The History and Future
| Jurisdiction | Kansas,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 81 No. 9 Pg. 34 |
| Pages | 34 |
| Publication year | 2012 |
The History and Future of Offender Registration in Kansas
by Shawn P. Yancy
I. Introduction
Offender registration is a reality of modern life. Following a number of highly publicized sex crimes involving children in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Congress took action to require states to register sex offenders. However, each state was left the autonomy to implement the registration scheme as it saw fit. As a result, no two states applied the mandate in the same manner. In addition, each subsequent highly publicized sex crime has led to additional congressional mandates for stricter registration guidelines.
July 2013 will mark the 20th anniversary of offender registration in Kansas. Over the nearly 20 years since it has registered offenders, Kansas has taken a unique approach to offender registration. First, Kansas registers sex offenders, violent offenders, and drug offenders. Second, Kansas subjects all three to the same registration duties with an exception, in some circumstances, regarding the length of registration. Under the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA), all offenders must report with the same frequency, report the same amount of information, and are subjected to the same punishment should they fail to follow the provisions of the act.
KORA has been amended in some way nearly every year since the act was first passed in 1993. The goal of this article is to survey the changes made to offender registration in Kansas and to provide a legal context within which to understand the importance of those changes. This article does not detail every change that has taken place throughout the years, but instead, details the significant changes to the law's most important provisions.
The article begins by chronicling nine parts of the law: to whom the law applies, how long an offender is required to register, the frequency with which an offender is required to report, the approved methods of reporting, the type and amount of information an offender is required to report, the punishment if an offender does not properly register, public notification, petition for early release from his registration duties, and additional duties placed upon offenders.
Next, the article discusses what has become, arguably, the most significant source of influence on offender registration laws — federal mandates. Federal mandates began in 1994, and though they maintained a relatively limited scope for many years; in 2006, the mandates became significantly more intrusive on the states' autonomy to regulate offenders.
Finally, the article details the types of legal challenges posed against offender registration laws, with an emphasis on Kansas case law. However, because some of the cases concern provisions of the U.S. Constitution, rather than a provision of the Kansas Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence is also briefly discussed. Before ending the legal discussion, the article touches upon the current state of offender registration in Kansas as a means of making the reader aware of current events that may affect the future of offender registration in Kansas. Although the history of offender registration is clear, the future is not.
II. KORA's Evolution
A. To Whom the Law Applies
This is the most fundamental inquiry regarding offender registration. When first passed in 1993, the law was known as the Habitual Sex Offender Registration Act (HSORA) and only applied to twice-convicted sex offenders.[1] The law was quickly changed in 1994 to require first-time sex offenders to register, and the law was renamed the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA).[2] The law remained SORA until it was amended to include more than sex crimes.[3]
A person was initially classified as a sex offender based on the person's conviction for a sexually violent crime as defined by the law. Thus, for a number of years any amendments that expanded the scope of SORAs applicability did so by expanding the meaning of "sexually violent crime." When first passed in 1993, "sexually violent crime" had twelve subparts that defined its scope.[4] After the 2011 amendments, "sex offender," has seven subparts and "sexually violent crime," has 15 subparts.[5]
In 1997, the law was expanded to include more than sex offenders, and the law was appropriately renamed the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA).[6] The legislature accomplished this by adding certain violent crimes as well as certain person-offenses involving victims younger than eighteen years of age.[7] A niche of offenses deemed "aggravated offenses" were identified in 1999.[8]
In 2001, those determined to be sexually violent predators, those who are non-resident students or workers that are required to register in their jurisdiction of origin, and those who become residents who had been required to register in a previous jurisdiction were added to the list of those required to register in Kansas.[9] Juvenile sex offenders became subject to registration duties in 2002.[10] In 2007, the legislature added three drug offenses.[11] When added in 2007, and until 2011, the drug offenses contained an exception to the registration requirement if the court made a finding that the defendant's possession or manufacture was for personal use.[12] The personal use exception was removed in 2011. Today, the law applies to sex offenders, violent offenders, and drug offenders.[13]
B. Term of Registration
Initially, HSORA required registration for 10 years.[14] In 1994, the law still required an offender to register for 10 years, but the law also required a repeat offender to register for his or her lifetime.[15] When certain crimes were identified as aggravated offenses in 1999, the legislature required defendants convicted of those aggravated offenses to register for the remainder of their lives upon a first offense.[16] The 10-year or lifetime registration scheme remained in place until 2011, though which offenses applied to which time period changed throughout the years. After amending KORA in 2011, the legislature implemented a three-tier reporting period structure whereby offenses are identified as requiring 15 years, 25 years, or lifetime registration.[17]
Juvenile sex offenders, when added to KORA in 2002, were required to register until they reached age 18 or for five years, whichever period was longer.[18] In 2006, those required to register in another state who relocated to Kansas were required to register for the longer of the registration period assigned by the original jurisdiction or the period that Kansas requires for the offense.[19]
C. Frequency of Registration
As you will see shortly, there are two types of reporting periods. First, there have always been what can be called informal reporting periods. This refers to statutory reporting requirements that are not regularly occurring, but rather occur as changes to the reported information occur. For example, under the current law, if an offender were to receive a tattoo, then the offender must report having received the tattoo within three business days because it is an identifying characteristic that falls within the purview of K.S.A. 22-4907.[20] The second type of reporting period is what can be called a formal reporting period. This is a statutory registration period that occurs at regular intervals defined by statute. For example, under the current law all offenders are required to report during their birth month, as well as every 90 days thereafter — quarterly.
For a number of years, the law merely required limited informal reporting. In 1993, an offender had to report within 30 days of entering a county wherein the offender was a resident or wherein the offender intended to temporarily reside if longer than 30 days.[21] Changes in address, however, had to be reported within 10 days of the change.[22] The legislature shortened the 30-day periods to 15 days in 1994.[23] The 15-day period was trimmed again in 1999 to 10 days.[24]
The dual reporting structure in place today first began to take form in 1997. Under the 1997 amendments, the offender would register initially followed by written updates every 90 days thereafter.[25] The system in Kansas was muddied somewhat in 2006 when the legislature added a formal reporting scheme akin to that in place today by requiring semiannual in-person reporting in addition to the 90 day updates and informal periods.[26] The legislature cleaned up the system in 2007 by removing the 90-day written updates and moving to a triennial in-person reporting requirement.[27] From 2007 until 2011, offenders had formal reporting periods three times each year with informal reporting periods during the interim.
The informal reporting periods, which evolved from the 30-day requirement in 1993, to a 15-day requirement in 1994, and lowered again to ten days in 1999, were increased in 2010 to 14 days.[28] The increase was a result of the statutory overhaul to accommodate calendar day counting as opposed to business day counting. In 2011, however, the legislature amended KORA to make it compliant with the federal mandate in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Adam Walsh).[29] As a result, all informal reporting periods were lowered to three business days, and KORA now requires quarterly formal reporting.[30]
D. In Person Reporting
Whether an offender had to report in-person was not clear in the initial statutory language.[31] Based upon subsequent amendments specifically adding the "in person" requirement beginning in 2006, it may be suggested that in-person reporting was not previously required for any type of reporting — formal or informal.[32]
Today, in-person reporting is mandated for both types of reporting.[33] However, KORA lists a couple of exceptions to in-person reporting. First, if an...
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