On July 18, the House Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2012 (H.R. 3796). The legislation would reauthorize programs established by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-248).
Sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the legislation would authorize $20 million annually through FY2017 for the Sex Offender Management Assistance (SOMA) program and the Jessica Lunsford Address Verification Grant Program. The SOMA program provides grants to state and local law enforcement and community supervision agencies to assist in the management of sex offenders under community supervision. The Jessica Lunsford Address Verification Grant Program provides funding to help state and local officials verify the current addresses of all registered sex offenders.
The bill also would authorize $46.2 million annually through FY2017 for federal grants to states to help locate and apprehend sex offenders who violate sex offender registry requirements.
Juvenile tier III sex offenders would be required to maintain clean records for 15 years, instead of 25 years under current law, to qualify for a reduction in the period that the offender must comply with sex registry requirements.
During consideration of the measure, the panel adopted the following en bloc amendments offered by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), by voice vote:
