Most Americans believe the sex offender registry tells them exactly what potential threats live in their neighborhood. Parents use it before buying a home, choosing a school, or letting their children play outside, trusting that it provides a complete picture of potential danger.

It doesn’t.

In many states, offenders convicted of sexual crimes too often do not show up on the public registry at all. Others are classified as “low risk” despite crimes involving children. Whether your family receives transparent and accurate information depends on the state you call home.

Today, roughly 800,000 individuals appear on public sex offender registries across the United States. The true number is far higher. That 800,000 figure does not represent every convicted sex offender, as in many states individuals convicted of sexual crimes, including those against children, can avoid public registration.

Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006 after the horrific abduction and murder of six-year-old Adam Walsh. The law’s first section established the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), which created a nationwide minimum set of standards for sex offender registration and public notification. The goal was simple: ensure communities across America had consistent, reliable information about the convicted sexual offenders living near their homes.

Yet 20 years later, that promise of protection remains unfulfilled.

Only 18 states have substantially implemented SORNA’s federal requirements. Fewer than half of the 50 states meet the minimum standards to be considered compliant. 

Much of the problem stems from states replacing SORNA’s intent to provide clear, straightforward offense-based information with subjective risk assessment systems. Fifteen states currently use individualized assessments to determine the offender’s registration terms and/or community notification requirements. In many cases, offenders deemed “low risk” are excluded from public notification and public registration altogether, even when their crimes are serious and disturbing.

Arizona and New Jersey illustrate just how far some states have drifted from SORNA’s original purpose:

Arizona utilizes a point based risk assessment, offenders receive no additional points toward their risk score if their victim was a family member or a female — even though 82 percent of underage and 90 percent of adult rape victims are female. This “zero” score defies common sense. Why would the most commonly victimized group of people, women, and family members of offenders be considered the lowest risk? Arizona has not updated its risk assessment since before SORNA took effect. 

New Jersey’s also uses a point based risk assessment, their classifications are equally ridiculous. Offenders may be considered “low risk” if they fondle a child over their clothes or show them graphic pornography. Yes, you read that right! These are crimes against children, yet New Jersey’s judicial system can classify them as low risk. As a result, these awful offenses are not enough to trigger the public registration and notification requirements many Americans assume already exist.

Thankfully, some states approach public safety with more common sense. 

States like Alabama show that stronger, offense-based systems are not only necessary, but possible. Alabama fully complies with SORNA, and it classifies offenders according to the crimes they committed rather than speculative risk assessments.

The stakes could not be higher when you consider that roughly 75 percent of sexual violence cases are resolved through plea deals which involve reduced charges. In states that have weaker registration standards, those reduced charges mean an offender may never appear on the public registry at all. Too many families are flying blind.

American families deserve far better than a patchwork system that changes every time they move or travel across a state line. The public sex offender registry was intended to protect the public and should not depend on subjective formulas or inconsistent state policies. It should provide clear, accurate, and reliable information across all fifty states, so families can make informed decisions about their safety.

For nearly 20 years, Americans have been led to believe the nation’s sex offender registry operates as a uniform system. It does not. Now, two decades after SORNA passed into law, communities still receive vastly different levels of protection depending solely on whether their state has decided to comply with SORNA regulations. 

SORNA was intended to create a uniform, national standard. It’s time for every state to fulfill their obligation to their citizens by fully implementing that standard. That way, the public registry can finally do what Americans already believe it does: give families the accurate information they need to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Kayleigh Kozak serves as senior manager for the America Combats Child Exploitation Initiative at the America First Policy Institute.