Department of Justice January 11, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), establishes minimum national standards for sex offender registration and notification. The Attorney General issued the National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification (``SORNA Guidelines'' or ``Guidelines'') on July 2, 2008, to provide guidance and assistance to jurisdictions in implementing the SORNA standards in their sex offender registration and notification programs. These supplemental guidelines augment or modify certain features of the SORNA Guidelines in order to make a change required by the KIDS Act and to address other issues arising in jurisdictions' implementation of the SORNA requirements. The matters addressed include certain aspects of public Web site posting of sex offender information, interjurisdictional tracking and information sharing regarding sex offenders, the review process concerning jurisdictions' SORNA implementation, the classes of sex offenders to be registered by jurisdictions retroactively, and the treatment of Indian tribes newly recognized by the Federal government subsequent to the enactment of SORNA.

The OJP Science Advisory Board is being established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App. 2. The OJP Science Advisory Board will provide OJP, a component of the Department of Justice, with valuable advice in the areas of social science and statistics for the purpose of enhancing the overall impact and performance of its programs and activities in criminal and juvenile justice. The Board will provide input into developing long-range plans, advise on program development, and provide guidance to ensure adherence to the highest levels of scientific rigor, as appropriate. The Board will provide an important base of contact with the criminal justice academic and practitioner communities, and is necessary and in the public interest. The Board's Charter is subject to renewal and will expire two years from its filing. The OJP Science Advisory Board is continuing in nature, to remain functional until the Attorney General determines that all necessary duties have been performed.

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) revises its federal regulations on the inmate furlough program primarily to more clearly provide for and define transfer furloughs. Also, under this rule, the Bureau is expanding the authority of its Wardens to consider all inmates potentially eligible for non-transfer furloughs, as opposed to the current rule, which limits consideration to inmates with community custody status.