New Juvenile Registration and Notification Guidelines are Open for Comment at the Department of Justice

The public has been invited to submit comments regarding the proposed Department of Justice’s Supplemental Guidelines for Juvenile Registration Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The proposed guideline clarifies how the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) will assess whether a jurisdiction has substantially implemented SORNA’s juvenile registration provisions.

However, the guideline does not affect substantial implementation of SORNA’s registration requirements for adults who sexually offend.

Comments are due by Friday, June 10, 2016.

We at the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, and many other experts in the field, recommend that the SMART Office emphasize evidence-based treatment rather than registration and waiver as a way to manage youth who have sexually offended. Specifically we recommend the following revisions to the Proposed Supplemental Guidelines:

1. Remove all requirements for the registration of youth adjudicated delinquent for sex offenses. Further, remove financial penalties for states and other jurisdictions when such penalties are based solely on the exclusion of adjudicated youth from registration requirements.
2. Remove all language that implicitly or explicitly encourages or appears to encourage the waiver of juveniles to adult criminal court.
3. Insert language that supports the provision of evidence-based treatment services to youth adjudicated delinquent of sex offenses and their caregivers.

To read our entire letter, please click here and view the PDF titled “Experts Respond to SORNA Proposed Guidelines."

You may also submit your own comments here by clicking the “Comment Now!” button at the top right of the page.