Sex Offender Registry Website
The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website—administered by the Department of Justice—enables everyone to search the latest information on the identities and locations of registered sex offenders from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the principal U.S. territories, and more than 150 Indian tribes.
nsopw.gov is a one-stop-shop for sex offender information across state, tribal, and territory jurisdictions, pulling information from each jurisdiction’s registry website into one search.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) manages nsopw.gov and administers the standards for the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act established in Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The SMART Office works with states, tribes, and territories as they work to implement the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and to further knowledge on sex offender management best practices.
Background on the National Sex Offenders Registry
The FBI's Crimes Against Children Unit coordinated the development of the National Sex Offender Registry, which is currently managed by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS). The National Sex Offender Registry is a database available only to law enforcement.
Legislative Authority
Passed in 2006, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act created a new sex offender registration and notification baseline standard for jurisdictions, replacing a patchwork of laws that included the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996, and Megan’s Law.
The Adam Walsh Act tasked the FBI with continuing to maintain the National Sex Offender Registry and established the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website. The law also expanded the number of sex offenses registration jurisdictions must capture to include all federal, state, territory, tribal, military, and certain foreign convictions and established community notification standards.
Earlier Legislation
- The Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996 (Lychner Act) requires the Attorney General to establish a national database at the FBI to track the whereabouts and movements of certain convicted sex offenders. The FBI's National Crime Information Center enables the National Sex Offender Registry to retain the offender’s current registered address and dates of registration, conviction, and residence.
- The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexual Violent Offender Registration Program, enacted in 1994, provides a financial incentive for states to establish registration programs for persons who have been convicted of certain sex crimes.
- Megan’s Law, enacted in May 1996, amends the Wetterling Program legislation to give states broad discretion to determine to whom notification should be made about offenders, under what circumstances, and about which offenders.
