I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 324

To require any person who is convicted of a State criminal offense against

a victim who is a minor to register a current address with law enforcement officials of the State for 10 years after release from prison, parole,

or supervision.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. RAMSTAD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To require any person who is convicted of a State criminal

offense against a victim who is a minor to register a

current address with law enforcement officials of the

State for 10 years after release from prison, parole,

or supervision.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jacob Wetterling

5 Crimes Against Children Registration Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—
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1 (1) STATE GUIDELINES.—The Attorney General

2 shall establish guidelines for State programs requir3 ing any person who is convicted of a criminal offense

4 against a victim who is a minor to register a current

5 address with a designated State law enforcement

6 agency for 10 years after release from prison, being

7 placed on parole, or being placed on supervised re8 lease.

9 (2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub10 section, the term ‘‘criminal offense against a victim

11 who is a minor’’ includes—

12 (A) kidnapping of a minor, except by a

13 noncustodial parent;

14 (B) false imprisonment of a minor, except

15 by a noncustodial parent;

16 (C) criminal sexual conduct toward a

17 minor;

18 (D) solicitation of minors to engage in sex19 ual conduct;

20 (E) use of minors in a sexual performance;

21 or

22 (F) solicitation of minors to practice pros23 titution.

24 (b) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT UPON RELEASE,

25 PAROLE, OR SUPERVISED RELEASE.—An approved State
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1 registration program established by this section shall con2 tain the following requirements:

3 (1) NOTIFICATION.—If a person who is re4 quired to register under this section is released from

5 prison, paroled, or placed on supervised release, a

6 State prison officer shall—

7 (A) inform the person of the duty to reg8 ister;

9 (B) inform the person that if the person

10 changes residence address, the person shall give

11 the new address to a designated State law en12 forcement agency in writing within 10 days;

13 (C) obtain a fingerprint card and photo14 graph of the person if these have not already

15 been obtained in connection with the offense

16 that triggers registration; and

17 (D) require the person to read and sign a

18 form stating that the duty of the person to reg19 ister under this section has been explained.

20 (2) TRANSFER OF INFORMATION TO STATE AND

21 THE NCIC.—The officer shall, within 3 days after re22 ceipt of information under paragraph (1), forward it

23 to a designated State law enforcement agency. The

24 State law enforcement agency shall immediately

25 enter the information into the State law enforcement
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1 system and National Crime Information Center com2 puter networks and notify the appropriate law en3 forcement agency having jurisdiction where the per4 son expects to reside.

5 (3) ANNUAL VERIFICATION.—On each anniver6 sary of a person’s initial registration date during the

7 period in which the person is required to register

8 under this section, the designated State law enforce9 ment agency shall mail a nonforwardable verification

10 form to the last reported address of the person. The

11 person shall mail the verification form to the officer

12 within 10 days after receipt of the form. The ver13 ification form shall be signed by the person, and

14 state that the person still resides at the address last

15 reported to the designated State law enforcement

16 agency. If the person fails to mail the verification

17 form to the designated State law enforcement agen18 cy within 10 days after receipt of the form, the per19 son shall be in violation of this section unless the

20 person proves that the person has not changed his

21 or her residence address.

22 (4) NOTIFICATION OF LOCAL LAW ENFORCE23 MENT AGENCIES OF CHANGES IN ADDRESS.—Any

24 change of address by a person required to register

25 under this section reported to the designated State
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1 law enforcement agency shall immediately be re2 ported to the appropriate law enforcement agency

3 having jurisdiction where the person is residing.

4 (c) REGISTRATION FOR 10 YEARS.—A person re5 quired to register under this section shall continue to com6 ply with this section until 10 years have elapsed since the

7 person was released from imprisonment, parole, or super8 vised release.

9 (d) PENALTY.—A person required to register under

10 this section who violates any requirement of a State pro11 gram established by this section shall be subject to crimi12 nal penalties in such State. It is the sense of Congress

13 that such penalties should include at least 6 months im14 prisonment.

15 (e) PRIVATE DATA.—The information provided under

16 this section is private data on individuals and may be used

17 for law enforcement purposes, including confidential back18 ground checks by child care services providers.

19 SEC. 3. STATE COMPLIANCE.

20 (a) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Each State shall have 3

21 years from the date of the enactment of this Act in which

22 to implement the provisions of this Act.

23 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—The allocation of

24 funds under section 506 of title I of the Omnibus Crime

25 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3756)
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1 received by a State not complying with the provisions of

2 this section 3 years after the date of enactment of this

3 Act shall be reduced by 25 percent and the unallocated

4 funds shall be reallocated to the States in compliance with

5 this section.

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