender will 
then be required to make an in-person registration appearance within 
three business days of commencing residence or employment in that 
jurisdiction, as discussed in Part X of these Guidelines.
    With respect to sex offenders released from imprisonment, the 
initial registration procedures must be carried out prior to release 
from imprisonment. SORNA does not include a specific requirement as to 
how long before release from imprisonment the initial registration 
process must be conducted. But jurisdictions are encouraged, as a 
matter of sound policy, to effect initial registration with ample time 
in advance whenever possible so that the following can be done before 
the sex offender is released into the community: (i) Subjecting the 
registration information provided by the sex offender to any 
verification the jurisdiction carries out to ensure accuracy (e.g., 
cross checking with other records), (ii) obtaining any information 
needed for the registry that must be secured from sources other than 
the sex offender, (iii) posting of the sex offender's information on 
the jurisdiction's sex offender Web site, and (iv) effecting other 
required notifications

[[Page 30228]]

and disclosures of information relating to the sex offender.
    The specific initial registration procedures required by section 
117(a) are as follows:
     Informing the sex offender of his or her duties under 
SORNA and explaining those duties. (Of course if the jurisdiction 
adopts registration requirements that encompass but go beyond the SORNA 
minimum, the sex offender should be informed of the full range of 
duties, not only those required by SORNA.)
     Requiring the sex offender to read and sign a form stating 
that the duty to register has been explained and that the sex offender 
understands the registration requirement.
     Ensuring that the sex offender is registered--i.e., 
obtaining the required registration information for the sex offender 
and submitting that information for inclusion in the registry.
    SORNA sections 113(d) and 117(b) recognize that the normal initial 
registration procedure described above will not be feasible in relation 
to certain special classes of sex offenders, and provides that the 
Attorney General may prescribe alternative rules for the registration 
of such sex offenders. The specific problem is one of timing; it is not 
always possible to carry out the initial registration procedures for 
sex offenders who are required to register under SORNA prior to release 
from imprisonment (or within three days of sentencing) for the 
registration offense. The situations in which there may be problems of 
this type, and the rules adopted for those situations, are as follows:
Retroactive Classes
    As discussed in Part II.C of these Guidelines, SORNA applies to all 
sex offenders, including those convicted of their registration offenses 
prior to the enactment of SORNA or prior to particular jurisdictions' 
incorporation of the SORNA requirements into their programs. 
Jurisdictions are specifically required to register such sex offenders 
if they remain in the system as prisoners, supervisees, or registrants, 
or if they later reenter the system because of conviction for some 
other crime (whether or not the new crime is a sex offense).
    In some cases this will create no difficulty for registering these 
sex offenders in conformity with the normal SORNA registration 
procedures. For example, suppose that a sex offender is convicted of an 
offense in the SORNA registration categories in 2005, that the 
jurisdiction implements SORNA in its registration program in 2008, and 
that the sex offender is released on completion of imprisonment in 
2010. Such a sex offender can be registered prior to release from 
imprisonment in the same manner as sex offenders convicted following 
the enactment of SORNA and its implementation by the jurisdiction.
    But in other cases this will not be possible, as illustrated by the 
following examples:

     Example 1: A sex offender convicted by a State for an 
offense in the SORNA registration categories is sentenced to 
probation, or released on post-imprisonment supervision, in 2005. 
The sex offender is not registered near the time of sentencing or 
before release from imprisonment, because the State did not require 
registration for the offense in question at that time. The State 
subsequently implements SORNA in 2008, which will include 
registering such a sex offender. But it is impossible to do so near 
the time of his sentencing or before his release from imprisonment, 
because that time is past. Likewise, a person convicted of a sex 
offense by an Indian tribal court in, e.g., 2005 may have not been 
registered near the time of sentencing or release because the tribe 
had not yet established any sex offender registration program at the 
time. If the person remains under supervision when the tribe 
implements SORNA, registration will be required by the SORNA 
standards, but the normal time frame for initial registration under 
SORNA will have passed some years ago, so registration within that 
time frame is impossible.
     Example 2: A sex offender is required to register for 
life by a jurisdiction based on a rape conviction in 1995 for which 
he was released from imprisonment in 2005. The sex offender was 
initially registered prior to his release from imprisonment on the 
basis of the jurisdiction's existing law, but the information 
concerning registration duties he was given at the time of release 
did not include telling him that he would have to appear 
periodically in person to verify and update the registration 
information (as required by SORNA Sec.  116), because the 
jurisdiction did not have such a requirement at the time. So the sex 
offender will have to be required to appear periodically for 
verification and will have to be given new instructions about that 
as part of the jurisdiction's implementation of SORNA.
     Example 3: A sex offender convicted in 1980 for an 
offense subject to lifetime registration under SORNA is released 
from imprisonment in 1990 but is not required to register at the 
time because the jurisdiction had not yet established a sex offender 
registration program. In 2010, following the jurisdiction's 
implementation of SORNA, the sex offender reenters the system 
because of conviction for a robbery. The jurisdiction will need to 
require the sex offender to register based on his 1980 conviction 
for a sex offense when he is released from imprisonment for the 
robbery offense. But it is not possible to carry out the initial 
registration procedure for the sex offender prior to his release 
from imprisonment for the registration offense--i.e., the sex 
offense for which he was convicted in 1980--because that time is 
past.

