Opinion ID: 2180409
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Heading: facts

Text: On December 17, 1997, the State indicted defendant, Carl Malchow, with one count of failure to register as a sex offender (730 ILCS 150/10 (West 1998)). The State alleged that defendant was required to register as a sex offender because of his 1988 conviction of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-16). Defendant moved to declare the Registration Act and the Notification Law unconstitutional. The trial court denied the motion. Following a stipulated bench trial, the court found defendant guilty. The court sentenced him to 18 months' conditional discharge and fined him $500. Defendant appealed, and the appellate court affirmed defendant's conviction. The court reaffirmed its earlier holding in People v. Logan, 302 Ill.App.3d 319, 235 Ill.Dec. 539, 705 N.E.2d 152 (1998), that the Registration Act and the Notification Law are constitutional. 306 Ill.App.3d 665, 239 Ill.Dec. 664, 714 N.E.2d 583. The court, however, reversed defendant's sentence because it was illegal and void. Because the trial court failed to sentence defendant to the mandatory minimum of seven days' confinement in the county jail, the appellate court remanded the cause for resentencing. 306 Ill.App.3d 676, 239 Ill. Dec. 673, 714 N.E.2d 592. We granted defendant's petition for leave to appeal to determine whether the Registration Act and the Notification Law are constitutional. Defendant argues that the Registration Act and the Notification Law are unconstitutional for the following reasons: (1) they violate the constitutional prohibition against the ex post facto application of laws; (2) they impose cruel, unusual, and disproportionate punishment; (3) they impermissibly infringe upon a person's right to privacy; (4) they subject a defendant to double jeopardy; (5) they violate the due process and equal protection clauses; and (6) Public Act 89-8, which made the Registration Act and Notification Law applicable to defendant, was passed in violation of the single subject clause of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const.1970, art. IV, § 8(d)). The Registration Act and Notification Law set out a comprehensive scheme providing for the registration and community notification of sex offenders. Pursuant to the Registration Act, all persons who are sex offenders (730 ILCS 150/2(A) (West 1998)) under the Act are required to register with local law enforcement officials (730 ILCS 150/3 (West 1998)). The category of sex offenders includes any person who is convicted of one of the Registration Act's enumerated sex offenses or who is certified as a sexually dangerous person pursuant to the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (725 ILCS 205/0.01 et seq. (West 1998)). The registrant must provide identification and documentation that substantiates proof of residence at the registering address and must pay a $10 registration fee and $5 annual renewal fee. [1] 730 ILCS 150/3(c)(6) (West 1998). Additionally, the registrant must provide a written and signed statement, and registration may also include the registrant's fingerprints and photograph. 730 ILCS 150/8 (West 1998). Registrants must keep law enforcement officials notified of any change in address and must report periodically to the appropriate law enforcement agency. 730 ILCS 150/6 (West 1998). The duty to register lasts for 10 years after a conviction, or, in the case of a sexually dangerous person who is released or found to be no longer sexually dangerous and discharged, for the rest of his or her natural life. 730 ILCS 150/7 (West 1998). Failure to comply with the Registration Act is a Class 4 felony. 730 ILCS 150/10 (West 1998). Pursuant to the Notification Law, the Department of State Police is required to maintain a sex offender database for the purpose of identifying sex offenders and making information about them available to the persons specified in the Act. 730 ILCS 152/115 (West 1998). The appropriate law enforcement agency is responsible for disclosing the name, address, date of birth, and offense or adjudication of all sex offenders required to register pursuant to the Registration Act. The information is disclosed to the school board, school principals, and child care facilities in the county where the offender resides. 730 ILCS 152/120(a) (West 1998). Additionally, that same information may be disclosed to any person likely to encounter a sex offender (730 ILCS 152/120(b) (West 1998)), and the information is also made available for public inspection at municipal police departments and county sheriff's offices. 730 ILCS 152/120(c) (West 1998).