Resources

SORNA Exchange Portal and SORT

In August 2010, the SMART Office distributed a technical needs assessment to better understand the technical issues that states are facing in implementing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) and to ensure that they are aware of the tools available to them. Of the 39 states that have responded to the needs assessment, 24 states have been contacted so far to address issues identified in their individual assessments. As a result of these assessments, many online demonstrations of the Sex Offender Registry Tool (SORT) and the SORNA Exchange Portal have been conducted, allowing the participating jurisdictions to better understand both. The online demonstrations also were designed to provide a greater understanding of how these tools can help jurisdictions achieve substantial compliance with SORNA.

SORNA Exchange Portal

SORNA requires jurisdictions to share information about sex offenders who are relocating between jurisdictions or are required to register in more than one jurisdiction. The SORNA Exchange Portal was developed by the U.S. Department of Justice to meet this objective and it has been expanded to provide sex offender registration personnel an Internet-based community in which to share information.

Since the last newsletter, the SMART Office has been working diligently with jurisdictions to increase their understanding and usage of the SORNA Exchange Portal in order to facilitate the sharing of sex offender information among jurisdictions. One major enhancement, created to make the Offender Relocation Tasks function more efficient, is the addition of Web Services, which allow jurisdictions to integrate the Offender Relocation Tasks function into their existing sex offender management system. The Web Services provide jurisdictions with the ability to (1) create and assign Offender Relocation Tasks to other jurisdictions and (2) programmatically retrieve Offender Relocation Tasks that have been assigned to them by other jurisdictions.

SORT

SORT is a sex offender management application provided by the SMART Office at no cost to assist states in implementing the SORNA registry system requirements of the Adam Walsh Act. SORT makes the registry setup and maintenance process as efficient and effective as possible.

SORT was released in August 2010 and is available for download in the SORT Application document library of the SORNA Exchange Portal. The SORNA Exchange Portal also contains information and resources to assist with implementation of the SORT application, such as the SORT User Manual and the Implementing and Configuring SORT Guide. These publications were created to assist jurisdictions with installing and using SORT. Jurisdictions that are interested in using SORT can get a copy of the source code so the application can be customized to meet their needs. Since its release, SORT has generated a tremendous amount of interest, and the SMART Office anticipates that the interest will increase as more jurisdictions learn about SORT and as the implementation deadline approaches.

Contents
  • SMART Funding
    In 2011, the SMART Office Program Plan includes continuing support for two grant programs administered by SMART . . . arrow More
  • SORNA Exchange Portal and SORT
    In August 2010, the SMART Office distributed a technical needs assessment to help it better understand the technical issues . . .  arrow More
  • Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System
    In September 2010, version 2 of TTSORS was released. The SMART Office recognized that because of all of the improvements . . .  arrow More
  • Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website
    The SMART Office is making some cosmetic changes to NSOPW that will improve its layout and accessibility . . .  arrow More
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