DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACTIVATES NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER PUBLIC REGISTRY WEBSITE

Twenty-Two States Accessible from National Web site

     WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced the activation of its National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) website, which provides real-time access to public sex offender data nationwide with a single Internet search. The Department-sponsored website allows parents and concerned citizens to search existing public state and territory sex offender registries beyond their own states.

     Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced the design and delivery of a national registry website on May 20 and invited all states and territories to link their public registries to the site at no cost. The site currently links 22 sites and a list of the states currently linked to the NSOPR is attached.

     "Citizens will now be able to search the latest information for the identity and location of known sex offenders across state boundaries," said Regina B. Schofield, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. "The coordination between each state and the Department of Justice to accomplish such a rigorous goal is phenomenal. This is an extraordinary example of the Department of Justice working in partnership with states to enable parents and concerned citizens to better protect America's communities from sex offenders."

     The NSOPR provides an opportunity for all states and territories to participate in an unprecedented public safety resource by sharing comprehensive, free-of-charge public sex offender data with citizens nationwide. With a single query from any web-capable computer, NSOPR searches public state and territory sex offender registries to deliver matched results based on a name, state, county, city/town, or zip code. The remaining public sex offender registries are expected to be linked to the NSOPR within six months. The site is located at www.nsopr.gov.

     The NSOPR uses the Internet to search for and display public sex offender data from state and territory registries. The technology for NSOPR is both time- and cost-effective. Web services and DOJ's Global Justice eXtensible Markup Language (XML) common computer language establishes a link between existing state and territory public sex offender registries. The link allows data from different hardware and software systems to be recognized and shown through the national search site.

     There are over 500,000 registered sex offenders nationwide and statistics have shown the recidivism rate for these offenders is high. Access to public registry information nationwide is essential for citizens to help identify sex offenders beyond their own streets or neighborhoods.

     The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP is headed by an Assistant Attorney General and comprises five component bureaus and two offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime, as well as the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education and the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy and OJP's American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk. More information can be found at https://ojp.gov.

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