    With respect to sex offenders with pre-SORNA or pre-SORNA-
implementation convictions who remain in the prisoner, supervision, or 
registered sex offender populations at the time of implementation--
illustrated by the examples in the first and second bullets above--
jurisdictions should endeavor to register them in conformity with SORNA 
as quickly as possible, including fully instructing them about the 
SORNA requirements, obtaining signed acknowledgments of such 
instructions, and obtaining and entering into the registry all 
information about them required under SORNA. But it is recognized that 
this may entail newly registering or re-registering a large number of 
sex offenders in the existing sex offender population, and that it may 
not be feasible for a jurisdiction to do so immediately. Jurisdictions 
are accordingly authorized to phase in SORNA registration for such sex 
offenders in conformity with the appearance schedule of SORNA section 
116. In other words, sex offenders in these existing sex offender 
populations who cannot be registered within the normal SORNA time frame 
(i.e., before release from imprisonment or within three business days 
of sentencing for the registration offense) must be registered by the 
jurisdiction when it implements the SORNA requirements in its system 
within a year for sex offenders who satisfy the tier I criteria, within 
six months for sex offenders who satisfy the tier II criteria, and 
within three months for sex offenders who satisfy the tier III 
criteria. If a jurisdiction believes that it is not feasible for the 
jurisdiction to fully register the existing sex offender population in 
conformity with SORNA within these time frames, the jurisdiction should 
inform the SMART Office of the difficulty, and the SMART Office will 
consider whether an extension of time for implementation of SORNA under 
section 124(b) is warranted on that basis.
    In cases in which a sex offender reenters the system based on 
conviction of some other offense--illustrated by the third example 
above--and is sentenced or released from imprisonment following the 
jurisdiction's implementation of SORNA, the normal SORNA initial 
registration procedures and timing requirements will apply, but with 
the new offense substituting for the predicate registration offense as 
the basis for the time frame. In other words, such a sex offender must 
be initially registered in the manner specified in SORNA section 117(a) 
prior to release

[[Page 30229]]

