Presents information on the status of sex offender registries in the 50 States and the District of Columbia as they operated in April 1998, prior to the award of any Federal funds distributed under the National Sex Offender Registry Assistance Program (NSOR-AP) administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Information is presented on the size and coverage of the registries; their level of automation and capability to receive, store, and transmit not only text but also digital fingerprints and photos; their operation, sources for information, and verification or reregistration procedures; and their procedures for disseminating information to criminal justice agencies, to schools and youth-serving organizations, and to the general public, including their use of the Internet. Each jurisdiction's plans for the use of NSOR-AP funds in these areas are noted in the report.
The "Dissemination of Sex Offender Registry Data" section of this report has been updated and is included in Summary of State Sex Offender Registry Dissemination Procedures: Update 1999.