National Sex Offender Public Registry Check Office on Volunteerism and Community Service

 This presentation will detail:  What a National Sex Offender Public Registry check is  Step-by-step walkthrough of conducting a check, reviewing it, and documenting it in the files  When you conduct an NSOPR check  Why you conduct the check

What is an NSOPR check?  A name search, conducted at the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender public website ( )  Identifies registered sex offenders  NSOPW is a public resource that searches the public sex offender registries from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the five principal U.S. territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes.

How do I conduct a compliant NSOPR check? Go to

Enter Exact First and Last Name of Member/Staff

Print out the Results Directly from the website MAKE SURE a date is visible on the page First, hit Print View

After results window opens, find “print preview”

Check document before printing MAKE SURE there is a visible date stamp on the document!! If so, print.

Now you have a document to review Results show 0 (no) records for this individual. Verify that name was entered properly. Take the printed and reviewed document and place in the applicant/members file

Let’s run one more search…

Note that the results look different for this name

Use the links to find photos and additional information on the results

Use same process to get “print view”, and then “print preview”, and then print

On your printout, document whether the returned info is the applicant/member or not Using info from the link, write down what was used to determine if this is the applicant/member Sign the printout Make sure there is a date stamp on it

If the results from the check can be cleared (as in example before)…..  File the document in applicant/member file  Continue on to the next part of the background check  If the results that came back are actually the applicant/member……  Automatically ineligible, cannot serve

Key Points to Remember  Be sure that the name is entered correctly  Print out the results of the check WITH a date stamp  The NSOPR check must be conducted prior to enrollment. If there is no date stamp, there is no way to prove it was done prior to enrollment. Hours may be disallowed, causing repayment by the organization of stipends, and liability for the member education awards.  If you have trouble getting a printed date stamp from the site, the document to yourself as a record.

Key Points continued….  Sign and explain method of clearing any results that come back on the check  Because the NSOPW site receives info from all State databases, there will occasionally be a database that isn’t linked to the site  When you run the search, you will see a message, such as “Virginia SOR is unavailable”. This means that info from New Jersey is not being checked.  One option is to print this check, and come back on another day for a new check when the unavailable site is linked  Another option is to go directly to the State Sex Offender Registry for the unavailable State, and try a Search there  Main Point---Have a Check that Includes All States!!!

Key Points Cont….  Conduct an NSOPR check for all members/staff EVERY Year!  This is the one part of the check that returning members and staff still have to have, regardless  This check does not automatically mean the person has no sex offender history  May not have reported. That is why other (State/FBI) check is crucial as well  There is no “too early” for this check  You can run this as soon as you come in contact with a member/applicant

Questions?  Review the OVCS 4-Part Background Check Document  Contact your OVCS Program Officer