from imprisonment for the new offense that brought him back into the 
system, or within three business days of sentencing for the new offense 
in case of a non-incarcerative sentence.
Federal and Military Sex Offenders
    There is no separate federal registration program for sex offenders 
required to register under SORNA who are released from federal or 
military custody. Rather, such sex offenders are integrated into the 
sex offender registration programs of the States and other (non-
federal) jurisdictions following their release. Provisions of federal 
law, appearing in 18 U.S.C. 4042(c) and section 115(a)(8)(C) of Public 
Law 105-119, require federal and military correctional and supervision 
personnel to notify the receiving jurisdiction's authorities concerning 
the release to their areas of such sex offenders so that this 
integration can be effected. Moreover, these sex offenders are required 
to comply with the SORNA registration requirements in the jurisdictions 
in which they reside, are employed, or attend school as mandatory 
conditions of their federal supervision, as provided in 18 U.S.C. 
3563(a)(8), 3583(d), 4209(a), and may be prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. 
2250 if they fail to do so.
    For example, consider a person convicted of aggravated sexual abuse 
under 18 U.S.C. 2241, who is released following his completion of the 
prison term for this offense. As provided in 18 U.S.C. 4042(c), the 
Federal Bureau of Prisons is required to inform the sex offender prior 
to his release that he must register as required by SORNA, and must 
notify law enforcement and registration authorities in the jurisdiction 
in which the sex offender will reside following release.
    Situations of this type are in principle the same as those in which 
a sex offender enters a jurisdiction to reside following conviction in 
another (non-federal) jurisdiction--see Part X of these Guidelines for 
discussion--except that the federal authorities will not have 
registered the sex offender in the same manner that a non-federal 
jurisdiction would. The jurisdiction to which such a sex offender goes 
to reside following release from federal custody (or after sentencing 
for a federal offense, in case of a non-incarcerative sentence) 
accordingly must require the sex offender to appear in person to 
register within three business days, and must carry out the procedure 
described in SORNA section 117(a) when the sex offender appears for 
that purpose. The jurisdiction must also immediately forward the 
registration information for the sex offender to any other jurisdiction 
in which the sex offender is required to register under SORNA (e.g., on 
the basis of employment), as required by SORNA section 121(b)(3). If 
federal authorities notify the jurisdiction concerning the release of a 
sex offender to the jurisdiction, but the sex offender fails to appear 
and register as required, the jurisdiction must proceed as discussed in 
Part XIII of these Guidelines for cases involving possible violations 
of registration requirements.
Sex Offenders Incarcerated in Non-Conviction Jurisdictions
    A sex offender sentenced to imprisonment may serve his or her 
prison term in a facility outside of the convicting jurisdiction. For 
example, an Indian tribe may not have its own correctional facility and 
may accordingly lease bed space from a county jail. Or a State may 
lease prison space in a facility in an adjacent State, so that some of 
its offenders serve their prison terms in the other State's facilities. 
In such a case, the jurisdiction incarcerating the sex offender may be 
neither the jurisdiction of conviction nor the jurisdiction of expected 
residence following release. But it is likely to be in the best 
position to initially take the required registration information from 
the sex offender and to instruct the sex offender concerning 
registration obligations, while the jurisdiction that convicted the sex 
offender may be in no position to do so prior to the sex offender's 
release, because the facility in which the sex offender is incarcerated 
is in another jurisdiction.
    In such cases, the jurisdiction incarcerating the sex offender must 
carry out the initial registration procedure described in SORNA section 
117(a) prior to releasing the sex offender and must immediately forward 
the registration information for the sex offender to any other 
jurisdiction in which the sex offender is required to register under 
SORNA (e.g., on the basis of expected residence), as required by SORNA 
section 121(b)(3).
Registrants Based on Foreign Convictions
    Persons with foreign sex offense convictions are often required to 
register under SORNA, as discussed in Part IV.B of these Guidelines. 
Section 128 of SORNA directs the Attorney General, in consultation with 
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, to 
establish a system for informing the relevant jurisdictions about 
persons entering the United States who are required to register under 
SORNA. Persons with foreign sex offense convictions provide an 
additional class who cannot be initially registered within the normal 
SORNA time frame. Since they are convicted and imprisoned in a foreign 
country, no domestic jurisdiction would normally be in a position to 
register them prior to their release from imprisonment (or near the 
time of sentencing in case of a non-incarcerative sentence).
    The procedure for initial registration of such persons is logically 
the same as that for other analogous classes discussed above: A 
jurisdiction must require a person with a foreign conviction for which 
registration is required under SORNA to appear in person to register 
within three business days of entering the jurisdiction to reside or 
commencing employment or school attendance in the jurisdiction. If the 
sex offender has not previously been registered by another 
jurisdiction, the jurisdiction must carry out the initial registration 
procedure as provided in SORNA section 117(a) when the sex offender 
appears. The jurisdiction must immediately forward the registration 
information to any other jurisdiction in which the sex offender is 
required to register under SORNA. If a jurisdiction is notified, by 
federal authorities pursuant to SORNA section 128 or otherwise, that a 
sex offender is entering the United States and is expected to be 
locating in the jurisdiction, but the sex offender fails to appear and 
register as required, the jurisdiction must follow the procedures 
discussed in Part XIII of these guidelines for cases involving possible 
violations of registration requirements.

X. Keeping the Registration Current

    There are a number of provisions in SORNA that are designed to 
ensure that changes in registration information are promptly reported, 
and that the registration information is kept fully up to date in all 
jurisdictions in which the sex offender is required to register:
     Section 113(a) provides that a sex offender must keep the 
registration current in each jurisdiction in which the sex offender 
resides, is an employee, or is a student.
     Section 113(c) provides that a sex offender must, not 
later than three business days after each change of name, residence, 
employment, or student status, appear in person in at least one 
jurisdiction in which the sex offender is required to register and 
inform that jurisdiction of all changes in the information required for 
that sex offender in the sex offender registry. It further provides 
that that information must immediately be provided to all

[[Page 30230]]

other jurisdictions in which the sex offender is required to register.
     Section 119(b) provides that updated information about a 
sex offender must be immediately transmitted by electronic forwarding 
to all relevant jurisdictions.
     Section 121(b)(3) provides that immediately after a sex 
offender registers or updates a registration, the information in the 
registry (other than any exempted from disclosure by the Attorney 
General) must be provided to each jurisdiction where the sex offender 
resides, is an employee, or is a student, and each jurisdiction from or 
to which a change of residence, employment, or student status occurs.
     Section 128 directs the Attorney General, in consultation 
with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, to 
establish a system for informing relevant jurisdictions about persons 
entering the United States who are required to register under SORNA.
    Implementation of these provisions requires the definition of 
implementation measures that can be carried out by the individual 
jurisdictions, whose collective effect will be to realize these 
provisions' objectives. The remainder of this Part of these Guidelines 
details the required implementation measures.

