A divided Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled that retroactively applying a 2019 state law requiring certain felons to register on a violent offender database does not violate prohibitions against retroactive laws.
The court’s 4-3 majority on Oct. 21 determined that registry requirements in Senate Bill 231, dubbed Sierah’s Law, may retroactively apply to those who committed certain crimes before the law took effect in March 2019. It creates a statewide database for law enforcement regarding information about those convicted of aggravated murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping and abduction.
