pittsburghlive.com: Ohio only state to meet federal Adam Walsh requirements.
kypost.com: Ohio Only State To Comply With Sex-Offender Law.
One....That's how many states in the U.S. have fully complied with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection Safety Act of 2006. The nationwide law is aimed at creating an across-the-board method of registering and tracking sex offenders throughout the country, where, a recent study found, a total of 704,777 sex offenders reside.
So far, only Ohio has complied.
Previously, each individual state created and followed their own tracking and registration formats. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and federally recognized Native American tribes were supposed to be in "substantial implementation" of the law by July 2009.
But all jurisdictions received an extension last year, said Scott Matson, a senior policy advisor with Florida's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking. "And they have another year if they request it," he added. That means the final deadline could be July 2011 -- five years after the measure became law.
In the meantime, Coffee said Florida did submit a compliance package at the end of last year and that she hopes to hear from the SMART Office within the next few weeks.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as of January there were 7,900 sexual predators, 45,325 sexual offenders and 93 juvenile sexual offenders in Florida.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children President Ernie Allen said he thinks the primary issue boils down to money and there are some states weighing the cost of losing federal funds versus complying with the act.
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Ohio is the only state to meet the requirements of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
The Justice Department rejected the state's first application over how juveniles appear on the list.
The implementation cost about $400,000.
Ohio relies on county sheriff's departments rather than state police as in Pennsylvania to enforce registration of sex offenders and predators.
Mercer County, Ohio Sheriff Jeff Grey, who was part of a task force to hammer out changes, said most were good, but not all. "I don't like that the (law) took discretion away from judges," he said. The Walsh Act requires uniform sentences.
"In Cleveland, Anthony Sowell was in compliance. He apparently was also a serial killer," the sheriff said.
Sowell, 50, of Cleveland, is accused of killing 11 women whose remains were found in or around his Imperial Avenue house.