A. Changes of Name, Residence, Employment, or School Attendance

    The in-person appearance requirements of section 113(c) described 
above serve to ensure--in connection with the most substantial types of 
changes bearing on the identification or location of sex offenders 
(name, residence, employment, school attendance)--that there will be an 
opportunity to obtain all required registration information from sex 
offenders in an up to date form, including direct meetings for this 
purpose between the sex offenders and the personnel or agencies who 
will be responsible for their registration. The purposes served by in-
person appearances under the SORNA standards are further explained in 
Part XI of these Guidelines, in relation to the periodic in-person 
appearance requirements of section 116.
    The required implementation measures for the appearances required 
by section 113(c)--and other information updating/sharing and 
enforcement provisions under SORNA as they bear on such appearances--
are as follows:
     Residence Jurisdictions: Each jurisdiction must require a 
sex offender who enters the jurisdiction to reside, or who is 
registered in the jurisdiction as a resident and changes his or her 
name or place of residence within the jurisdiction, to appear in person 
to register or update the registration within three business days. 
Also, each jurisdiction in which a sex offender is registered as a 
resident must:
    [cir] Require the sex offender to inform the jurisdiction if the 
sex offender intends to commence residence, employment, or school 
attendance in another jurisdiction; and
    [cir] If so informed by the sex offender, notify that other 
jurisdiction by transmitting the sex offender's registration 
information (including the information concerning the sex offender's 
expected residence, employment, or school attendance in that 
jurisdiction) immediately by electronic forwarding to that 
jurisdiction.
     Employment Jurisdictions: Each jurisdiction must require a 
sex offender who commences employment in the jurisdiction, or changes 
employer or place of employment in the jurisdiction, to appear in 
person to register or update the registration within three business 
days.
     School Jurisdictions: Each jurisdiction must require a sex 
offender who commences school attendance in the jurisdiction, or 
changes the school attended or place of school attendance in the 
jurisdiction, to appear in person to register or update the 
registration within three business days.
     Information Sharing: In all cases in which a sex offender 
makes an in-person appearance in a jurisdiction and registers or 
updates a registration as described above, the jurisdiction must 
immediately transmit by electronic forwarding the registration 
information for the sex offender (including any updated information 
concerning name, residence, employment, or school attendance provided 
in the appearance) to all other jurisdictions in which:
    [cir] The sex offender is or will be required to register as a 
resident, employee, or student; or
    [cir] The sex offender was required to register as a resident, 
employee, or student until the time of a change of residence, 
employment, or student status reported in the appearance, even if the 
sex offender may no longer be required to register in that jurisdiction 
in light of the change of residence, employment, or student status.
     Failure to Appear: If a jurisdiction is notified that a 
sex offender is expected to commence residence, employment, or school 
attendance in the jurisdiction, but the sex offender fails to appear 
for registration as required, the jurisdiction must inform the 
jurisdiction that provided the notification that the sex offender 
failed to appear, and must follow the procedures for cases involving 
possible violations of registration requirements, as discussed in Part 
XIII of these guidelines.

B. Changes in Other Registration Information

    By incorporating the foregoing procedures into their registration 
programs, jurisdictions can implement the SORNA requirements for 
keeping the registration current in relation to name, residence, 
employment, and school attendance information through in-person 
appearances. The registration information that sex offenders are 
required to provide under SORNA section 114, however, as discussed in 
Part VI of these Guidelines, includes as well information about 
vehicles owned or operated by sex offenders, temporary lodging 
information, and information about designations that sex offenders use 
for self-identification or routing purposes in Internet communications 
or postings or telephonic communications. If changes occur in these 
types of information, the changes may eventually be reported as part of 
the periodic verification appearances required by section 116 of SORNA, 
as discussed in Part XI of these Guidelines. But the registration 
information may become in some respects seriously out of date if the 
verification appearances are relied on exclusively for this purpose.
    For example, if a sex offender is on a yearly appearance schedule, 
the sex offender's motor vehicle information may be a year out of date 
by the time the sex offender reports at the next appearance that he has 
acquired a new vehicle. Temporary lodging at places away from a sex 
offender's residence might not be reported until long after the time 
when the sex offender was at the temporary location. Likewise, given 
the ease with which Internet addresses and identifiers and telephone 
numbers are added, dropped, or changed, the value of requiring 
information about them from registrants could be seriously undermined 
if they were only required to report changes periodically in the 
context of general verification meetings.
    Hence, an additional implementation measure is necessary to keep 
registrations current with respect to these informational items:
     Each jurisdiction in which a sex offender is registered as 
a resident must require the sex offender to report immediately changes 
in vehicle information, lodging of seven days or

[[Page 30231]]

more duration, and changes in designations used for self-identification 
or routing in Internet communications or postings or telephonic 
communications, and must immediately transmit such changes in the 
registration information by electronic forwarding to all other 
jurisdictions in which the sex offender is required to register.
     In addition, with respect to lodging of seven days or more 
duration, the residence jurisdiction must immediately transmit the 
information by electronic forwarding to the jurisdiction in which the 
temporary lodging by the sex offender takes place (if different from 
the residence jurisdiction), even if that is not a jurisdiction in 
which the sex offender is required to register.

