Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Sex Offender and Registraoin Notificaion Act (SORNA) Reallocation Program

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is the central repository for all predatory offender information in the state of Minnesota.  The registry was created in 1991 after the abduction and disappearance of Jacob Wetterling.  Minnesota currently has over 18,000 registered offenders.

In November 2015, the BCA submitted a SORNA Implementation Package to the SMART Office for review. In September 2016, the BCA received the results of the review from the SMART Office. Although the BCA was deemed to be in compliance with several of the SORNA requirements, the summary report indicated that the BCA had not substantially implemented SORNA.

The BCA is proposing to utilize the SORNA Reallocation grant funding continue to address deficiencies identified in the requirement outlined in the SORNA Implementation Package review.  Minnesota did not meet SORNA requirement with SORNA requirements “IV. Required Registration Information” and “VIII. Keeping the Registration Current”, within the constraints of Minnesota law.

The BCA is starting to build the Online Registration functionality that makes it possible for external agencies to enter and submit offender and registration information as they receive it. The new process will involve the creation of functionality to enter, modify, submit and accept offender and registration information online. The new process will replace a process where external agencies fill out a form and send that form to the BCA where the information is then entered again into our system by BCA staff. If granted the money, the BCA will continue efforts to develop the Online Registration functionality bringing Minnesota as close to substantial compliance with SORNA requirements “IV. Required Registration Information” and “VIII. Keeping the Registration Current”, within the constraints of Minnesota law.