I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2423
To improve the national program to register and monitor individuals who 
commit crimes against children or sex offenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 18, 2005
Mr. FOLEY (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. DAVIS 
of Florida, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. POE, Mr. 
SHIMKUS, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. 
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. BRADLEY of New 
Hampshire, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. MEEKS of New 
York, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. 
MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. KING-
STON, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. FORD, Mr. 
ROSS, Mr. MCKEON, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. KEN-
NEDY of Minnesota, Mr. BONNER, Mr. CARDOZA, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. 
EVERETT, Mr. DENT, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. BOYD, Mr. 
CASE, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. MOORE 
of Kansas, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. BACHUS, 
and Mr. CANNON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To improve the national program to register and monitor 
individuals who commit crimes against children or sex 
offenses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as—
(1) the ‘‘Jacob Wetterling, Megan Nicole 
Kanka, and Pam Lychner Sex Offender Registration 
and Notification Act’’; or 
(2) the ‘‘Sex Offender Registration and Notifi-
cation Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—JACOB WETTERLING, MEGAN NICOLE KANKA, & PAM 
LYCHNER SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION 
PROGRAM 
Sec. 101. Jacob Wetterling, Megan Nicole Kanka, & Pam Lychner Sex Of-
fender Registration and Notification Program. 
Sec. 102. Definitions. 
Sec. 103. Duty of covered individuals to provide information. 
Sec. 104. Duty of covered individuals on parole or supervised release to comply 
with device requirements. 
Sec. 105. Duties of Attorney General and State or tribal actors. 
Sec. 106. State and tribal sex offender registries. 
Sec. 107. National Sex Offender Registry. 
Sec. 108. Development and availability of registry management software. 
Sec. 109. DNA database for covered individuals. 
Sec. 110. Duty of courts to determine whether an individual is a sexually vio-
lent predator. 
Sec. 111. Duty of Attorney General to determine whether State or tribal actors 
are qualified. 
Sec. 112. Use of other Federal information to track sex offenders. 
Sec. 113. Implementation by State and tribal actors and assistance grants to 
those actors. 
Sec. 114. Immunity for good faith conduct. 
Sec. 115. Regulations. 
Sec. 116. Authorization of appropriations. 
TITLE II—AMENDATORY PROVISIONS, TRANSITION PROVISIONS, 
AND EFFECTIVE DATE 
Sec. 201. Failure to provide information a deportable offense. 
Sec. 202. Repeal. 
Sec. 203. Conforming amendments to title 18, United States Code. 
Sec. 204. Effective date.
TITLE 
I—JACOB 
WETTERLING, 
MEGAN 
NICOLE 
KANKA, 
& 
PAM 
LYCHNER 
SEX 
OF-
FENDER REGISTRATION AND 
NOTIFICATION PROGRAM 
SEC. 101. JACOB WETTERLING, MEGAN NICOLE KANKA, & 
PAM LYCHNER SEX OFFENDER REGISTRA-
TION AND NOTIFICATION PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall carry 
out this title through a program to be known as the Jacob 
Wetterling, Megan Nicole Kanka, & Pam Lychner Sex Of-
fender Registration and Notification Program. 
(b) REFERENCES TO FORMER PROGRAM OR FORMER 
LAW.—Any reference (other than a reference in this Act) 
in a law, regulation, document, paper, or other record of 
the United States to the program carried out under sub-
title A of title XVII of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14071 et seq.), or 
to any provision of that subtitle, shall be deemed to be 
a reference to the program referred to in subsection (a), 
or to the appropriate provision of this title, as the case 
may be. 
SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act:
(1) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
individual’’ means any of the following: 
(A) An individual who has been convicted 
of a covered offense against a minor. 
(B) An individual who has been convicted 
of a sexually violent offense. 
(C) An individual described in section 
4042(c)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 
(D) An individual sentenced by a court 
martial for conduct in a category specified by 
the 
Secretary 
of 
Defense 
under 
section 
115(a)(8)(C) of title I of Public Law 105–119 
(10 U.S.C. 951 note). 
(E) An individual who is a sexually violent 
predator. 
(2) COVERED OFFENSE AGAINST A MINOR.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraphs (B) and (C), the term ‘‘covered 
offense against a minor’’ means an offense 
(whether under the law of a State actor or trib-
al actor, Federal law, military law, or the law 
of a foreign country) that is comparable to or 
more severe than any of the following offenses: 
(i) Kidnapping of a minor, except by 
a parent of the minor.
(ii) False imprisonment of a minor, 
except by a parent of the minor. 
(iii) Criminal sexual conduct toward a 
minor. 