C. International Travel

    A sex offender who moves to a foreign country may pass beyond the 
reach of U.S. jurisdictions and hence may not be subject to any 
enforceable registration requirement under U.S. law unless and until he 
or she returns to the United States. But effective tracking of such sex 
offenders remains a matter of concern to the United States and its 
domestic jurisdictions, and some measures relating to them are 
necessary for implementation of SORNA.
    Relevant provisions include SORNA section 128, which directs the 
Attorney General to establish a system for informing domestic 
jurisdictions about persons entering the United States who are required 
to register under SORNA, and 18 U.S.C. 2250(a)(2)(B), which makes it a 
federal crime for a sex offender to travel in foreign commerce and 
knowingly fail to register or update a registration as required by 
SORNA. To carry out its responsibilities under these provisions, the 
Department of Justice needs to know if sex offenders registered in U.S. 
jurisdictions are leaving the country, since such offenders will be 
required to resume registration if they later return to the United 
States to live, work, or attend school while still within their 
registration periods. Also, both for sex offenders who are convicted in 
the United States and then go abroad, and for sex offenders who are 
initially convicted in other countries, identifying such sex offenders 
when they enter or reenter the United States will require cooperative 
efforts between the Department of Justice (including the United States 
Marshals Service) and agencies of foreign countries. As a necessary 
part of such cooperative activities, foreign authorities may expect 
U.S. authorities to inform them about sex offenders coming to their 
jurisdictions from the United States, in return for their advising the 
United States about sex offenders coming to the United States from 
their jurisdictions. For this reason as well, federal authorities in 
the United States will need information about sex offenders leaving 
domestic jurisdictions to go abroad in order to effectively carry out 
the requirements of SORNA section 128 and enforce 18 U.S.C. 
2250(a)(2)(B).
    International travel also implicates the requirement of SORNA 
section 113(a) that sex offenders keep the registration current in all 
jurisdictions in which they reside, work, or attend school. If a sex 
offender simply leaves the country and does not inform the jurisdiction 
or jurisdictions in which he has been registered, then the requirement 
to keep the registration current will not have been fulfilled. Rather, 
the registry information in the domestic jurisdictions will show that 
the sex offender is residing in the jurisdiction (or present as an 
employee or student) when that is no longer the case.
    In addition, a sex offender who goes abroad may remain subject in 
some respects to U.S. jurisdiction. For example, a sex offender may be 
leaving to live on an overseas U.S. military base, as a servicemember, 
dependent, or employee, or to work as or for a U.S. military contractor 
in another country. In such cases, notification about the individual's 
status as a sex offender and intended activities abroad is of interest 
to federal authorities, because the presence of sex offenders 
implicates the same public safety concerns in relation to communities 
abroad for which the United States has responsibility (such as U.S. 
military base communities in foreign countries) as it does in relation 
to communities within the United States.
    The following requirements accordingly apply in relation to sex 
offenders who leave the United States:
     Each jurisdiction in which a sex offender is registered as 
a resident must require the sex offender to inform the jurisdiction if 
the sex offender intends to commence residence, employment, or school 
attendance outside of the United States.
    If so informed by the sex offender, the jurisdiction must: (i) 
Notify all other jurisdictions in which the sex offender is required to 
register through immediate electronic forwarding of the sex offender's 
registration information (including the information concerning the sex 
offender's expected residence, employment, or school attendance outside 
of the United States), and (ii) notify the United States Marshals 
Service and update the sex offender's registration information in the 
national databases pursuant to the procedures under SORNA section 
121(b)(1).

