U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan announced today more than $1 million in grant assistance to five Native American Tribes in the Western District of Washington for use in creating and/or enhancing sex offender registry and notification programs on tribal lands.
These grants, administered by the Department of Justice’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART), will help state, local and tribal governments implement provisions of the Adam Walsh Act.
“This funding will help ensure our partnerships with Tribal governments to help secure their communities,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “Increased awareness will help protect our kids, teens and vulnerable adults, and prevent sex offenders from victimizing more people.”
Funding will be used to develop or enhance sex offender registration programs; improve law enforcement and other justice agency information sharing as it relates to sex offender registration and notification; develop or enhance local absconder apprehension efforts; collect, store, and analyze sex offender biometric and DNA data for investigative purposes; and implement other efforts aimed at furthering the objectives of Title I of the Adam Walsh Act, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The awards were made under the Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program which assists state, local and tribal jurisdictions in developing and/or enhancing sex offender registration and notification programs that support substantial implementation of SORNA. In Western Washington, the listed Tribes are receiving funding under this program to improve local tribal SORNA programs as follows:
- Confederated Tribes of Chehalis — $62,855 – Collection and storage of digital finger and palm prints.
- Lummi Nation — $217,462 – Establishment of SORNA program and information sharing with surrounding jurisdictions.
- Quinault Indian Nation — $302,905 – Upgrades to infrastructure and hiring of personnel to monitor registered sex offenders.
- Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe — $186,351 – Improvement of training and public awareness.
- Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe — $394,412 – Enhance training, infrastructure and information sharing.
The Adam Walsh Act was signed into law on July 27, 2006, and is designed to protect children and vulnerable adults from sexual exploitation and violent crime. The Act also aims to prevent child abuse and child pornography, promote Internet safety, and honor the memory of Adam Walsh and other crime victims. SORNA was enacted to protect the public from convicted sex offenders and offenders against children by establishing a comprehensive national system for the registration of offenders, and notification to the public.
Contact for this matter at the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Sean Tepfer: (206) 553-7970 or Sean.Tepfer@usdoj.gov
