States Still Resisting National Sex Offender Law

Congress passed the Adam Walsh Act six years ago in an attempt to set up a uniform national registry to track known sex offenders who move from one state to another. The law offers federal funds to the states that comply, but most states have not done so.

States that did not implement their registries by July 27, 2011 face a 10% loss in federal funds. The only way these states can keep that money without meeting the deadline is to apply to use it for Adam Walsh Act compliance activities. At least 29 noncompliant states have done so. But five states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nebraska, and Texas are not complying with the act and have forfeited the 10% of federal funding.

The reasons for non-compliance, which vary from state to state, include philosophical differences with the act and reluctance to pay the cost of compliance.