XI. Verification/Appearance Requirements

    Section 116 of SORNA States that ``a sex offender shall appear in 
person, allow the jurisdiction to take a current photograph, and verify 
the information in each registry in which that offender is required to 
be registered not less frequently than'': (i) Each year for a tier I 
sex offender, (ii) every six months for a tier II sex offender, and 
(iii) every three months for a tier III sex offender. Jurisdictions 
accordingly must require such periodic appearances by sex offenders who 
reside or are employees or students in the jurisdiction, since sex 
offenders must register in the jurisdictions of their residence, 
employment, and school attendance, as explained in Part VIII of these 
Guidelines. As with other SORNA requirements, jurisdictions may require 
in-person appearances by sex offenders with greater frequency than the 
minimum required by section 116.
    The in-person appearance requirements of section 116 further the 
purposes of sex offender registration and notification in a number of 
ways. A sex offender's physical appearance, like that of any other 
person, will change in the course of time. The in-person appearance 
requirements provide reasonably frequent opportunities to obtain a 
photograph of the sex offender and a physical description that reflects 
his or her current appearance, types of registration information that 
are required by section 114(b)(1), (4). The in-person appearances 
further provide an opportunity to review with the sex offender the full 
range of information in the registry, and to obtain from the sex 
offender information about any changes in the registration information 
or new information that has not been reported since the initial 
registration or the last appearance.
    Beyond these functions of directly helping to ensure the accuracy 
and currency of the registration information, the appearance 
requirement ensures periodic face-to-face encounters between the sex 
offender and persons responsible for his or her registration. For 
example, if the appearance requirement is implemented by a jurisdiction 
to require that registrants report to local police departments or 
sheriffs' offices, these meetings help to familiarize law enforcement 
personnel with the sex offenders in their areas. This may contribute to 
the effective discharge of the local law enforcement agency's 
protective and investigative

[[Page 30232]]

functions in relation to these sex offenders, and help to ensure that 
the agency's responsibility to track these sex offenders is taken 
seriously and consistently enforced. Likewise, from the perspective of 
the sex offender, periodic in-person encounters with officials 
responsible for their monitoring may help to impress on them with 
greater vividness than remote communications that their identities, 
locations, and past criminal conduct are known to the authorities. 
Hence, there is a reduced likelihood of their avoiding detection and 
apprehension if they reoffend, and this may help them to resist the 
temptation to reoffend.
    As long as the appearances involve meetings between the sex 
offenders and officials who can carry out the required functions of the 
meetings, the specific arrangements for such appearances and the 
officials who will conduct them are matters that jurisdictions may 
determine in their discretion. For example, jurisdictions may require 
sex offenders to report to local law enforcement offices for this 
purpose, or may combine the appearances with meetings between sex 
offenders and their supervision officers if they are under supervision, 
or may have law enforcement, supervision, or registration personnel 
visit with sex offenders at their homes or meet with them at other 
arranged locations.
    The specific requirements for the conduct of such appearances are 
as follows:
     Appearances must be conducted at least annually for sex 
offenders satisfying the ``tier I'' criteria, at least semiannually for 
sex offenders satisfying the ``tier II'' criteria, and at least 
quarterly for sex offenders satisfying the ``tier III'' criteria. (The 
``tier'' classifications and what they entail are explained in Part V 
of these Guidelines.)
     The sex offender must allow a current photograph to be 
taken. This does not mean that jurisdictions must require officials 
conducting these meetings to take a new photograph at every appearance 
and enter the new photograph into the registry. Where the official sees 
that the sex offender's appearance has not changed significantly from a 
photograph in the registry, it may be concluded that the existing 
photograph remains sufficiently current and the taking of a new 
photograph does not have to be required in such circumstances.
     The sex offender must be required to review the existing 
information in the registry that is within his or her knowledge, to 
correct any item that has changed or is otherwise inaccurate, and to 
provide any new information there may be in the required registration 
information categories.
     Upon entry of the updated information into the registry, 
it must be immediately transmitted by electronic forwarding to all 
other jurisdictions: (i) In which the sex offender is or will be 
required to register as a resident, employee, or student, or (ii) in 
which the sex offender was required to register as a resident, 
employee, or student until the time of a change of residence, 
employment, or student status reported in the appearance, even if the 
sex offender may no longer be required to register in that jurisdiction 
in light of the updated information. (This is necessary to carry out 
information sharing requirements appearing in SORNA sections 119(b) and 
121(b)(3).)
    Like other SORNA registration requirements, the in-person 
appearance requirements of section 116 are only minimum standards. They 
do not limit, and are not meant to discourage, adoption by 
jurisdictions of more extensive or additional measures for verifying 
registration information. Thus, jurisdictions may require verification 
of registration information with greater frequency than that required 
by section 116, and may wish to include in their systems additional 
means of verification for registration information, such as mailing 
address verification forms to the registered residence address that the 
sex offender is required to sign and return, and cross-checking 
information provided by the sex offender for inclusion in the registry 
against other records systems. Section 631 of the Adam Walsh Act (Pub. 
L. 109-248) authorizes a separate grant program to assist in residence 
address verification for sex offenders. Additional guidance will be 
provided concerning application for grants under that program if 
funding for the program becomes available.

