The CNMI had until July 29 to enact House Bill 17-111 into law. If it missed the deadline, the commonwealth would have fallen short of meeting the federal standard — which is condition for receiving the annual $370,000 in Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.
Introduced by Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan, on Sept. 13, 2010, H.B. 17-111 went through major revisions before the House of Representatives passed it three weeks ago. It was not transmitted to the Senate right away until Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, asked the Senate clerk to get the bill so senators could act on it as soon as possible.
The Senate unanimously passed the measure on July 28, one day before the July 29 deadline set by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance for the CNMI to be in compliance with the U.S. Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act.
The CNMI had its own sex offender registry law but it did not meet the minimum mandatory requirements of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 or SORNA.
Failure to comply with the federal statute would have meant a reduction of 10 percent from the annual grant, according to chief parole officer Joseph T. Guerrero.
H.B. 17-111, now Public Law 17-49, repeals the CNMI sex offender registry and notification law, and replaces it with the federally compliant measure designed to register, monitor and track sex offenders’ mobility and whereabouts in the commonwealth.
Like its federal counterpart, the CNMI’s new sex offender registry law seeks to establish a “comprehensive national system for registration of sex offenders.”
It mandates the creation of a website that “shall include links to sex offender safety and education resources.”
