The SMART Office administers grant programs relating to sex offender registration and notification authorized by the Adam Walsh Act Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and other grant programs as directed by the Attorney General. Use the search filters below to search open opportunities.
Additional Budget Guidance for Adam Walsh Act Applications
The SMART Office has developed information technology resources, including software such as mapping technology, geographic radius and address search applications, and community notification and email notification applications, to help jurisdictions meet SORNA’s requirement of participating in the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website. These resources are available to all SORNA jurisdictions free of charge. Additionally, the SMART Office provides the Sex Offender Registry Tool (SORT) free of charge to states and the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System (TTSORS) free of charge to tribes and territories. See the SORT and TTSORS fact sheets for additional information. These items should not be included in your budget, unless there are related IT needs.
Software may be purchased or licensed with funding under this opportunity if there is a proven and justifiable need. Allowable software includes software to support biometric collection and submission to federal databases or to facilitate information sharing between a jurisdiction’s sex offender registry and other law-enforcement and criminal justice information systems or databases or software necessary to facilitate the use of SMART-provided software resources.
Applicant proposal narratives may include the purchase of equipment such as digital fingerprint and palm print equipment, scanners to transfer existing records and documents into a digital format, computer hardware, and DNA collection equipment. Tribes that propose to use grant funds to support the collection, storage, and submission of DNA must document that those costs are necessary and verifiable.
Examples of verified and validated costs include fees that a state or its political subdivision charges a tribe for collection, storage, or submission of DNA. Please note that contracting with a private lab does not facilitate submission of DNA to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and thus does not address SORNA requirements. As a result, private lab fees are unallowable costs. The FBI Laboratory permits SORNA tribes to receive free DNA collection kits, and the FBI Laboratory analyzes the kits and enters the data into CODIS for free.
SORNA Tribes can use grant funds to purchase an electronic scanner or live scan device for scanning finger and palm prints for uploading to the FBI Next Generation Identification system. However, a tribe that has one or more devices for scanning and uploading finger and palm prints by virtue of its participation in the DOJ Tribal Access Program must provide specific justification for the need for additional equipment.
On a case-by-case basis, applicants may use grant funds to support personnel costs for sex offender registry officials, probation/parole officers, data analysts, etc. Other allowable costs include, but are not limited to, staff overtime, registry official identifying uniforms, professional contracts (e.g., Information Technology and professional services), rental space, supplies (e.g., laptops, computers, paper, cell phone), and vehicles.
Applicants may not use grant funds for performance awards, incentives, bonuses, construction, food and beverage, gift cards, giveaways, pre-paid phone cards, stipends, firearms, tasers, and ammunitions. This is not a comprehensive list.
Contact the SMART Office for additional information.
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