Local courts uphold new sex offender registration requirements

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A new state law realigning the sex offender classification scheme is constitutional, the Third District Court of Appeals and Logan County Common Pleas Judge Mark S. O’Connor said in separate recent rulings.

The appeals court weighed in first with a ruling three weeks ago that originated in Allen County and Judge O’Connor followed suit by issuing a ruling based on the same premises the higher court applied in that case.

The cases stem from a change in Ohio law last summer that retroactively requires convicted sex offenders to register for longer periods of time and moved many offenders from the lowest registration levels to higher levels. The new law was inspired by the federal Adam Walsh Act, which was intended to offer guidelines for sex offender classification and create uniformity across state lines.

Thousands of sex offenders statewide, including 33 in Logan County, filed appeals in common pleas courts after the law went into effect at the beginning of the year.

The legal argument hinges on whether the duty for sex offenders to register their addresses is intended as a criminal punishment or as a civil requirement to protect the safety of the public.

The appeals court relied heavily on an Ohio Supreme Court ruling when the original sex offender law, known as Megan’s Law, took effect in 1996. The Supreme Court ruled in that case that the requirement to register was civil and making people previously convicted of sex offenses register under the new law did not violate their constitutional rights.

“The analysis all hinges on whether sex offender labeling is a punitive or a civil matter,” Assistant Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart said. “If it is punitive, then the Legislature may have overstepped its boundaries. If it is a civil restriction, then the Legislature can do whatever it wants.”

Judge O’Connor reiterated many of the points as the appeals court in his ruling, which was an appeal filed by Joshua Giles. The findings, however, likely will be applied to any other sex offenders who have not spelled out clear errors in their reclassifications or specific reasons their situations warrant further consideration.

Defense attorney Marc S. Triplett, who represents Mr. Giles and others who filed appeals, did not return a call seeking comment.

Around the state, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge has found the state law to be unconstitutional, but at least one other appeals court — the Second District — and Clermont County Common Pleas Court have ruled in line with the Third District.

The Ohio Supreme Court will have the final say on whether the law and its retroactive registration requirement is constitutional.

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