Sponsors (5)
The bill directs covered sex offenders away from most local shelters by providing designated federal facilities (including Federal buildings or prisons) and informational routing for shelter operators, improving clarity for officials but restricting registrants' access to emergency services and creating criminal penalties and operational burdens for local shelters.
Covered sex offenders: FEMA can designate Federal buildings or prisons as official shelters during disasters, creating a clear housing option for registrants when local shelters are not available or permitted to serve them.
Local shelter operators: operators of undesignated shelters receive information about designated shelters, helping them direct registrants to appropriate locations instead of turning people away without guidance.
People in need of emergency housing (including Medicaid beneficiaries and other vulnerable registrants): prohibiting registrants from most shelters may limit their access to emergency shelter and essential services during disasters.
Covered sex offenders: criminal penalties of up to 5 years for entering non-designated shelters increase the risk of incarceration for registrants who seek shelter during disasters.
Local governments and shelter operators: new notification and information duties impose administrative burdens on resource-strained local shelters during disasters.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars federally registered sex offenders from entering nondesignated emergency shelters (except to seek information), requires notification and creates federal criminal penalties, and lets FEMA designate federal facilities as shelters during disasters.
Introduced February 11, 2025 by Nancy Mace · Last progress February 11, 2025
Prohibits people who are required to register as sex offenders under federal law from entering or using emergency shelters that are not specifically designated for use by such registrants, except to ask where designated shelters are located. It requires a registrant who enters an undesignated shelter to immediately notify the shelter operator of their registry status, requires shelter operators who are notified to inform the person about the prohibition and location of designated shelters, and creates a federal criminal penalty for knowingly failing to comply. Also directs FEMA to be able to designate federal buildings or federal prisons as shelters during Stafford Act disasters based on lists GSA and the Bureau of Prisons must provide, requires those agencies to supply lists within 180 days and ongoing, and requires FEMA to share designation information with operators of undesignated shelters. The main prohibition and agency reporting deadlines take effect 180 days after enactment; no new funding is specified.