Virginia and the District will lose hundreds of thousands dollars in federal law enforcement grant money after failing to meet a deadline to join a national sex offender registry. Maryland, however, was one of only 14 states to be found in compliance with the five-year-old mandate created by the Adam Walsh Act. State officials weren’t expecting to meet Wednesday’s deadline because Maryland laws keep violent juvenile sex offenders on a nonpublic registry for up to seven years, not the 25 required by federal mandate. But earlier this year, the Justice Department signaled it was willing to interpret those rules more broadly, which allowed Maryland to be included. D.C. is the farthest of the three from being in compliance, and the D.C. Council won’t be taking up the issue until this fall, if ever. The city will lose about $250,000 in federal dollars used to buy bulletproof vests, police vehicles and other equipment. Virginia will lose about $500,000.
“The Justice Department has been imploring states to get in compliance for years, and at some point the extensions had to end to give the states the incentive to get in line,” said Brian Durling, a Heritage Foundation senior fellow. The Justice Department granted states two one-year extensions. “Uneven laws among the states allow bad guys to game the system.”
| 14 states found in compliance with the Adam Walsh Act: |
| Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming |
Virginia State Police Lt. William Reed Jr., said the commonwealth is working with the Justice Department to reach the standards.
“We think we do a good job. We have a high compliance rate with our registry,” Reed said.
Virginia isn’t compliant yet because it’s still up to a judge’s discretion to put a violent youth offender on the registry, he said. The federal mandate is for all violent youth sex offenders to be on the registry. The state also requires sex offenders to update their pictures every two years. The mandate requires annual updates, among other issues. Virginia officials estimate it would cost $10 million to meet the federal guidelines.
D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson, whose public safety committee is handling legislation meant to make the city compliant, has said he’s not sure the laws are necessary.
But Maryland sex offender registry manager Elizabeth Bartholomew said meeting the goals means the state will better track sex offenders — particularly as violent youths grow into dangerous adults.
She added, “It’s important to law enforcement not to lose even a little bit of money in today’s economy.”
