The mississippi department of public safety will use AWA grant funds to enhance implementation of and continued compliance with sorna, through technological advancement by deploying MS SOR sync

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety (MDPS) was awarded a $296,250 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs' Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program (CFDA 16.750). The grant will be used to enhance the state's implementation of and compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) through technological advancements. Key activities include procuring a web-based sex offender registration system, implementing a records management system, providing training for law enforcement and criminal justice personnel, and purchasing equipment such as a fingerprint card scanner. The project period is 3 years, running from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2026. The goal is to improve information sharing, data reporting, and sex offender management capabilities across Mississippi's criminal justice agencies.

To support this effort, the department will procure a web-based registration system that will enhance law enforcement and other criminal justice agency information sharing within and between jurisdictions, implement a records management project, provide processes and procedures to report grantee data and provide quarterly user group input by reviewing performance measure data. The state will also use the funds to conduct a statewide training symposium for all mississippi sheriffs offices and other criminal justice agency personnel responsible for SEX offender management, including investigation of failure to register cases. Additionally, the funds will support the procurement of equipment and a fingerprint card scanner, which will allow the department to submit hard copy fingerprints to ncic sent by local sheriffs offices as part of the initial registration.