Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Oct 12, 1993
Child Protection Act of 1993 - Requires each State to: (1) establish and maintain a program requiring persons convicted of a sex offense against a child victim to register a current address and other information deemed relevant by the Attorney General with a designated State law enforcement agency for 20 years after being released from prison or otherwise being freed from detention after the conviction becomes final; and (2) permit members of the public to inquire whether any registered offenders live in their vicinity and whether a named individual is so registered. Directs the Attorney General to establish guidelines for State registration programs, which shall include: (1) a requirement that the State obtain the fingerprints, physical description, and current photographs of each registered person; (2) annual updating of the registry information by each registered person; (3) criminal penalties for failing to comply with the registration requirements; and (4) a toll-free telephone number through which residents of the State may make inquiries. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) State reporting requirements (and requires the Attorney General to publish an annual summary of convictions for sex offenses involving children, based on reported information); and (2) sanctions for noncompliance by a State. Requires: (1) a State to permit qualified entities to obtain from an authorized State agency a nationwide background check for the purpose of determining whether there is a report that a provider has been convicted of a background check crime; and (2) the Attorney General to provide to authorized State agencies information possessed by the Department of Justice that would enable the agency to make a background check (but assuring the currency and accuracy of the information and that the States maintain procedures to permit providers to check and correct information relating to them).
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 26, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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