A federal mandate to create a national sex offender registry passed by Congress left many states wondering whether it was necessary when it as passed in 2006. The Adam Walsh Act was “an unfunded mandate and states were not part of the discussion when the bill was considered,” said Susan Frederick, federal affairs counsel for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “We were told here’s what we’ve done for you and we’re not happy about that.”
The result is that only seven states have met the law’s requirements, some have given up entirely and others are scrambling to meet a July 27 deadline.
| Small minority |
| States in compliance with the Adam Walsh Act: Michigan, Nevada, Wyoming, Ohio, Delaware, South Dakota, Florida |
The act was named after a murdered 6-year-old boy whose father, John, went on to become host of “America’s Most Wanted.” John Walsh and law enforcement lobbyists spent years pushing for a sweeping bill that would create a national net through which sex criminals couldn’t slip. The Adam Walsh Act was more than an update of earlier federal sex offender laws, it was meant to be a new structure that created a uniform front against the sex offender menace.
But it ran into trouble in statehouses across the country, where over the previous decade lawmakers had implemented a wide variety of laws to create their own sex offender registries.
Ask the officials who run those registries about the Adam Walsh Act, and in many cases their first response will be to delve into the history of their state’s work that predates the federal mandate.
“Maryland was one of the first states, back in the late 1990s, to retroactively go back and require sex offenders coming in from other states to register here,” said Elizabeth Bartholomew, who manages the state’s sex offender registry, citing a component of the Adam Walsh Act that requires states to do just that. “Maryland wanted to get away from being a haven state for offenders.”
Lawmakers in Maryland, however, are pushing back against strict registry requirements for juvenile offenders, and in that light they’re joining several other states that are refusing to implement every piece of the federal law.
In response, the U.S. Justice Department loosened some its guidelines in January.
“We’re working closely with every jurisdiction to bring them in compliance,” a Justice Department official said. “We do have some flexibility.”