(iv) Solicitation of a minor to engage 
in sexual conduct. 
(v) Use of a minor in a sexual per-
formance. 
(vi) Solicitation of a minor to practice 
prostitution. 
(vii) Any conduct that by its nature is 
a sexual offense against a minor. 
(viii) Possession, production, or dis-
tribution of child pornography, as de-
scribed in section 2251, 2252, or 2252A of 
title 18, United States Code. 
(ix) Use of the Internet to facilitate or 
commit a covered offense against a minor. 
(x) An attempt to commit a covered 
offense against a minor. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—The term does not in-
clude an offense if the conduct on which the of-
fense is based is criminal only because of the 
age of the victim and the individual who com-
mitted the offense had not attained the age of 
18 years when the offense was committed. 
(C) INCLUSION.—The term includes a vio-
lation of section 103 of this Act. 
(3) DOMICILE.—The term ‘‘domicile’’ means, 
with respect to an individual, any place that serves 
as the primary place at which the individual lives. 
(4) DOMICILE
STATE.—The term ‘‘domicile 
State’’ means, with respect to an individual, the 
State actor or tribal actor within the jurisdiction of 
which is the individual’s domicile. 
(5) EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION.—The term 
‘‘educational institution’’ includes (whether public or 
private) any secondary school, trade or professional 
institution, and institution of higher education. 
(6) EMPLOYMENT.—The term ‘‘employment’’ 
includes carrying on a vocation and covers any labor 
or service rendered (whether as a volunteer or for 
compensation or for government or educational ben-
efit) on a full-time or part-time basis. 
(7) JURISDICTION.—The term ‘‘jurisdiction’’, 
with respect to a tribal actor, means the Indian 
country (as defined in section 1151 of title 18, 
United States Code) of that tribal actor.
(8) SCHOOL STATE.—The term ‘‘school State’’ 
means, with respect to an individual, the State actor 
or tribal actor within the jurisdiction of which the 
educational institution at which the individual is a 
student is located. 
(9) SEXUALLY VIOLENT OFFENSE.—The term 
‘‘sexually violent offense’’ means an offense (whether 
under the law of a State actor or tribal actor, Fed-
eral law, military law, or the law of a foreign coun-
try) that is comparable to or more severe than any 
of the following offenses: 
(A) Aggravated sexual abuse or sexual 
abuse (as described in sections 2241 and 2242 
of title 18, United States Code). 
(B) An offense an element of which is en-
gaging in physical contact with another person 
with intent to commit aggravated sexual abuse 
or sexual abuse. 
(10) SEXUALLY
VIOLENT
PREDATOR.—The 
term ‘‘sexually violent predator’’ means an individual 
who—
(A) has a conviction for a sexually violent 
offense; or 
(B) suffers from a mental abnormality (as 
defined in section 110 of this Act) or person-
ality disorder that makes the person likely to 
engage in a predatory (as defined in section 
110 of this Act) sexually violent offense. 
(11) STATE ACTOR.—The term ‘‘State actor’’ 
means any of the following: 
(A) A State. 
(B) The District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American 
Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, or 
any other territory or possession of the United 
States. 
(12) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means an 
individual who, whether on a full-time or part-time 
basis, enrolls in or attends an educational institu-
tion. 
(13) TRIBAL ACTOR.—The term ‘‘tribal actor’’ 
means a federally recognized Indian tribe. 
(14) WORK STATE.—The term ‘‘work State’’ 
means, with respect to an individual, the State actor 
or tribal actor within the jurisdiction of which the 
individual’s place of employment is located. 
SEC. 103. DUTY OF COVERED INDIVIDUALS TO PROVIDE IN-
FORMATION. 
(a) INFORMATION
REQUIRED
PERIODICALLY.—A 
covered individual shall, for the life of that individual (ex-
cept as provided in this section), provide information as 
follows: 
(1) 
REGISTRATION
INFORMATION.—Imme-
diately after being sentenced for an offense that 
qualifies the individual as a covered individual (or, 
if the individual is imprisoned for that offense, im-
mediately before completing the term of imprison-
ment), and thereafter at least once every 6 months 
(or, in the case of a sexually violent predator, at 
least once every 3 months), the individual shall ap-
pear before a person designated by the individual’s 
domicile State and provide—
(A) the individual’s name; 
(B) the individual’s Social Security num-
ber; 
(C) the address of the individual’s domi-
cile; 
(D) the license plate number of, and other 
identifying information with respect to, each ve-
hicle owned or operated by the individual; 
(E) any address at which the individual ex-
pects to have a domicile in the future; 
(F) the name and address of any person 
who employs the individual and the address at 
which the individual is so employed; and
(G) the name and address of any edu-
cational institution at which the individual is 
employed or is a student. 
