Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act

Pub. L. No. 106-386
42 U.S.C. § 14071j and 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f)(1)(I)

This law amends Section 170101 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act requires sex offenders, who must register under state law, to provide notice of enrollment or employment at any institution of higher education (IHE) in that state where the offender resides, as well as notice of each change of enrollment or employment status at the IHE. In turn, this information will be made available by the state authorities to the local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction where the IHE is located. The IHE is not required to request this data from the state, but the IHE must issue a statement (see the reporting requirement in 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f)(1)(I)) advising the campus community as to where information concerning registered sex offenders can be obtained. The statutory language added to the list of information required to be disseminated pursuant to the program participation agreements reads as follows:

“A statement advising the campus community where law enforcement agency information provided by a State concerning registered sex offenders may be obtained, such as the law enforcement office of the institution, a local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction for the campus, or a computer network address.” 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f)(1)(I))

This law was signed on October 28, 2000, and became effective on October 28, 2002. Notification may be accomplished by adding the statement to the Annual Security Report required by the Campus Security Act of 1990. Proposed guidelines published by the Department of Justice on March 8, 2002 at 67 FR 10758 on this law mainly address coordination at the state level

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is amended to make it clear that FERPA does not prohibit release of data on registered sex offenders under this law. Proposed guidelines on this amendment will be published by the Family Policy Compliance Office.