Kratovil Praises State Lawmakers

Kratovil Praises State Lawmakers for Protecting Maryland’s Children by Making Sexual Predators a Top Legislative Priority

Will continue to work closely with them on the federal level until fully compliant with the Adam Walsh Act

Washington, DC – Rep. Frank Kratovil praised Maryland State lawmakers for announcing a series of legislative initiatives targeted at protecting Maryland families from sexual predators and strict enforcement of sex offender laws, including lifetime supervision for certain sex offenses.

“I applaud these efforts to make Maryland’s children safer by making implementation of federal sex offender standards a top priority. I will continue to offer my full support and the resources of my office to help Maryland meet these federal standards in the fight against child predators,” said Rep. Kratovil.

On January 13th Kratovil sent a letter to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and General Assembly leaders urging legislative action and offering his assistance to bring Maryland’s sex offender registration and notification laws into compliance with revised federal standards. Kratovil’s letter asked the leaders to make implementation of the revised federal sex offender registry standards a top priority for the new legislative session, and offered to work closely with state leaders in the effort to meet these federal standards. Click here to view a copy of the letter.

Senate President Mike Miller has since announced a bill to expand information contained on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry about the offender and require links and information contained on other states’ registries to connect to the Maryland site. Miller noted that many of the Bill’s requirements would ensure compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act. Governor O’Malley also announced a number of related legislative initiatives today, including a plan to reconstitute the Sexual Offender Advisory Board. O’Malley has asked former Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran to serve as Chair.

“This is an issue on which state and federal lawmakers must work together to ensure that our law enforcement officers have the tools and resources necessary to keep dangerous predators away from our children and Maryland families have access to the tools that will make them more aware of sexual predators in their communities,” said Kratovil. “As a father, a former prosecutor, and now a Member of Congress, I’m proud to partner with leaders in Annapolis in this fight.”