The SMART Office has developed this guide to assist each tribe in creating its own policy and procedures manual for its tribal sex offender registration and notification program.
This guide should only be used as a starting point for developing policy and procedures for a specific tribe. It should not be used as a template, but rather as a tool to assist in creating a program-specific policy and procedures manual. It is advisable for the policy and procedures manual to track the order of the tribe’s sex offender code; however, it should not be a copy of the code, but rather describe how all the functions of the tribe’s sex offender notification and registration program will be implemented by the designated staff. If a tribe has entered into one or more Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), a substantial policy and procedures manual will capture the MOUs and many involve a departure from the component described in the proposed manual. The main sections of this guide address criminal justice functions in the SORNA program, including the tribal court; the registration process or program; the monitoring of registered offenders; the public sex offender website; community notification; data collection, submission, and updating; and optional considerations.