The State of Kansas will appeal a Shawnee County district court judges decision earlier this week that invalidated portions of the
states offender registry as applied to one individual, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today. The judge ruled that certain amendments to the Kansas offender registration laws, made in 2011 to implement the requirements of the federal Adam Walsh Act, violate the United States Constitution.
After carefully reviewing the district courts ruling, we do not think it is legally correct, Schmidt said. We will fight for the integrity of the Kansas Offender Registration Act, and for Kansass continued compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act, which is designed to protect the public, particularly children, from sex offenders throughout the country. Having complete and accurate information about registered sex offenders available to the public through the online registry is a central public safety purpose of the federal law, which Kansas has implemented, and the district courts ruling runs counter to that purpose.
The Attorney General also announced that the State intends to appeal the judges earlier ruling that allowed the plaintiff to proceed in the litigation in an anonymous John Doe capacity.
The public has a right to know when a convicted sex offender challenges the very law that is designed to protect the public. This cloak of anonymity does not serve the public interest or advance public safety, Schmidt said.