2008 National Tribal Symposium: SORNA Training for Indian Country

The SMART Office held the 2008 National Tribal Symposium on Sex Offender Management and Accountability on March 6 in the District of Columbia to provide Indian Country with training on the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The symposium drew more than 300 tribal representatives.

According to SMART Senior Counsel, Leslie A. Hagen—

[A]s a group, Native American women suffer the highest level of sexual assault victimization in the country. SORNA will allow tribal communities to know if convicted offenders are living on the reservation. The opportunity to bring tribal leaders, tribal criminal justice, and tribal social service representatives together for the symposium was exceedingly beneficial. All are working to implement SORNA before the July 2009 deadline. The ability to answer common questions and share resources will assist tribal leaders as they work to implement this law.

The 1-day symposium began with an overview of SORNA. The remainder of the day???s presentations covered—

• Sex offender apprehension initiatives from the U.S. Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
  
  
• The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website.
  
  
• The SMART Office grant program.
  
  
• Tribal codes and cooperative agreements.
  
  
• Sex offender placement and treatment in the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
  
  

Highlighting the day???s program was a drum group, comprising members of the Crow Tribe, that performed an Honor Song as part of the traditional opening ceremonies and Orlinda ???Orie??? Platero, of the Navajo Nation, who led a traditional opening before lunch and ended the day with a traditional closing.