Opinion ID: 2691602
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ohio’s Adam Walsh Act

Text: {¶ 18} In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (“Adam Walsh Act”), P.L. No. 109-248, 120 Stat. 587, codified at Section 16901 et seq., Title 42, U.S.Code. The Act created national standards for sex-offender registration, community notification, and classification. It divides 6 January Term, 2010 sex offenders into three categories or “tiers” – Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III – based solely on the crime committed. Section 16911. The duration of the offender’s obligation to update his personal information for the registry depends on his tier classification. Section 16915. {¶ 19} Section 16912(a) directs every jurisdiction to maintain a sexoffender registry conforming to the requirements of the Act. And to ensure compliance, Congress directed that states that did not adopt the Adam Walsh Act risked losing ten percent of certain federal crime-control funds that would otherwise be allocated to them. Section 16925(a). {¶ 20} The following year, the General Assembly enacted 2007 Am.Sub.S.B. No. 10.4 S.B. 10 repealed Megan’s Law and replaced it with a new, retroactive scheme that includes the tier system required by Congress. R.C. Chapter 2950. {¶ 21} The former categories of sexually oriented offender, habitual sex offender, and sexual predator no longer exist, nor is the court required to hold classification hearings as before. Instead, offenders are classified as Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III sex offenders (or child-victim offenders) based solely on the offender’s offense. R.C. 2950.01. Specified officials are required to notify existing offenders of their duties and new tier classification. R.C. 2950.03, 2950.031, and 2950.032. {¶ 22} Significantly for our purposes here, under the AWA judges no longer have discretion to determine which classification best fits the offender. Id. 4. Ohio is the only state to have complied with the mandate, however. Greg Bluestein (December 1, 2009), “Ohio lone state to adopt sex-offender rules,” in Canton Rep.com, available at http://www.cantonrep.com/ohio/x2072228737/Ohio-lone-state-to-adopt-sex-offender-rules (last visited Mar. 22, 2010). The deadline for compliance has been extended from July 2009 to July 2010, but it appears that many states will still be unable, or unwilling, to comply. Id. For many states, the costs of compliance with the Act will far outweigh the ten percent reduction in funding. For example, it has been estimated that the cost for Illinois to comply with the Act in the first year would be $21,000,000 but that it will lose less than $1,000,000 if it does not. See Liz Winiarski, Facing the Compliance Deadline for the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, States are Weighing all the Costs (2009), 14 Pub.Interest L.Rep. 192, 193. 7 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO Instead, a few months before the AWA’s effective date, the General Assembly directed the attorney general to reclassify existing offenders. R.C. 2950.031(A) and 2950.032(A)(1). Offenders who had registered before December 1, 2007, were to be reclassified as Tier I, II, or III sex offenders according to the new statutes. Id. Tiers are assigned solely by reference to the offense. See R.C. 2950.01(E), (F), and (G). The entire reclassification process is administered by the attorney general, with no involvement by any court. There is no individualized assessment. No consideration is given to any of the other factors employed previously in classification hearings held pursuant to Megan’s Law. Id. As a result, the trial court is stripped of any power to engage in independent factfinding to determine an offender’s likelihood of recidivism. Expert testimony is no longer presented; the offender’s criminal and social history are no longer relevant.5 {¶ 23} After tier classification is completed, the offender is required to register according to the classification. R.C. 2950.04(A)(1). The registration requirements under the AWA vary depending on the tier in which the offender is classified. R.C. 2950.06(B) (frequency of duty to verify personal information differs depending on tier); R.C. 2950.07 (duration of duty to comply with registration/verification requirements depends on tier). 