Nine American Indian Tribes in Compliance with Adam Walsh Act

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Child Protection

Native Brief: WASHINGTON DC - Nine American Indian tribes have complied with the standards of implementation of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, according the US Department of Justice.

Wednesday, July 27, was the deadline for jurisdictions to substantially implement Title I of the Adam, which established a comprehensive national system for the registration of sex offenders. The Adam Walsh Act was signed into law exactly 25 years after Adam Walsh, a 6-year-old boy, was abducted from a shopping mall in Hollywood, Florida on July 27, 1981.

The Department of Justice Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) administers the Act's Title 1 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act requirements.

To date, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Pueblo of Isleta, Tohono O'odham Nation, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe have substantially implemented Act's Title 1 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act’s requirements.

The States of Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming; as well as; and the United States territory of Guam have been found by the SMART Office to have substantially implemented Act's Title 1 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Tribes that have not implemented Act's Title 1 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act by the deadline and can show that they will be able to do so "within a reasonable amount of time," as determined by the Attorney General, may submit a request to the SMART Office.

"Due to the number of recent submissions, we do not yet have a complete count of how many jurisdictions were able to implement SORNA by the deadline," said Linda Baldwin, Director of the SMART Office. "We are reviewing submissions as quickly as possible and will announce decisions about additional jurisdictions in the coming months as the reviews are completed."

posted July 29, 2011 6:50 am edt