Montana 2022 Sex Offender and Registration Notification Act Reallocation Program

The Montana Board of Crime Control (MBCC) requests 2022 SORNA Reallocation Funds to move Montana further toward substantial implementation of SORNA. 

Since 2006, Montana has been working toward substantial implementation, with considerable progress.  Several areas remain not fully implemented.  One area is Category ID IV, the Compliance Area of Required Registration Information, the required capture, and submission of the offenders’ palm prints.  This project will address the issue of palm print submission and timeliness of information processing for offender registrations.

This project continues MTDOJ’s effort to deploy 4 palm-capable livescans.  MTDOJ requests funds to obtain and deploy palm capable livescans at four criminal justice entities responsible for sex offender registration. The livescans will enable registering agencies to capture not only fingerprints, but also palm prints.  The livescan systems will be deployed in secure administrative locations outside of detention center booking areas.  The livescans will be networked to the MTDOJ Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) so that the fingerprint/palm print transactions can be submitted electronically to initiate the sex offender registration.  The MTDOJ ABIS is already capable of receiving and processing palm prints, so no additional infrastructure or programming is necessary for palm print processing.  Along with the deployment of the new livescans, experienced MTDOJ business and IT personnel will provide operator training for use of the systems, and compliance training regarding statutory and timeliness requirements for sex offender registration, completing this project efficiently and effectively. 

In March 2020 MTDOJ completed and deployed a criminal history portal update as part of a NCHIP 2016 project.  Part of that project was a new Montana State Registry (MSR) central repository for tracking all Montana sex offender records; monitoring, registering, and tracking sex offenders. Preliminary records are initiated upon the entry of disposition data within the Montana Criminal History, notification from the SORNA Portal of an offender relocating to Montana or manually by an MSR user. Local, state, and federal partners will have direct access to the MSR. Local agencies will have their own work queue to assist them in managing the sex offenders within their jurisdiction. The MSR was designed to streamline the management of Montana’s sex offenders. It is expected that the reduction of redundancies and increased efficiencies will improve the timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of Montana’s sex offenders’ records in NCIC.  

Montana’s criminal justice partners have a strong history of cooperation for working toward substantial implementation of SORNA requirements.