“This should serve notice to all registered sex offenders who believe the CNMI is a haven where they can avoid registering as a sex offender because of our ‘territory’ status,” he added.
Asked to elaborate, Tarkong explained: “Some people believe that [the CNMI] does not meet the same standards as other states on many issues.”
“In my statement, this applies to convicted sex offenders that are required to register. Some sex offenders who are required to register elsewhere…believe they do not have to register here because we are a territory,” Tarkong further said.
“I would like to thank Adam Lehmann, information technology program manager from the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, and Lori McPherson, senior policy advisor, [the Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking Office of the U.S. Department of Justice], for creating the [Tribe and Territory Sex Offenders Registry System],” Tarkong said.
The DPS Sex Offender Registry website was made possible, Tarkong said, through the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System which is provided by the U.S. Justice Department, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking, or SMART.
The purpose is to assist the tribes and territories in implementing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, registry system requirements, Tarkong said.
The Tribe and Territory Sex Offenders Registry System, or TTSORS, serves a dual purpose, Tarkong said.
It functions as the administrative registry system and as the public sex offender registry website system for the CNMI, Tarkong said.
“TTSORS is cost-effective and provided free of charge by the SMART office, so the CNMI did not need to develop or purchase any special information technology systems to have a SORNA-compliant registry system,” Tarkong said.
SORNA requirements are already included in TTSORS. As a result, CNMI automatically participates in the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, Tarkong said.
The DPW website was approved by the CNMI Sex Offenders Registration Administrative Board, consisting of executive members from the Department of Corrections, DPS, the Division of Youth Services, the Criminal Justice Planning Agency, the Attorney General’s Office, the Office of Adult Probation and the Parole Office with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Tarkong said: “All members were key players in overseeing this accomplishment.”
He said the “website is still being updated and is a work in progress,” but the public can view it at http://cnmi.nsopw.gov.
The public can also access the links found on the DPS website at http://www.dps.gov.mp, or the United States national sex offender public website at http://www.nsopw.gov.
