Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children
And Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act Checklist
for
______________________________
Name of State Date
NOTE: This is an unofficial
document used as a guide for OGC and BJA to determine state compliance with
the Jacob Wetterling Act. This form is provided for your convenience; a state
is not required to use it in preparing its compliance documentation.
(Original Registration/Notification RequirementsDeadline:
September 12, 1999)
Offense Coverage
Criminal offenses against victims who
are minorspersons under the age of 18 years (or range of offenses
specified by state law that is comparable to or exceeds the range of offenses
specified):
___ Kidnaping of a minor, except by a parent;
___ False imprisonment of a minor, except by a
parent;
___ Criminal sexual conduct toward a minorall
statutory sex offenses under state law whose elements involve physical contact
with a victim (rape, sexual assault, incest, sexual abuse);
___ Solicitation of a minor to engage in sexual
conductsexual conduct in the same sense as above;
___ Use of a minor in a sexual performancelive
performances and using minors in the production of pornography;
___ Solicitation of a minor to practice prostitution;
___ Any conduct that by its nature is a sexual
offense against a minor (convictions under state statutes defining sex offenses
with the victim as a minor being an element of the offense such as child molestation
offenses and offenses prohibiting sexual activity with minors); or
___ An attempt to commit an offense described
above, if the state makes such an attempt a criminal offense and chooses to
include such an offense in those which are criminal offenses against a minor
for purposes of its registration program (attempts to commit the above offenses).
Sexually violent offensesrape
or rape-like offensesnonconsensual sexual assaultive crimes involving penetration
(or comparable range of offenses) (state offenses comparable to 18 U.S.C. §
2241, 18 U.S.C. § 2242):
___ Aggravated sexual abuse,
___ Sexual abuse, or
___ An offense that has as its elements engaging
in physical contact with another person with intent to commit such offenses.
Registration of Offenders Convicted in
Other States
___ State programs must require individuals convicted
in another state of any of the covered offenses against victims who are minors
or sexually violent offenses to register promptly when any such individual establishes
residence in the state.
Duties of State Prison Officials, the
Courts, or Another Responsible Officer or Official
When an offender convicted of a covered offense
is released from prison, placed on parole or supervised release, or placed on
probation, a state official must
___ Inform the person of the duty to register
and obtain the required address information;
___ Inform the person that if the person changes
residence address, he or she must report the new address in the manner provided
by state law;
___ Inform the person that if he or she changes
residence to another state, the person must report the new address in the manner
provided by state law and comply with any registration requirement in the new
state of residence;
___ Obtain fingerprints and a photograph of the
person, if these have not already been obtained in connection with the
offense triggering the registration requirement;
___ Inform the person that if the person enters
another state to work, to carry on a vocation, or to attend school, the person
is required to comply with that state's registration requirements for notification
by nonresidents who enter the state for such purposes [CJSA compliance deadlineNovember
25, 2002];
___ Inform the person that if the person expects
to work, to carry on a vocation, or to enroll in classes at an institution
of higher education in the state of residence, the person must notify the state,
in the manner provided by state law, and report any change in such status (commencement
or termination) [CSCPA compliance deadlineOctober 27, 2002]; and
___ Require the person to read and sign a form
stating that the duty of the person to register under this section has been
explained.
Transfer of Information
___ The registration information must be promptly
made available to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction where the registrant
expects to reside and entered into the appropriate state record system to ensure
the information will be available both to local law enforcement and at the state
level. (States have discretion concerning the specific mechanisms and procedures
for carrying out this requirement.)
Periodic Address Verification
___ State procedures must provide for the verification
of registrants' addresses at least annually. (The particular approach to address
verification is a matter of state discretion.)
Notification of Changes in Address
___ Intrastate moves: Registrants are to report
address changes in the manner provided by state law. State procedures must ensure
that the updated address information is promptly made available
to a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction where the person will reside and
entered into the appropriate state record system.
___ Interstate moves: A registrant who moves to
another state must report the change of address to the responsible agency in
the state he is leaving and must comply with any registration requirement in
the new state of residency. The procedures of the state the registrant is leaving
must ensure that notice is provided promptly to an agency responsible for registration
in the new state of residence.
Minimum Length of Registration
___ The state requires, at a minimum, a 10-year
period of registration for persons convicted of criminal offenses against victims
who are minors or for sexually violent offenses.
___ The states does not have procedures or authorization
to terminate the registration requirements during the minimum 10-year period
(unless the underlying Wetterling Act offense conviction is reversed, set aside,
or vacated or the registrant is pardoned).
Penalty
___ The state subjects any person required to
register who knowingly fails to register and keep such registration current
to criminal penalties. (Penalties for registration violations must apply to
a state's own offenders who are required to register and to persons convicted
in other states who are required to register because they have moved into the
state to reside.)
