New offenders may avoid registry rules

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court has delivered a major setback to efforts by legislators in the first state that sought to apply tough new sex offender notification requirements laid out in the federal Adam Walsh Act.

Lawmakers had intended to require all newly convicted sex offenders in the most severe category to register with authorities every 90 days for the rest of their lives, but the high court found that the law's language conflicts with that intention.

In a unanimous decision Thursday, the court ruled that sex offenders in that category who were notified of their status after Jan. 1, 2008, can avoid the new community reporting requirements under exceptions found in Ohio's old law.

Ohio was the first state to put substantially in place the sex offender registration and notification system required by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. In June, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. gave states and American Indian tribes another year to meet the requirements after complaints about the cost and work involved in implementation.

In the Ohio high court's majority opinion, Justice Robert Cupp agreed with lower courts that the wording of the law was clear in allowing the exceptions to community reporting to continue to apply.

The case involved Stephen McConville, who pleaded guilty in Lorain County in July 2008 to rape and gross sexual imposition. After a hearing, a trial court decided he was unlikely to commit future sexually oriented offenses and could therefore be exempted from ongoing community notification requirements.

The 9th District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's decision that McConville was eligible for the exemption even though he'd been classified as a Tier III sex offender after Jan. 1, 2008.

A legislative analysis of the Senate bill that contained the change advised lawmakers at the time that it "automatically replaces the period of time for which the offender or delinquent child had a duty to register prior to January 1, 2008."

But Cupp noted that the Ohio law, enacted in June 2007, was written in the present tense when discussing procedures for determining whether sex offenders might be exempted from reporting requirements.

"In contrast to the state's position, the language of the statute does not indicate that it applies only to those sexual offenders whose status had been previously determined under the provisions of the former (law)," he wrote. "As a result, we decline to interpret the statute when no interpretation is required."

Messages seeking comment were left with attorneys for McConville and the Lorain County prosecutor.

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