Opinion ID: 1722349
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Habitual Child Sex Offender Registration Act

Text: In his second point on appeal, Mr. Snyder argues that the Trial Court erred in certifying him as an habitual child sex offender pursuant to Act 587 of 1987, the Habitual Child Sex Offender Registration Act, since replaced by Act 989 of 1997, the Sex and Child Offender Registration Act of 1997, Ark.Code Ann. §§ 12-12-901 through XX-XX-XXX (Supp.1997). His argument is that his juvenile delinquency adjudication should not be considered a prior conviction for purposes of the prior Act. At the time of Mr. Snyder's conviction, the Act imposed a registration requirement on persons who had been convicted of certain sex offenses a second or subsequent time. See Act 587, § 2. We adhere to the basic rule of statutory construction which is to give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. Coleman v. State, 327 Ark. 381, 938 S.W.2d 845 (1997). Absent a clear indication that a drafting error or omission [has] circumvent[ed] legislative intent, we do not interpret a legislative act in a manner contrary to its express language. Id. See City of Little Rock v. Arkansas Corp. Comm., 209 Ark. 18, 189 S.W.2d 382 (1945) ([I]f the words are free from ambiguity and doubt, and express plainly, clearly and distinctly the sense of the framers of the instrument, there is no occasion to resort to other means of interpretation.). The clear language of Act 587, § 1, provided, in part, that a `[h]abitual child sex offender' includes any person who, after August 1, 1987, is convicted a second or subsequent time.... [Emphasis supplied.] The General Assembly has recognized that there is a difference between a conviction and an adjudication. See, e.g., Ark.Code Ann. § 16-97-104 (Supp.1997) (Proof of prior convictions, both felony and misdemeanor, and proof of juvenile adjudications shall follow the procedures outlined in §§ 5-4-502-5-4-504.). See also Ark.Code Ann. § 5-73-130(a) (Repl.1997) (Whenever a person under eighteen (18) years of age is unlawfully in possession of a firearm, the firearm shall be seized and, after an adjudication of delinquency or a conviction, shall be subject to forfeiture.). We reverse the order applying the Habitual Child Sex Offender Registration Act because Mr. Snyder does not have a prior conviction of a sex offense. We remand the case for orders consistent with this opinion. Affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part.