SMART FY25 Maintenance and Operation of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website | O SMART 2025 172309

Opportunity Information: Apply for O SMART 2025 172309

The SMART FY25 Maintenance and Operation of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website opportunity is a discretionary federal funding opportunity administered by the U.S. Department of Justice SMART Office (Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking). It is offered as a cooperative agreement, meaning the federal government expects substantial involvement in the work as it is carried out. The overall goal is to fund the ongoing operation, maintenance, and improvement of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) and several connected systems that support nationwide sex offender registration, public search functionality, and required jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction information sharing under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

At its core, NSOPW serves as a nationwide search tool that connects users to public sex offender registry information maintained by participating jurisdictions. Rather than storing all data in one central database, NSOPW functions more like a search engine: it uses web services to pull information directly from each state, territory, tribal, or other participating registry. This design allows the public to run a single search across the country instead of checking registries one at a time. The scale of use is a major driver of why this funding exists: NSOPW has reportedly handled more than 735 million searches and over 2 billion page views since it began, reflecting consistent public reliance on the platform. The SMART Office has supported NSOPW since 2005, took over management responsibility in FY 2008 because the system closely aligns with SMARTs mission, and Congress has continued to appropriate funds specifically for NSOPW since 2008.

The scope of participation is already broad and is treated as essential to the systems value. The opportunity description notes participation by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, major U.S. territories (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and 151 federally recognized Tribes. Because SORNA requires jurisdiction participation, the award is not just about keeping a public-facing website online; it is also about ensuring the underlying technical integrations remain stable, accurate, secure, and responsive as jurisdictions update their own systems over time.

In addition to the main NSOPW site, the award covers continued support for the NSOPW mobile application on both Android and iOS. The mobile app, launched in 2016, extends the same nationwide search capability to mobile users and has already been used for more than 11 million searches. The funded work includes monitoring, maintenance, and updates to these mobile apps, along with upkeep of the NSOPW social media presence, which is often used to push public-facing updates and awareness materials.

A major component of the grant is also focused on the SORNA Exchange Portal, a secure platform designed for registry officials and relevant federal partners to communicate and coordinate. Unlike NSOPW, which is public-facing, the Exchange Portal is an information-sharing and collaboration environment intended to streamline operational coordination among jurisdictions and federal agencies. This reflects the practical reality that sex offender registry work is multi-jurisdictional and requires consistent, secure channels for updates, questions, and problem-solving that go beyond what a public website can provide.

The cooperative agreement further supports two key technology tools intended to help jurisdictions run registries efficiently and participate in NSOPW: the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System (TTSORS) and the Sex Offender Registry Tool (SORT). TTSORS is a web-based registry system offered at no cost to U.S. territories and Indian Tribes that choose to implement SORNA. It functions as both the administrative registry management system and the public-facing registry website for those jurisdictions, which in turn enables their participation in NSOPW. A central emphasis here is reducing barriers for smaller or resource-limited jurisdictions by providing a working registry platform rather than requiring each jurisdiction to build and maintain its own system from scratch.

TTSORS is also tied closely to law enforcement data-sharing through integration with the FBIs National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR). For Tribes participating in DOJs Tribal Access Program (TAP), TTSORS can automatically transmit registry information to NSOR and keep the two systems synchronized. The funded work includes development and enhancement of the TTSORS-NSOR interconnection tool, with the stated aim of enabling more than 100 tribal registry databases to connect directly to NSOR. The practical outcome DOJ highlights is better accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of tribal data available to law enforcement nationwide, which is a persistent challenge when systems are fragmented or updated inconsistently.

SORT is described as a parallel option for states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Like TTSORS, it provides a free, customizable administrative registry system and a public registry website. The intent is to strengthen information sharing and improve cost effectiveness, both during initial setup and in ongoing operations. In other words, the grant is not only sustaining NSOPW itself, but also supporting the ecosystem of tools that make it easier for jurisdictions to maintain compatible, reliable registry operations that can plug into NSOPW and related federal systems.

Training and resource development are built into the funded activities as well. The award supports training for each of these technology tools (NSOPW-related tools, the Exchange Portal, TTSORS, and SORT) and the creation or updating of supporting materials that jurisdictions can use. This matters because even strong technical platforms fail if registry officials do not have clear guidance, onboarding support, and ongoing technical assistance as staff change and requirements evolve.

From an applicant and funding standpoint, this opportunity is numbered O-SMART-2025-172309, falls under CFDA 16.750, and is categorized under Law, Justice and Legal Services. The award has an expected ceiling of $1,000,000, with one anticipated award. Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (excluding institutions of higher education), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses that meet SBA size standards, along with other eligible entities as listed in the official notice. The original closing date is February 24, 2025. The solicitation also flags that applicants should closely follow the Application Contents, Submission Requirements, and the Budget Detail Form instructions, especially for allowable and unallowable costs, since the project blends software operations, cybersecurity-sensitive information sharing, multi-jurisdictional integrations, mobile app maintenance, and training deliverables that often have specific federal cost and procurement rules.

• The SMART in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "SMART FY25 Maintenance and Operation of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.750.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for O SMART 2025 172309

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