President George W. Bush signed H.R.4472, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, into law on July 27, 2006. Photo by Eric Draper / White House

Federal agencies and state governments can do more to help tribes protect their people from registered sex offenders, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act requires tribes and states to develop tracking and notification systems. Fewer than half of eligible tribes have substantially complied with the law but the rate of success in Indian Country -- 43 percent, according to the GAO -- is greater than that among states -- 36 percent, according to the Department of Justice.

Even though tribes are ahead of states, they are being hindered by states, the GAO said. State governments don't always notify tribes whether sex offenders intend to live, work of attend school in Indian Country even though states are required to do so by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which is part of the Adam Walsh Act.

"Without such notification, tribes may be unaware," the report said, "of the presence of convicted sex offenders on their lands and may be unable to enforce tribal law and ordinances related to sex offenders."

Due to state restrictions, some tribes are also unable to submit sex offender information to federal criminal databases. The report urged federal agencies to help tribes overcome these barriers.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and DOJ have formed an inter-agency working group to address the issue, the report noted. The group held its first meeting in May so the GAO said it is "too early to evaluate how its efforts will help provide tribes with access" to the databases.

Congress passed the registration law in 2006 but the tribal provisions were controversial because they were developed without prior consultation and were never discussed at a public hearing. The provisions required tribes to develop their own registries or cede authority automatically to state governments.

Tribes in Public Law 280 states were excluded from the law and their respective states were automatically granted authority over sex offenders in Indian Country in those states.

Get the Story:
Tribes work to create sex-offender registries (AP 11/20)

Government Accountability Office Report:
Additional Outreach and Notification of Tribes about Offenders Who Are Released from Prison Needed (November 18, 2014)

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