XII. Duration of Registration

    Section 115(a) of SORNA specifies the minimum required duration of 
sex offender registration. It generally requires that sex offenders 
keep the registration current for 15 years in the case of a tier I sex 
offender, for 25 years in the case of a tier II sex offender, and for 
the life of the sex offender in the case of a tier III sex offender, 
``excluding any time the sex offender is in custody or civilly 
committed.'' (The tier classifications and their import are explained 
in Part V of these Guidelines.) The required registration period begins 
to run upon release from custody for a sex offender sentenced to 
incarceration for the registration offense, and begins to run at the 
time of sentencing for a sex offender who receives a nonincarcerative 
sentence for the offense.
    The proviso relating to custody or civil commitment reflects the 
fact that the SORNA procedures for keeping up the registration--
including appearances to report changes of residence or other key 
information under section 113(c), and periodic appearances for 
verification under section 116--generally presuppose the case of a sex 
offender who is free in the community. Where a sex offender is 
confined, the public is protected against the risk of his reoffending 
in a more direct way, and more certain means are available for tracking 
his whereabouts. Hence, SORNA does not require that jurisdictions apply 
the registration procedures applicable to sex offenders in the 
community during periods in which a sex offender is in custody or 
civilly committed.
    Subsection (b) of section 115 provides that the registration period 
shall be reduced by 5 years for a tier I sex offender who has 
maintained a ``clean record'' for 10 years, and provides that 
registration be terminated for a tier III sex offender required to 
register on the basis of a juvenile delinquency adjudication if the sex 
offender has maintained a ``clean record'' for 25 years. (The 
circumstances in which registration is required on the basis of 
juvenile delinquency adjudications are explained in Part IV.A of these 
Guidelines.) Subsection (b) does not provide for the reduction of the 
required 25-year duration of registration for tier II sex offenders, or 
for the reduction of the required lifetime registration for tier III 
sex offenders required to register on the basis of adult convictions.
    The specific requirements under section 115(b) to satisfy the 
``clean record'' precondition for reduction of the registration period 
are as follows:
     The sex offender must not be convicted of any sex offense 
for which imprisonment for more than one year may be imposed (section 
115(b)(1)(A)).
     The sex offender must not be convicted of any sex offense 
(section 115(b)(1)(B)). In contrast to section 115(b)(1)(A), section 
115(b)(1)(B) is not limited to cases in which the offense is one 
potentially punishable by imprisonment for more than a year. Hence, 
conviction for a sex offense prevents satisfaction of the ``clean 
record'' requirement, even if the maximum penalty for the offense is 
less than a year.
     The sex offender must successfully complete any periods of 
supervised release, probation, and parole (section 115(b)(1)(C)). The 
requirement of ``successfully'' completing periods of

[[Page 30233]]

supervision means completing these periods without revocation.
     The sex offender must successfully complete an appropriate 
sex offender treatment program certified by a jurisdiction or by the 
Attorney General (section 115(b)(1)(D)). Jurisdictions may make their 
own decisions concerning the design of such treatment programs, and 
jurisdictions may choose the criteria to be applied in determining 
whether a sex offender has ``successfully'' completed a treatment 
program, which may involve relying on the professional judgment of the 
persons who conduct or oversee the treatment program.

