Judge Finds Offender Registry “Punitive”

A judge has ordered the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to remove a man’s name from the state’s offender registry for sex, drug and violent crimes.

Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks ruled Tuesday that a state law passed two years ago extending the amount of time offenders must remain on the registry is punitive. He says the registration period is excessive and the notification system ostracizes offenders.

The man pleaded guilty in 2003 to taking indecent liberties with a child in Johnson County. He was then required to remain on the registry for 10 years, until this year.

But the 2011 law extended the registering requirement to 25 years for that crime, and the plaintiff was told it applied retroactively and that he’d have to remain on the list until 2028.