5. {¶ a} In State v. Eppinger (2001), 91 Ohio St.3d 158, 743 N.E.2d 881, we emphasized the importance of the classification hearing in assessing each offender on an individualized basis, avoiding wholesale labeling of offenders as sexual predators based only on a conviction, and advancing the purpose of the legislation, which was to protect the public: {¶ b} “If we were to adjudicate all sexual offenders as sexual predators, we run the risk of ‘being flooded with a number of persons who may or may not deserve to be classified as high-risk individuals, with the consequence of diluting both the purpose behind and the credibility of the law.’” Id. at 165, quoting State v. Thompson (1999), 140 Ohio App.3d 638, 647, 748 N.E.2d 1144. {¶ c} We further opined that “[o]ne sexually oriented offense is not a clear predictor of whether that person is likely to engage in the future in one or more sexually oriented offenses, particularly if the offender is not a pedophile. Thus, we recognize that one sexually oriented conviction, without more, may not predict future behavior.” Id. at 162. 8 January Term, 2010 {¶ 24} Under Megan’s Law, if an offender was classified at the lowest risk level, i.e., as a sexually oriented offender, he was required to register annually for a period of ten years. Former R.C. 2950.07(B)(3) and 2950.06(B)(2), 146 Ohio Laws, Part II, 2617, 2613. No community notification followed. Under the AWA, although there is still no community notification for the lowest-risk offenders, i.e., offenders classified into Tier I, those offenders must verify their personal information annually for 15 years rather than the ten years required under Megan’s Law. R.C. 2950.07(B)(3). {¶ 25} Under Megan’s Law, an offender who posed an intermediate risk, i.e., less than a sexual predator but more than a sexually oriented offender, was labeled a habitual sexual offender. See former R.C. 2950.01(B), 146 Ohio Laws, Part II, 2601. Habitual sexual offenders were required to verify their personal information annually for 20 years, former R.C. 2950.07(B)(2) and 2950.06(B)(2), 146 Ohio Laws, Part II, 2617, 2613, and community notification was required only if the judge deemed it appropriate. Former R.C. 2950.11(A) and (F), 146 Ohio Laws, Part II, 2627, 2630. In the AWA scheme, the intermediate-risk offender is placed in Tier II. Tier II offenders must verify every 180 days for 25 years, R.C. 2950.07(B)(2) and 2950.06(B)(2), but community notification is not required. R.C. 2950.11(F) (community notification limited to Tier III offenders). {¶ 26} The sexual-predator classification was the highest-risk offender under Megan’s Law. Sexual predators were required to register every 90 days for life. Former R.C. 2950.06(B)(1) and 2950.07(B)(1), 146 Ohio Laws, Part II, 2613 and 2616. Community notification was required. Former R.C. 2950.11(A), 146 Ohio Laws, Part II, 2627. Under the AWA, Tier III offenders have the same obligation to verify their personal information as sexual predators, R.C. 2950.06(B)(3) (every 90 days) and 2950.07(B)(1) (for life), and community notification is required. R.C. 2950.11(A). However, the scope of registration is expanded greatly. 9 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO {¶ 27} Megan’s Law required an offender to register with the sheriff in the county in which he resided. Former R.C. 2950.04(A), 146 Ohio Laws, Part II, 2609. Pursuant to the AWA, the offender must register with the sheriff in the county in which he lives, the county in which he attends school, the county in which he is employed, any county in which he is domiciled temporarily for more than three days, and even a county in another state if he works or attends school there. R.C. 2950.04(A)(2)(a) through (e). When he registers, he must provide his full name and any aliases as well as his date of birth, social security number, address, the name and address of his employer and school, the license plate of any motor vehicle he owns or operates as part of his employment, his driver’s license number, any professional or occupational registration or license, any e-mail address, and all Internet identifiers or telephone numbers registered to him. R.C. 2950.04(C). {¶ 28} Similarly, the AWA expands community-notification requirements. In the new scheme, the sheriff gives notice of a Tier III offender’s name, address, and conviction to all residents within 1,000 feet of the offender’s residence. R.C. 2950.11(A)(1)(a). If the offender lives in a multiple-unit building, all residents who share a common hallway with the offender must be notified. R.C. 2950.11(A)(1)(b). The AWA also forbids all sex offenders, including those who have not offended against children, from living within 1,000 feet of a school, preschool, or child day-care facility. R.C. 2950.034(A).6