A research project included an analysis of Federal law on sex offender registration and notification; case studies of Alaska, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Washington; registration laws in the four States; and an analysis of issues that policymakers and legislators may experience in the future. Results revealed that many of the State and local officials interviewed expressed the need for evaluations of existing sex offender notification systems. Findings indicated that researchers and State policymakers may want to consider several issues when designing such evaluations. These issues include the costs of implementing these laws, whether explicit mandates such as those in New Jersey or flexible guidelines such as those in Washington more effectively achieve the goals of community notification, and what policymakers and legislators should consider when creating or amending notification programs. Additional issues include the impact of the laws on recidivism, the impacts on arrest and conviction rates, rates of compliance with registration and notification, and the impacts on compliance of active systems such as that in Louisiana or more passive systems such as that in Alaska. Further issues to consider include the impact of laws on offenders' rights and the trends in vigilante crimes against offenders. Footnotes, appended lists and descriptions of web sites, lists of laws, and 16 references