XIII. Enforcement of Registration Requirements

    This final part of the Guidelines discusses enforcement of 
registration requirements under the SORNA provisions. It initially 
discusses the penalties for registration violations under SORNA, and 
then the practical procedures for investigating and dealing with such 
violations.
    SORNA contemplates that substantial criminal penalties will be 
available for registration violations at the state, local, and federal 
levels. Section 113(e) of SORNA requires jurisdictions (other than 
Indian tribes) to provide a criminal penalty that includes a maximum 
term of imprisonment greater than one year for the failure of a sex 
offender to comply with the SORNA requirements. Hence, a jurisdiction's 
implementation of SORNA includes having a failure-to-register offense 
for which the maximum authorized term of imprisonment exceeds a year. 
(Indian tribes are not included in this requirement because tribal 
court jurisdiction does not extend to imposing terms of imprisonment 
exceeding a year.) Section 141(a) of SORNA enacted 18 U.S.C. 2250, a 
new federal failure-to-register offense, which provides federal 
criminal penalties of up to 10 years of imprisonment for sex offenders 
required to register under SORNA who knowingly fail to register or 
update a registration as required where circumstances supporting 
federal jurisdiction exist, such as interstate or international travel 
by a sex offender, or conviction of a federal sex offense for which 
registration is required. Federal sex offenders are also required to 
comply with the SORNA registration requirements as mandatory conditions 
of their federal probation, supervised release, or parole, as provided 
pursuant to amendments adopted by section 141(d)-(e), (j) of SORNA.
    In terms of practical enforcement measures, SORNA section 122 
requires that an appropriate official notify the Attorney General and 
appropriate law enforcement agencies of failures by sex offenders to 
comply with registration requirements, and that such registration 
violations must be reflected in the registries. The section further 
provides that the official, the Attorney General, and each such law 
enforcement agency are to take any appropriate action to ensure 
compliance. Complementary measures for federal enforcement appear in 
section 142, which directs the Attorney General to use the resources of 
federal law enforcement, including the United States Marshals Service, 
to assist jurisdictions in locating and apprehending sex offenders who 
violate registration requirements. (Also, SORNA section 623 authorizes 
grants by the Attorney General to States, local governments, tribal 
governments, and other public and private entities to assist in 
enforcing sex offender registration requirements--additional guidance 
will be provided concerning application for grants under this provision 
if funding is made available for this program.)
    Translating the requirements of section 122 into practical 
procedures that will ensure effective enforcement of sex offender 
registration requires further definition. Jurisdictions can implement 
the requirements of section 122 by adopting the following procedures:
     Information may be received by a jurisdiction indicating 
that a sex offender has absconded--i.e., has not registered at all, or 
has moved to some unknown place other than the registered place of 
residence. For example, a sex offender may fail to make a scheduled 
appearance for periodic verification of registration information in his 
jurisdiction of residence as required by SORNA section 115, or may fail 
to return an address verification form mailed to the registered address 
in a jurisdiction that uses that verification procedure. Or a 
jurisdiction may receive notice from some other jurisdiction providing 
grounds to expect that a sex offender will be coming to live in the 
jurisdiction--such as notice that a sex offender will be moving to the 
jurisdiction from a jurisdiction in which he was previously registered, 
or notice from federal authorities about the expected arrival in the 
jurisdiction of a released federal sex offender or sex offender 
entering the United States from abroad--but the sex offender then fails 
to appear and register as required. Or a jurisdiction may notify 
another jurisdiction, based on information provided by a sex offender, 
that the sex offender will be relocating to the other jurisdiction, but 
the supposed destination jurisdiction thereafter informs the original 
registration jurisdiction that the sex offender has failed to appear 
and register.
     When such information is received by a jurisdiction 
indicating that a sex offender may have absconded, whether one 
registered in the jurisdiction or expected to arrive from another 
jurisdiction, an effort must be made to determine whether the sex 
offender has actually absconded. If non-law-enforcement registration 
personnel cannot determine this, then a law enforcement agency with 
jurisdiction to investigate the matter must be notified. Also, if the 
information indicating the possible absconding came through notice from 
another jurisdiction or federal authorities, the authorities that 
provided the notification must be informed that the sex offender has 
failed to appear and register.
     If a jurisdiction receives information indicating that a 
sex offender may have absconded, as described in the preceding bullets, 
and takes the measures described therein but cannot locate the sex 
offender, then the jurisdiction must take the following steps:
    [cir] The information in the registry must be revised to reflect 
that the sex offender is an absconder or unlocatable.
    [cir] A warrant must be sought for the sex offender's arrest, if 
the legal requirements for doing so are satisfied.
    [cir] The United States Marshals Service, which is the lead federal 
agency for investigating sex offender registration violations, must be 
notified. Also, the jurisdiction must update the National Sex Offender 
Registry to reflect the sex offender's status as an absconder or 
unlocatable and enter the sex offender into the National Crime 
Information Center Wanted Person File (assuming issuance of a warrant 
meeting the requirement for entry into that file).
    The foregoing procedures must be adopted for possible absconder 
cases to implement SORNA section 122. In addition, a jurisdiction's 
policies must require appropriate follow-up measures when information 
is received indicating violation of the requirement to register in 
jurisdictions of employment or school attendance, whether or not a 
violation of the requirement to register in jurisdictions of residence 
is implicated. Specifically, a jurisdiction may receive information 
indicating that a sex offender may be employed or attending school in 
the jurisdiction but has not registered as required--for example, 
failure by the sex offender to appear for a required periodic in-person 
appearance in the employment or school jurisdiction, as required by 
SORNA section 116, or failure by a sex

[[Page 30234]]

offender to appear and register in the jurisdiction following receipt 
of notice from another jurisdiction that the sex offender is expected 
to be commencing employment or school attendance in the jurisdiction. 
In such cases, an effort must be made to determine whether the sex 
offender is actually employed or attending school in the jurisdiction 
but has failed to register. If (non-law enforcement) registration 
personnel cannot determine this, then a law enforcement agency with 
jurisdiction to investigate the matter must be notified.

    Dated: May 17, 2007.
Alberto R. Gonzalez,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. E7-10210 Filed 5-29-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P