DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER PUBLIC WEB SITE MEMORIALIZES SEX OFFENDER VICTIM

Puerto Rico's Sex Offender Information is Most Recent Addition to Web site

            WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today announced the designation of its National Sex Offender Public Web site as the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Web site, located at http://www.nsopr.gov. Dru Sjodin, a 22-year-old University of North Dakota student from Pequot Lakes, Minn., was kidnapped and murdered after disappearing from a Grand Forks, N.D., shopping mall parking lot in November 2003.

            Today's announcement results from the recent passing and implementation of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Signed into law on July 27, 2006, by President Bush, the Act strengthens federal laws to protect children from sexual and other violent crimes, prevent child pornography, and make the Internet safer for children. The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Web site provides real-time access to public sex offender data nationwide with a single Internet search. The Department of Justice-sponsored Web site allows parents and concerned citizens to search existing public state and territory sex offender registries beyond their own states.

            "Protecting our children from dangerous predators and exploitation is one of the top priorities of the Department of Justice," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "I am proud that we can pay tribute to Dru Sjodin and put into action legislation that ensures critical resources will go into tracking the almost 600,000 sex offenders nationwide."

            Today's announcement coincides with the addition of Puerto Rico to the Web site. The Department of Justice announced the activation of the Web site in July 2005, initially linking 22 states to the site. With today's announcement, the Web site connects all 50 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories.

            The Web site 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, the Web site searches public state and territory sex offender registries to deliver matched results based on a name, state, county, city/town or zip code. Recent enhancements to the Web site allow for multiple zip code functions and regional searches. Users may search up to five zip codes from any state at one time and may search a multiple state area using the regional search mechanism.

            The technology for the Web site is both time and cost-effective. Web services and the Department’s Global Justice eXtensible Markup Language (XML) 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.

States/Territories Linked to the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Web site are:

            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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