Alaska tries to comply with federal sex offender law

1-4-2010 Alaska:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- It's been more than three years since Congress passed a law ordering stricter laws for sex offenders, but Alaska is still not meeting those federal standards.

The deadline to comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, was July of 2009. But because Ohio was the only state to meet those requirements on time, the deadline has been extended to July of this year.

Alaska faces unique legal and geographic barriers to complying with the law, but backers say doing so will make the state safer.

"That integrative process is good," said state Rep. Anna Fairclough. "Because then, all states are looking out for particular individuals showing up and applying to jobs in schools or trying to have access to young children."

SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. It aims to create a national sex offender registry and toughen penalties on those who fail to register, including the estimated 100,000 sex offenders who are not living where they're supposed to be.

Sex offenders, however, aren't the only ones having trouble meeting SORNA's requirements.

"There are 49 other states who haven't complied, and there's a reason," Fairclough said.

The federal law would apply to all sex offenders, including those with convictions before SORNA was enacted. This contradicts Alaska's Constitution, which bars retroactive laws.

Additionally, SORNA uses a three-tier system to classify what kind of act sex offenders committed. Alaska uses a two-tier system.

Another complication is that SORNA requires perpetrators to register and update information in person. Depending on the tier, a sex offender may have to report every three months -- a point of difficulty in the Bush.

"A large proportion of Alaska offenders that are registered on that sex offenders list in our state are in rural communities," Fairclough said. "And so there's a different travel pattern that would be expected from them."

In fiscal year 2009, Standing Together Against Rape reported almost 3,000 crisis calls. The organization was involved in more than 590 child assault investigations.

STAR's director, Nancy Haag, says over the years she's seen a rise in the number of cases.

"I think anything we do to make the community safer is an important and valuable investment," Haag said. "I know that it's also an expensive investment, but I think that from the recent reports from the governor, that he's welcoming whatever he can do to make this a safer community in terms of sexual assaults."

When Gov. Sean Parnell announced his 2011 budget proposal in mid-December, a top priority was ending domestic violence. Parnell's proposal sets aside $7 million to pay for public safety officers in remote villages and a new position in the Department of Law to address the problem.

"I think we need to work at making the federal law the best that it can be," Fairclough said. "And if it needs to be revised, I think that we need to speak with our congressional representatives, talk to our senators and say what challenges Alaska faces, and how are those similar to the other states." ..Source.. Christine Kim