[Cite as State v. Walker, 2012-Ohio-3095.]

COURT OF APPEALS 

DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO 

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT 

STATE OF OHIO 

 Plaintiff-Appellee 

-vsSCOTT A. WALKER 

 Defendant-Appellant 

JUDGES: 

Hon. Sheila G. Farmer, P. J. 

Hon. John W. Wise, J. 

Hon. Julie A. Edwards, J. 

Case No. 12 CAA 02 0010 

O P I N I O N 

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Criminal Appeal from the Court of Common 

Pleas, Case No. 09 CRI 03 0116 

JUDGMENT: Affirmed 

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: July 5, 2012 

APPEARANCES: 

For Plaintiff-Appellee For Defendant-Appellant 

CAROL HAMILTON O'BRIEN SCOTT A. WALKER 

PROSECUTING ATTORNEY North Central Corr. Complex 

MARK C. SLEEPER 670 Marion/Williamsport Road 

ASSISTANT PROSECUTOR Post Office Box 1818 

140 North Sandusky Street, 3rd Floor Marion, Ohio 43301 

Delaware, Ohio 43015 
Delaware County, Case No. 12 CAA 02 0010 2

Wise, J. 

{¶1} Appellant Scott A. Walker appeals the decision of the Court of Common 

Pleas, Delaware County, which denied his post-conviction motion challenging his Tier III 

sex offender classification. The relevant facts leading to this appeal are as follows. 

{¶2} On March 4, 2009, appellant was indicted by the Delaware County Grand 

Jury on four counts of rape and six counts of sexual battery. 

{¶3} On June 19, 2009, appellant, with the assistance of trial counsel, entered 

Alford guilty pleas to two counts of sexual battery, R.C. 2907.03(A)(1), felonies of the 

third degree. At the time of entry of these pleas, the trial court advised appellant that he 

would have the duty to register as a Tier III sex offender. 

{¶4} On August 12, 2009, the trial court sentenced appellant to six years in 

prison. Appellant at that time signed a form supplied by the court explaining his duties to 

register as a sex offender. 

{¶5} On January 18, 2012, well over two years after his sentencing, appellant 

filed a pro se “Motion to Vacate Current Sexual Oriented Classification Tier and 

Reclassify Defendant.” 

{¶6} Via a judgment entry filed February 3, 2012, the trial court denied 

appellant’s motion to vacate and reclassify. 

{¶7} Appellant filed a notice of appeal on February 21, 2012. He herein raises 

the following sole Assignment of Error: 

{¶8} “I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DETERMINING THAT THE CRIME 

CONVICTED FITTED THE TIER III SEXUAL OFFENDER STATUS.” 

 
Delaware County, Case No. 12 CAA 02 0010 3

I. 

{¶9} In his sole Assignment of Error, appellant challenges the trial court’s 

denial of his post-conviction motion to change his Tier III sex offender status. 

{¶10} R.C. 2950.01(E), (F), and (G) create three “Tiers” of sex offender 

registration and notification requirements based on the type of offenses of which a 

defendant has been convicted. The most recent substantial changes to R.C. Chapter 

2950 took effect on January 1, 2008.1 

{¶11} Although there was no trial in this matter and no hearing was conducted 

on appellant’s motion to vacate and reclassify, appellant herein essentially argues that 

his offenses and conduct would support, at most, a Tier I classification. Appellant further 

contends that his trial counsel was ineffective during the 2009 events leading to his 

plea, classification, and sentence. 

{¶12} As the State notes in its response brief, this case does not involve a 

reclassification of an offender classified prior to the enactment in Ohio of the present 

Adam Walsh Act. Instead, appellant filed a self-styled motion to vacate in the trial court 

on January 18, 2012, almost two and one-half years after his sentence and 

classification, seeking additional review of his sex offender classification and status. We 

are thus inclined to initially hold that res judicata would have barred such review by the 

trial court in these circumstances. See, e.g., State v. Stevenson, Summit App.No. 

21953, 2005-Ohio-156, ¶ 7 - ¶ 8 (applying res judicata to a defendant’s attempt to 

challenge his classification via a motion to correct sentence approximately six years 

after such classification). 

 

1

 There is no dispute that the offenses of which appellant was convicted in the case 

sub judice were based on conduct occurring on or after December 24, 2008. 
Delaware County, Case No. 12 CAA 02 0010 4

{¶13} In the alternative, even if we interpret appellant’s motion of January 18, 

2012 as a petition for post-conviction relief, the pertinent jurisdictional time requirements 

for such a petition are set forth in R.C. 2953.21(A)(2) as follows: “ * * * A petition under 

division (A)(1) of this section shall be filed no later than one hundred eighty days after 

the date on which the trial transcript is filed in the court of appeals in the direct appeal of 

the judgment of conviction or adjudication * * *. If no appeal is taken, except as 

otherwise provided in section 2953.23 of the Revised Code, the petition shall be filed no 

later than one hundred eighty days after the expiration of the time for filing the appeal.” 

Appellant herein did not timely file his motion to vacate and reclassify under R.C. 

2953.21(A)(2), and he makes no attempt to justify an untimely filing pursuant to the 

requirements set forth in R.C. 2953.23(A). A court has no jurisdiction to hear an 

untimely petition for postconviction relief unless the movant meets the requirements in 

R.C. 2953.23(A). State v. Demastry, Fairfield App. No. 05CA14, 2005–Ohio–4962, ¶ 15. 

{¶14} Moreover, even if we were to find the trial court had been required to 

reach the merits of appellant’s motion to vacate and reclassify, based on appellant’s 

two-count conviction of sexual battery under R.C. 2907.03, his Tier III classification 

clearly was proper under R.C. 2950.01(G)(1)(a), and therefore the trial court did not err 

in denying appellant’s motion to vacate and reclassify. 

 
Delaware County, Case No. 12 CAA 02 0010 5

{¶15} Appellant's sole Assignment of Error is therefore overruled. 

{¶16} For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the decision of the Court 

of Common Pleas, Delaware County, Ohio, is hereby affirmed. 

By: Wise, J. 

Farmer, P. J., and 

Edwards, J., concur. 

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 JUDGES 

JWW/d 0608 
Delaware County, Case No. 12 CAA 02 0010 6

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO 

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT 

STATE OF OHIO : 

 : 

 Plaintiff-Appellee : 

 : 

-vs- : JUDGMENT ENTRY 

 : 

SCOTT A. WALKER : 

 : 

 Defendant-Appellant : Case No. 12 CAA 02 0010 

 For the reasons stated in our accompanying Memorandum-Opinion, the 

judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Ohio, is affirmed. 

 Costs assessed to appellant. 

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 JUDGES