(2) PHOTOGRAPH.—Immediately after being 
sentenced for an offense that qualifies the individual 
as a covered individual (or, if the individual is im-
prisoned for that offense, immediately before com-
pleting the term of imprisonment), and thereafter at 
least once every 12 months, the individual shall ap-
pear before a person designated by the individual’s 
domicile State and submit to the taking of a photo-
graph. 
(3) FINGERPRINTS.—Immediately after being 
sentenced for an offense that qualifies the individual 
as a covered individual (or, if the individual is im-
prisoned for that offense, immediately before com-
pleting the term of imprisonment), and thereafter at 
least once every 12 months, the individual shall ap-
pear before a person designated by the individual’s 
domicile State and submit to the taking of finger-
prints. 
(4) OTHER
REGULATORY
REQUIREMENTS.—
The Attorney General may, by regulation, require 
the individual to provide any information that the 
Attorney General considers appropriate on any basis,
and at any time and in any manner, that the Attor-
ney General considers appropriate. 
(5) INDIVIDUAL IN CUSTODY IN STATE OTHER 
THAN DOMICILE STATE.—Whenever an individual is 
required by any paragraph of this subsection to pro-
vide information immediately after being sentenced 
(or immediately before completing a term of impris-
onment) and the State actor or tribal actor that has 
sentenced (or imprisoned) the individual is not the 
individual’s domicile State—
(A) the individual shall provide that infor-
mation (in the same time, place, and manner as 
prescribed by that paragraph) to an appropriate 
official of the State actor or tribal actor that 
has sentenced (or imprisoned) the individual; 
and 
(B) the State actor or tribal actor that has 
sentenced (or imprisoned) the individual shall 
promptly make available that information to the 
individual’s domicile State. 
(b) INFORMATION REQUIRED UPON CHANGE
OF 
REGISTRY INFORMATION.—A covered individual shall, for 
the life of that individual (except as provided in this sec-
tion), provide information as follows:
(1) CHANGE OF ADDRESS.—Not more than 3 
days after establishing a new domicile, the individual 
shall—
(A) appear before a person designated by 
the individual’s domicile State and provide the 
address of the new domicile, and the address of 
the previous domicile; and 
(B) if the new domicile and the previous 
domicile are not both within the jurisdiction of 
a single State actor or tribal actor qualified 
under this Act, appear before a person des-
ignated by the individual’s new domicile State 
and—
(i) provide the address of the new 
domicile and the address of the previous 
domicile; and 
(ii) submit to the taking of a photo-
graph and the taking of fingerprints. 
(2) CHANGE OF EMPLOYMENT.—Not more than 
3 days after beginning, or ceasing, to be employed 
by an employer, the individual shall appear before, 
and provide notice of the beginning or ceasing, and 
the name and address of the employer, to—
(A) a person designated by the individual’s 
domicile State; and
(B) if the individual’s work State is dif-
ferent from the domicile State, a person des-
ignated by the individual’s work State. 
(3) CHANGE OF STUDENT STATUS.—Not more 
than 3 days after beginning, or ceasing, to be a stu-
dent at an educational institution, the individual 
shall appear before, and provide notice of the begin-
ning or ceasing, and the name and address of the 
educational institution, to—
(A) a person designated by the individual’s 
domicile State; and 
(B) if the individual’s school State is dif-
ferent from the domicile State, a person des-
ignated by the individual’s school State. 
(c) DUTY TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ATTORNEY 
GENERAL.—
(1) IF STATE ACTOR OR TRIBAL ACTOR NOT 
QUALIFIED.—Whenever an individual is required by 
subsection (a) or (b) to provide information to a 
State actor or tribal actor, and the actor is not 
qualified for purposes of this Act, the individual 
shall also provide that information (in the same 
time, place, and manner as prescribed in subsection 
(a) or (b), as the case may be) to the Attorney Gen-
eral, and a failure to do so shall be treated for pur-
poses of this Act as a violation of subsection (a) or 
(b), as the case may be. 
(2) IF
PROVIDING
INFORMATION
TO
MORE 
THAN ONE STATE.—Whenever an individual is re-
quired by subsection (a) or (b) to provide informa-
tion to more than one State actor or tribal actor, the 
individual shall also provide that information (in the 
same time, place, and manner as prescribed in sub-
section (a) or (b), as the case may be) to the Attor-
ney General, and a failure to do so shall be treated 
for purposes of this Act as a violation of subsection 
(a) or (b), as the case may be. 
