110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1759 
AN ACT 
To establish guidelines and incentives for States to establish 
arsonist registries and to require the Attorney General 
to establish a national arsonist registry and notification 
program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Managing Arson 
Through Criminal History (MATCH) Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. ARSONIST REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) REGISTRY
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
JURISDIC-
TIONS.— 
(1) JURISDICTION TO MAINTAIN A REGISTRY.— 
Each jurisdiction shall establish and maintain a ju-
risdiction-wide arsonist registry conforming to the 
requirements of this section. 
(2) GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS.—The At-
torney General shall issue guidelines and regulations 
to interpret and implement this section. 
(b) REGISTRY
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
CRIMINAL 
ARSONISTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—A criminal arsonist shall 
register, and shall keep the registration current, in 
each jurisdiction where the arsonist resides, where 
the arsonist is an employee, and where the arsonist 
is a student. For initial registration purposes only, 
a criminal arsonist shall also register in the jurisdic-
tion in which convicted if such jurisdiction is dif-
ferent from the jurisdiction of residence. 
(2) INITIAL REGISTRATION.—The criminal ar-
sonist shall initially register—
(A) before completing a sentence of impris-
onment with respect to the offense giving rise 
to the registration requirement; or 
(B) not later than 5 business days after 
being sentenced for that offense, if the criminal 
arsonist is not sentenced to a term of imprison-
ment. 
(3) KEEPING THE REGISTRATION CURRENT.—A 
criminal arsonist shall, not later than 10 business 
days after each change of name, residence, employ-
ment, or student status, appear in person in at least 
one jurisdiction involved pursuant to paragraph (1) 
and inform that jurisdiction of all changes in the in-
formation required for that arsonist in the arsonist 
registry involved. That jurisdiction shall immediately 
provide the revised information to all other jurisdic-
tions in which the arsonist is required to register. 
(4) APPLICATION OF REGISTRATION REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
guidelines under subparagraph (B), the require-
ments of this section, including the duties to 
register and to keep a registration current, shall 
apply only to a criminal arsonist who was con-
victed of a criminal offense involving arson on
or after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and who was notified of such duties and reg-
istered in accordance with subsection (f). 
(B) APPLICATION TO CRIMINAL ARSONISTS 
UNABLE TO COMPLY WITH PARAGRAPH (2).— 
(i) GUIDELINES.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall establish guidelines in accordance 
with the provisions of this subparagraph 
for each jurisdiction for the application of 
the requirements of this section to criminal 
arsonists convicted before the date of the 
enactment of this Act or the date of its im-
plementation in such a jurisdiction, and 
shall prescribe rules for the registration of 
any such criminal arsonists who are other-
wise unable to comply with paragraph (2). 
(ii) INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE 
INCLUDED IN REGISTRY.—With respect to 
each criminal arsonist described in clause 
(i) convicted during the 10-year period pre-
ceding the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the guidelines under clause (i) shall 
provide for the inclusion in the arsonist 
registry of each applicable jurisdiction 
(and, in accordance with subsection (j), the
provision by such jurisdiction to each enti-
ty described in such subsection) of the fol-
lowing information: 
(I) The name of the arsonist (in-
cluding any alias used by the arson-
ist). 
(II) The Social Security number 
of the arsonist. 
(III) The most recent known ad-
dress of the residence at which the ar-
sonist has resided. 
(IV) A physical description of the 
arsonist. 
(V) The text of the provision of 
law defining the criminal offense re-
lated to arson for which the arsonist 
is convicted. 
(VI) A set of fingerprints and 
palm prints of the arsonist. 
(VII) A photocopy of a valid driv-
er’s license or identification card 
issued to the arsonist by a jurisdic-
tion, if available. 
(VIII) Any other information re-
quired by the Attorney General.
(iii) NOTICE REQUIRED.—The guide-
lines under clause (i) shall provide notice 
to each criminal arsonist included in an ar-
sonist registry pursuant to this subpara-
graph of such inclusion. 
(5) STATE
PENALTY
FOR
FAILURE
TO
COM-
PLY.—Each jurisdiction, other than a Federally rec-
ognized Indian tribe, shall provide a criminal penalty 
that includes a maximum term of imprisonment that 
is greater than one year for the failure of a criminal 
arsonist to comply with the requirements of this sec-
tion. 
(6) AUTHORITY TO EXEMPT CERTAIN CRIMINAL 
ARSONISTS FROM REGISTRY REQUIREMENTS.—A ju-
risdiction shall have the authority to exempt a crimi-
nal arsonist who has been convicted of the offense 
of arson in violation of the laws of the jurisdiction 
in which the offense was committed or the United 
States for the first time from the registration re-
quirements under this section in exchange for such 
arsonist’s substantial assistance in the investigation 
or prosecution of another person who has committed 
an offense. The Attorney General shall assure that 
any regulations promulgated under this section in-
clude guidelines that reflect the general appropriate-