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Five years ago this week, President George W. Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act with the intention of making it the law of the land for keeping tabs on sex offenders.
This week also marks a key deadline for states, tribes and U.S. territories to meet the act's requirements or face a 10% cut in federal justice assistance funding.
As of July 27, 2011, 14 states, nine tribes and the territory of Guam had "substantially implemented" what's known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, provisions of the Adam Walsh Act.
According to Susan Frederick, Federal Affairs Counsel for the National Conference of State Legislatures, 48 states have enacted nearly 350 laws related monitoring sex offenders.
Fredrick also said, ".... any time you're going to be collecting and cataloging information on more people more often, that comes at a high cost. The question is whether it's worth it."
Many states don't want to change their laws; others believe the legislation's cost outweighs its predicted benefits, she said. Texas has put the estimated federal funding cuts at $1.4 million, compared to a cost of $38.7 million.
Read more to see how the law has fared in practice.
