News

Measuring Implementation Costs

As the final implementation deadline for the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) approaches, the SMART Office has been working on new ways to assist SORNA registration jurisdictions as they work toward implementation. Recently, the office began the process of developing a model to measure the financial cost of implementing SORNA to provide SORNA jurisdictions with guidance for their respective budget preparations and to provide a foundation for increased federal SORNA-related funding to the registration jurisdictions.

To gain a better understanding of the startup costs of implementation, the SMART Office and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) are examining the budgets and cost data from grantees of the Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program (a program that assists jurisdictions with implementation costs). Although those budgets provide information about the costs of getting a SORNA-compliant registration and notification system up and running, they do not speak to annual operating costs.

To better understand operating costs, the SMART Office and NIJ are reaching out to registry offices at both the state/tribal and local levels to find out how much time, and how many staff, are involved in in-person registration verifications and updates required of sex offenders, as well as how many visits such an office handles per year. The intent of these efforts is to develop a reliable model for SORNA registration jurisdictions to use in measuring ongoing costs of implementation. In addition, responses from registry officials will provide valuable information about non-personnel costs, such as supplies and equipment.

The SMART Office is interested in enlisting additional state, tribal, and local registry offices to participate in this cost study. If your office would like to participate, please contact us at [email protected].











Contents
  • New Supplemental Guidelines and Checklist
    On January 11, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice released supplemental guidelines . .  arrow More
  • Measuring Implementation Costs
    As the final implementation deadline for SORNA approaches,  . . .  arrow More
  • Submitting Substantial Implementation Packets
    As the final statutory deadline of July 27, 2011, approaches, jurisdictions must submit formal requests to the SMART Office . .  arrow More
  • Failure To Implement SORNA
    States and territories (and the District of Columbia) that fail to substantially implement SORNA by the July 27, 2011, deadline face a 10-percent annual reduction . . .  arrow More
  • Tracking Offenders Departing and Entering the Country
    When SORNA was enacted, the U.S. Department of Justice was tasked with creating a tracking system for sex offenders . . .  arrow More
  • 2011 National Workshop
    The SMART Office held its 2011 National Workshop on SORNA in the District of Columbia, January 10–11.  . . .  arrow More
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