UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
IN RE: DISCLOSURE OF PSI TO :
MEGAN’S LAW TIERING AGENCY :
IN SEX OFFENDER CASES : STANDING ODER 2024-01
SUBJECT TO SORNA :
WHEREAS, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42
U.S.C. § 16901 et seq., defines what constitutes a sex offense and establishes a
system of “tiers” that corresponds to the severity of a sex offender’s sex offense; and
WHEREAS, SORNA defines a sex offender as an individual “convicted of a
sex offense,” 42 U.S.C. § 16911(1), defines the term “sex offense,” 42 U.S.C. §§
16911(5), (7), & (8), and requires sex offenders to register and keep their
registrations current in jurisdictions where they reside, work, and are a student, 42
U.S.C. § 16913; and
WHEREAS, SORNA includes three tiers—tier I, tier II, and tier III—and a
sex offender’s tier depends on the severity of his prior sex offense conviction. See 42
U.S.C. §§ 16911(2)-(4); and
WHEREAS, in the State of New Jersey, the County Prosecutors are
responsible for determining the level of risk of re-offense and place the offender in a
"tier" based upon that determination, N.J.S.A. 2C:7-8, and are also charged with
determining the scope of community notification, subject to judicial review in
accordance with the procedures established by the Supreme Court of New Jersey
N.J.S.A. 2C:7-6 et seq.; and
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WHEREAS, each New Jersey County Prosecutor's Office has a separate
Megan's Law file for each registrant in which all information and documentation
relied upon to reach the tier determination is kept; and, according to New Jersey
law, for discovery purposes, this file is provided to a registrant’s counsel or to a pro
se offender and shall be made available after receipt of the application for judicial
review; and
WHEREAS, records maintained pursuant to Megan’s Law shall be open to
any law enforcement agency in New Jersey or any other state. N.J.S.A. 2C:7-5a; and
WHEREAS, in order to comply with the above-described requirements of
SORNA, involving tiering and discovery purposes, the New Jersey County
Prosecutors, as well as out-of-state law enforcement agencies, require relevant
information contained in Presentence Investigation Reports (PSI) prepared by
United States District Court, District of New Jersey, Probation Office; and
WHEREAS, disclosure of a PSI must be authorized by the United States
District Court;
NOW, THEREFORE, based upon all of the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED, effective immediately, that as a matter of course, a PSI may be
provided to any relevant law enforcement agency, including any New Jersey State
County Prosecutor’s Office, for use in the sex offender tiering classification process
under SORNA; and
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the law enforcement agency may only
further disclose a PSI to a Court, the defendant and/or defense counsel, if the
defendant challenges the law enforcement agency’s determination of the defendant’s
tier classification.
_____________________________________
Hon. Renée Marie Bumb
Chief United States District Judge
Date:
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