(d) PUNISHMENT.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—A covered individual who 
violates subsection (a) or (b) shall—
(A) on the first conviction, be fined under 
title 18, United States Code, and imprisoned 
not more than 5 years (or, in the case of a sex-
ually violent predator, not more than 10 years), 
and shall thereafter be subject to supervised re-
lease for not less than 36 months; and 
(B) on any conviction after the first, be 
fined under title 18, United States Code, and 
imprisoned not more than 20 years (or, in the 
case of a sexually violent predator, for life), and
shall thereafter be subject to supervised release 
for life. 
(2) STRICT CULPABILITY.—In a prosecution for 
a violation of subsection (a) or (b), the state of mind 
of the individual committing the violation is not an 
element of the offense and it need not be proven 
that the individual had any particular state of mind 
with respect to any element of the offense. 
(3) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—In a prosecution 
for a violation of subsection (a) or (b), it is an af-
firmative defense that uncontrollable circumstances 
prevented the individual from complying, and that 
the individual did not contribute to the creation of 
such circumstances in reckless disregard of the re-
quirement to comply, and that the individual com-
plied as soon as such circumstances ceased to exist. 
(4) VIOLATIONS ARE CONTINUING.—A violation 
of subsection (a) or (b) is a continuing violation for 
purposes of the statute of limitations. 
(e) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—Sub-
sections (a) and (b) apply to any covered individual, unless 
each of the following is true with respect to the covered 
individual: 
(1) The individual is not a sexually violent 
predator.
(2) The individual has only one conviction for 
an offense that qualifies the individual as a covered 
individual. 
(3) A period of at least 20 years, excluding en-
suing periods of imprisonment, has expired since the 
date on which the individual was sentenced for, or 
completed the term of imprisonment for, the convic-
tion described in paragraph (2). 
(4) the conviction referred to in paragraph (2) 
was not for aggravated sexual abuse (as defined in 
section 2241 of title 18, United States Code) or a 
comparable, or more severe, offense. 
SEC. 104. DUTY OF COVERED INDIVIDUALS ON PAROLE OR 
SUPERVISED RELEASE TO COMPLY WITH DE-
VICE REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual shall comply 
with any requirements that the Attorney General pre-
scribes under subsection (b)—
(1) for the period of supervised release or pa-
role, if the individual has only one conviction for an 
offense that qualifies the individual as a covered in-
dividual; and 
(2) for the life of the individual, in all other 
cases. 
(b) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 
consultation with State actors and tribal actors, 
shall prescribe regulations to ensure that every cov-
ered individual referred to in subsection (a) wears 
and maintains a device that transmits information 
about the individual’s whereabouts to the domicile 
State. 
(2) PENALTIES
FOR
FAILURE
TO
COMPLY.— 
The regulations shall include penalties for the failure 
of the covered individual to wear or maintain the de-
vice. 
(3) DEVICES AND PROCEDURES.—The regula-
tions shall describe the devices to be used and, for 
each such device, the procedures to be followed by 
the individual and the domicile State. The type of 
device to be used may vary from domicile State to 
domicile State, from offense to offense, or both. 
SEC. 105. DUTIES OF ATTORNEY GENERAL AND STATE OR 
TRIBAL ACTORS. 
(a) WHEN
AN INDIVIDUAL PROVIDES INFORMA-
TION.—Whenever an individual is required by this Act to 
provide information (including information such as photo-
graphs and fingerprints) to the Attorney General, to a 
State actor or tribal actor, or to both, the Attorney Gen-
eral (or the actor, or both, as the case may be) shall—
(1) ensure that the individual complies with the 
requirement; 
(2) ensure that the information provided is ac-
curate and complete; 
(3) ensure that the information provided is in-
cluded in the National Sex Offender Registry; and 
(4) ensure that the information is promptly—
(A) made available to any law enforcement 
agency responsible for the area in which the in-
dividual’s domicile is located and to the State 
law enforcement agency of the domicile State; 
(B) entered into the appropriate records or 
data system of the actor; and 
(C) made available by the actor, together 
with information relating to criminal history, to 
the Attorney General. 
(b) WHEN A COVERED INDIVIDUAL IS MISSING.—
(1) STATE OR TRIBAL ACTOR.—Whenever infor-
mation is made known to a State actor or tribal 
actor that an individual has violated section 
103(a)(1) or section 103(b), the actor shall promptly 
notify the Attorney General of that information. 
(2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Whenever informa-
tion is made known to the Attorney General that an 
individual has violated section 103(a)(1) or section