Holden signs sex offender bill despite pending suit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Supporters of a law that expands public access to Missouri's list of sexual offenders say they aren't concerned about a legal challenge to the list's existence.

A group of registered sex offenders in Missouri recently filed a state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law that requires sex offenders to register with authorities in their home counties.

One day later, Gov. Bob Holden signed into law a bill allowing the existing list of sex offenders overseen by the state highway patrol to be posted on the Internet. The online registry would be searchable by name, ZIP code and address.

The law takes effect Aug. 28.

Chris Bauman, Holden's deputy legal counsel, said the recent lawsuit received little consideration while Holden's staff was deciding whether to post the sex offender registry on the Internet.

"We felt that, legally speaking, we were on solid ground," Bauman said, and "in terms of public policy, we thought that was a good bill."

The lawsuit, filed in Jackson County, claims Missouri's sex offender registration law restricts personal freedom without a due process hearing, is illegally applied to past offenders, adds punishment without a jury trial, treats different groups of offenders similarly, requires registration after other punishment ends and creates a special class of people without a compelling state interest.

Supporters of the latest addition to the law, such as sponsoring Sen. Matt Bartle, point to a March ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that they say upheld a Connecticut law requiring a listing of all sex criminals on a state Web site.

"We were in the middle of working on my bill when the Supreme Court issued its decision, and it was my feeling that it strengthened our hand substantially," said Bartle, R-Lee's Summit. "You can't worry about the threat of somebody challenging something. If we did that, we wouldn't pass many laws."

Nixon not concerned

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has said he doesn't expect the Missouri lawsuit to succeed and, consequently, isn't concerned that the Internet legislation could be vulnerable to a challenge.

"I don't think the legal issues are any different between a piece of paper in a sheriff's office or Web page run by the Highway Patrol," Nixon said.

Every state has a version of the sex offender registration law, known commonly as "Megan's Law" after a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a convicted sex offender who had moved in across the street.

Supporters of Missouri's original law, passed in 1994, say it is necessary because statistics indicate sex offenders are more likely to repeat their crimes than other offenders.

Arthur Benson, a Kansas City attorney handling the lawsuit against Missouri's statute, said his case could be aided because Missouri prohibits any statute from being applied to past offenses. Federal ex post facto laws only prevent punishment from being applied after the fact.

Posting the sex offender list on the Internet "is making the already harmful effects of this law even more terrible," Benson said.

Lt. Tim Hull, a spokesman for the state Highway Patrol, which provides the names of sex offenders to counties, said the putting the registry on the Web will make it easier for the public to access the list. But he said there is no money set aside to create the Internet list.

"This law is going to make is easier for people to get the information, but I don't know if the appropriations will be there to make it accessible in the near future," Hull said.

The Internet bill is SB184.