H.R. 1205 — Safe Shelters Act of 2025

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Safe Shelters Act of 2025.”

This section establishes restrictions on the use of emergency shelters by covered sex offenders, defined as individuals required to register on the National Sex Offender Registry under 34 U.S.C. § 20913. It prohibits a covered sex offender from entering or using an undesignated shelter, except to seek information on designated shelters, and requires immediate notice to shelter operators upon entry into an undesignated shelter. Upon receiving that notice, the shelter operator must inform the individual of any designated shelter and of the prohibition on using undesignated shelters. A knowing violation of the prohibition or notice requirement, in or affecting interstate commerce, is punishable by a fine under title 18, imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both. The subsection takes effect 180 days after enactment. This section also authorizes the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to designate, as necessary, a Federal building or Federal prison as a designated shelter for the duration of a disaster declared under section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). As background, emergency shelters are facilities operated by FEMA or State or local governments in response to a disaster, and designated shelters are limited to use by covered sex offenders only. Not later than 180 days after enactment, and on an ongoing basis thereafter, the Administrator of the General Services Administration and the Director of the Bureau of Prisons must each provide FEMA with a list of available Federal buildings or Federal prisons that FEMA may designate. FEMA must also provide operators of undesignated shelters with information on each designated shelter.