Release of Information
(Megan's LawDeadline: September 12,
1999)
___ The state or any agency authorized by the
state shall release relevant information as necessary to protect
the public concerning a specific convicted offender required to register, except
that the identity of the victim of an offense requiring registration shall not
be released. Disclosure of information is accomplished ____ proactively by the
state and/or ____ responsively to public requests.
Registration Requirements Under the Pam
Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act
(Deadline: October 2, 2001)
___ The state requires lifetime registration for
a "recidivist" offendera registrant with a prior conviction for an offense
for which registration is required by the Wetterling Act (a crime against a
victim who is a minor or a sexually violent offense) (there is no time limit
on qualifying prior convictions), and
___ The state requires lifetime registration for
an "aggravated" offendera registrant who has been convicted of an aggravated
offense (nonconsensual sexual assaultive crimes involving penetration; any offense
involving sexual penetration of a child under the age of 12) (i.e., state offenses
comparable to 18 U.S.C. § 2241).
___ The state does not have a
procedure or authorization for terminating the registration of recidivist or
aggravated offenders at any point during their lifetimes.
Registration Requirements Under the Campus
Sex Crimes Prevention Act (CSCPA)
(Deadline: October 27, 2002)
___ The state advises convicted offenders, at
the time of initial registration, of the obligation to notify the state when
the offender registrant enrolls at, is employed at, or carries on a vocation
at an institution of higher education in a state, and to notify the state of
any change in such enrollment or employment (commencement or termination); and
___ the state includes, in the registration information obtained from each registrant,
any expected enrollment or employment at any institution of higher education
in the state.
___ The state has established procedures requiring
notification by offender registrants when they commence or terminate their enrollment
or employment at an institution of higher education in the state. (The registrants
to whom these requirements apply are those who (1) are enrolled in any institution
of higher education in the state on a full-time or part-time basis or (2) have
any sort of full-time or part-time employment at an institution of higher education
in the state, with or without compensation, for more than 14 days or for an
aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year.)
___ The state has established procedures ensuring
that information concerning an offender registrant enrolled or employed at an
institution of higher education is promptly made available to a campus police
department or other state recognized law enforcement agency at the institution
of higher education and entered into the appropriate state records or data system.
If there is no campus police department or other state-recognized law enforcement
agency at the institution of higher education, the information must be promptly
made available to another law enforcement agency having jurisdiction where the
institution of higher education is located and entered into the appropriate
state records or data system. (This requirement applies both to any information
initially obtained from registrants concerning enrollment or employment at institutions
of higher education in the state and to information concerning subsequent changes
in such enrollment or employment status.)
Registration
Requirements Under the CJSA Amendments
(Deadline: November 25, 2002)
Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Registration
Requirements:
___ The state uses the Wetterling Act definitions
relating to SVPs, and
___ The state has procedures for seeking and making
the SVP determination, for example, ___ the state has established a properly
composed Board of Experts (experts in the treatment and behavior of sex offenders
and members of law enforcement agencies and victims' rights advocates) to advise
the court with jurisdiction over the offender, or ___ the state
has established alternative procedures or legal standards for designating a
person as an SVP (within the state's discretion under the Wetterling Act guidelines),
and
___ The state has procedures for obtaining required
information about SVPs at initial release stage, and
___ The state requires lifetime registration for
all SVPs, and
___ The state requires quarterly address verification
for all SVPs;
OR
___ The state has established alternative measures
of comparable or greater effectiveness to those specified in the Wetterling
Act (above) for protecting the public from unusually dangerous or recidivistic
sex offenders, and
___ The state has submitted to OJP/BJA a written
request for approval of its alternative measures for protecting the public from
such offenders and included a detailed explanation of its alternative measures.
Registration of Federal and Military Offenders:
___ The state has established procedures to accept,
in its registration program, information from resident offenders who have been
convicted of federal offenses or sentenced by court martial, where the federal
conviction or court martial sentence was for a criminal offense against a victim
who is a minor or a sexually violent offense.
Registration of Nonresident Workers and
Students:
___ The state has established procedures to accept,
in its registration program, registration information from a nonresident who
has come into the state to work, to carry on a vocation, or to go to school,
where the person would be required to register in his state of residence.
___ Workers from whom registration information
must be accepted include those who have any sort of full-time or part-time employment
in the state, with or without compensation, for more than 14 days or for an
aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year.
___ Students from whom registration information
must be accepted include those who enroll in any type of school in the state
on a full-time or part-time basis.
___ At a minimum, the state collects registration
information concerning the registrant's place of employment or the school attended
in the state and his address in the state of residence.
___ The state has procedures to inform a registrant,
at the initial registration stage, that he must register, in accordance with
the nonresident state procedures, in any state where he is employed, carries
on a vocation, or is a student.
Participation in the National Sex Offender
Registry (NSOR):
___ The state participates in NSOR in accordance
with the Attorney General's guidelines, including transmission of current address
information and other information on registrants to the extent provided by the
guidelines.
___ The FBI has notified OJP/BJA that the state
participates in NSOR.