97-158

 No. 97-158

 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

1997

STATE OF MONTANA, 

 Plaintiff and Respondent, 

 v.

CHARLES SCOTT WHITMER, 

 Defendant and Appellant. 

APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, 

 In and for the County of Missoula,

 Honorable Ed McLean, Judge Presiding.

COUNSEL OF RECORD:

 For Appellant:

 Mark McLaverty, Public Defenderþs Office, Missoula, Montana

 For Respondent:

 Honorable Joseph P. Mazurek, Attorney General; Chris D. Tweeten,

 Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana

 Robert L. Deschamps, III, County Attorney, Missoula, Montana

 Submitted on Briefs: August 28, 1997 

 Decided: October 10, 1997

Filed:

 __________________________________________

 Clerk

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Chief Justice J. A. Turnage delivered the Opinion of the Court. 

 The Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, found Charles Scott Whitmer

guilty of failing to register as a violent offender. Whitmer appeals. We reverse 

and

remand. 

 We restate the issue raised on appeal as follows:

 Did the Montana Legislature intend the 1995 amendments to 46-23-504, MCA

(1989), which extended the registration requirement to violent offenders, to apply

retroactively to those individuals convicted of violent offenses before October 1, 

1995?

BACKGROUND

 Prior to July 1993, Whitmer received a suspended sentence for felony assault. 

Whitmer violated conditions of the suspended sentence, and following a revocation

hearing held on July 13, 1993, he was remanded to the custody of the Montana

Department of Corrections. When Whitmer completed his sentence on January 29, 1996,

prison officials notified him, pursuant to 46-23-503, MCA (1995), of his 

obligation to

register as a violent offender according to 46-23-504, MCA (1995). Whitmer did not

register. 

 On May 10, 1996, the State of Montana filed an information charging Whitmer

with failure to register as a violent offender in violation of 46-23-507, MCA 

(1995). 

Whitmer pleaded not guilty. He moved to dismiss the charge, claiming the 

registration

requirement was retroactive and the State had failed to notify him of his duty to 

report,

a condition precedent of 46-23-507, MCA (1995). The District Court denied

Whitmerþs motion to dismiss. 

 Whitmer withdrew his not guilty plea and entered a plea of guilty to the Stateþs

charge while also reserving the right to appeal from the courtþs denial of his 

motion to

dismiss. Whitmer was convicted of failure to register as a violent offender and 

received

a five-year suspended sentence subject to certain conditions. This appeal 

followed. 

DISCUSSION

 Did the Montana Legislature intend the 1995 amendments to 46-23-504, MCA

(1989), which extended the registration requirement to violent offenders, to apply

retroactively to those individuals convicted of violent offenses before October 1, 

1995?

 The District Court denied Whitmerþs motion to dismiss, concluding that the

þstatutory provisions at 46-23-501 et seq requiring the Defendant to register as a 

violent

offender upon release from prison is not ex post facto in nature, but rather is a 

reasonable

regulatory measure.þ For the reasons discussed below, we conclude it was unnecessary

for the court to reach this conclusion because the Legislature did not intend the 

1995

amendments to 46-23-504, MCA (1989), to apply retroactively.

 Section 46-23-504, MCA (1995), requires a person convicted of a violent offense

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as defined at 46-23-502(4), MCA (1995), upon release from prison, to register with

local law enforcement officials and to provide them with information regarding the

personþs planned residence. This requirement arose from amendments adopted as part

of 1995 Mont. Laws, ch. 407, which became effective on October 1, 1995.

 Prior to the effective date of Chapter 407, sexual offenders were required to

register with local law enforcement. See 46-23-504, MCA (1989). Whitmer was

convicted of felony assault, which is a violent offense under 46-23-502(4), MCA

(1995), but not a sexual offense according to 46-23-502(3), MCA (1989). Therefore,

Whitmer had no obligation to register as a violent offender under the statutes in 

effect at

the time he was convicted of felony assault. That obligation, if it existed, arose 

from the

1995 amendments to Chapter 407.

 Section 1-2-109, MCA, provides: þNo law contained in any of the statutes of

Montana is retroactive unless expressly so declared.þ In 1989, the Legislature 

enacted

statutes which require sex offenders, upon release from custody, to register with 

local law

enforcement. As discussed above, these provisions did not apply to Whitmer because 

his

offense, felony assault, was not included within the class of sex offenses which 

triggered

the registration requirement. 

 In 1995, the Legislature enacted Chapter 407, which added individuals convicted

of a þviolent offenseþ to those required to register. Chapter 407 was proposed as 

House

Bill 214, which included an applicability clause providing:

Section 15. Retroactive applicability. [This act] applies retroactively,

within the meaning of 1-2-109, to persons convicted of a sexual or violent

offense before [the effective date of this act], as well as to persons

convicted of a sexual or violent offense after [the effective date of this act],

regardless of the date of the crime.

 During the hearing before the House Committee on the Judiciary, a representative

of the American Civil Liberties Union testified against HB 214 because he believed 

the

retroactivity clause violated the ban against ex post facto legislation. The 

sponsor of HB

214 proposed an amendment deleting the retroactivity clause. The amendment passed 

the

Committee.

 A law is presumed to have prospective application and can be applied retroactively

only if the intent to do so is expressly stated. Section 1-2-109, MCA. For 

purposes of

 1-2-109, MCA, a law is retroactive if it þtakes away or impairs vested rights, 

acquired

under existing laws, or creates a new obligation, imposes a new duty or attaches a 

new

disability, in respect to transactions already past[.]þ Butte & Superior Mining 

Co. v.

McIntyre (1924), 71 Mont. 254, 263, 229 P. 730, 733. 

 We conclude that the Legislature did not intend to apply Chapter 407, which

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extended the registration requirement to violent offenders, to those individuals 

convicted

of violent offenses before October 1, 1995. Therefore, Whitmer had no obligation to

register with Missoula law enforcement officials after he was released from prison. 

The

District Court erred when it denied Whitmerþs motion to dismiss. 

 Whitmer contends that the application of the violent offender registration

requirement to him based on statutory amendments adopted after he was sentenced

violates the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto legislation. We need 

not

address this issue because, as the legislative history of Chapter 407 demonstrates, 

the

Legislature did not intend to apply Chapter 407 to those individuals convicted of 

violent

offenses before the law became effective on October 1, 1995.

 The State of Montana as respondent in this case agrees that the registration

requirement of 46-23-504, MCA (1995), does not apply to persons who committed

violent offenses prior to October 1, 1995.

 This Court takes judicial notice that as part of 1997 Mont. Laws, ch. 375, the

Legislature amended 46-23-501 through -508, MCA (1995). The 1997 amendments

contain a retroactive applicability clause similar to the one deleted from HB 214. 

The

1997 amendments become effective on October 1, 1997, and are not in this case before

the Court.

 Reversed and remanded with instructions consistent with this Opinion.

 /S/ J. A. TURNAGE

We concur:

/S/ WILLIAM E. HUNT, SR.

/S/ TERRY N. TRIEWEILER

/S/ W. WILLIAM LEAPHART

/S/ JIM REGNIER 

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