U. S. Department of Justice
United States Marshals Service
Office of the Director

Washington, DC 20530-1000
November 21, 2008

MEMORANDUM TO:	Michael Gulledge, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections
FROM:	John F. Clark (signature) Director
SUBJECT:	Review of the Department of Justice's Implementation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act Report Number A-2008-003

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft audit report on your review of the Department of Justice’s Implementation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. We have reviewed the recommendation pertaining to the United States Marsha s Service (USMS) in the report, and our comments are attached.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this response, please contact Isabel Howell, Audit Liaison, at 202-307-9744.

Attachment

USMS Response to Draft Audit Report on the
Review of the Department of Justice's Implementation of the
Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

Recommendation #3:

The USMS should obtain [National Sex Offender Registry] NSOR and the NCIC Wanted Person File Data downloads from the FBI and use that information to manage and conduct fugitive sex offender investigations.

Response: (Agree.) The USMS has initiated the process of acquiring data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On November 3, 2008, a letter of request (copy attached) was sent to the FBI. The data requested from the FBI includes records from the National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) and the Wanted Persons File. The data will be used to identify for investigation suspected fugitive sex offenders as well as sex offenders who may be out of compliance with sex offender registration requirements.

Complete details of this specific information sharing process have yet to be worked out. A memorandum of understanding will be required between the USMS and the FBI specifying the terms and conditions for the sharing of these records. The USMS Office of General Counsel has advised that a slight modification to the USMS Warrant Information Network system notice is recommended to specify the inclusion of the sex offender records and the purpose for their use. A certain amount of software engineering will need to be accomplished both at the FBI and at the USMS, and perhaps at the Department of Justice, which currently serves as the handler of data between the USMS and the FBI.

The USMS has identified tools that may be used to conduct the analyses of the data in conjunction with other data. Additional licenses for these tools, application assistance and data storage facilities will need to be purchased to support this effort.

Having just begun the process, a completion date can only be roughly estimated at this time. Preliminary discussions with the FBI indicate that they share data with other agencies in much the same manner as anticipated for this project. Therefore, some of the infrastructure is already in place to transfer the data. The USMS is committed to the implementation of SORNA and this data project is a high priority. Our current estimate for having an established method to receive and use the data from the FBI in support of sex offender investigations is mid-2009, or before. This estimate is subject to change as conditions or factors outside our control may affect our progress.

U. S. Department of Justice
United States Marshals Service
Investigative Operations Division

Washington, D.C. 20530
November 3, 2008

Ms. Kimberly K. Smith
Unit Chief Module B3
Criminal Information and Transition Unit
Criminal Justice Information Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306

Dear Chief Smith:

The United States Marshals Service (USMS) requests that the FBI, Criminal Justice Information Services Division, authorize and assist in establishing a mirror database, updated in real time, of the National Sex Offender Register (NSOR) and the NCIC Wanted Person File-to include the historical database of cleared and expired records. The data base will be housed at USMS headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, in support of USMS investigative operations.

The mirror data base will be used by the USMS and partner agencies to carry out their duties in accordance with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, the Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000, and Title 28 U.S.C 566. The data base will be used for law enforcement purposes associated with criminal investigations to include the identification, location, apprehension, and/or investigation to prosecute non-compliant sex offenders as well as the identification and location of sex offenders relocated as a result of a major disaster.

If approved, planned applications include the following:

• To interface with the USMS Warrant Information Network/Justice Detainee Information System (WIN/JDIS), and/or successor systems to enable users of these systems to routinely access NSOR and wanted person information for law enforcement purposes, including de-confliction.
• To generate alerts to USMS and concerned federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies when sex offenders are identified as non-compliant.
• To support other analytical and investigative purposes, including the generation of investigative leads through data matching, data analyses, and other means.
• To share with federal, state, local law enforcement agencies, as appropriate.

Ms. Debra Jenkins, Chief, Criminal Information Branch, is our primary point of contact on this project. She can be reached at 202-307-9109 or email debra.jenkins@usdoj.gov.

The USMS looks forward to working with your agency to establish this important database. We expect that the purposes for which we intend to use the data will help assist us in criminal investigations as well as target and apprehend sex offenders before they commit new crimes.

Sincerely,

(Signature)

T. MICHAEL EARP
Assistant Director