State v. Petersen-Beard, 377 P.3d 1127 (Kan. 2016)
Nature of Case: Appellant was convicted of a sex offense and filed a motion in the trial court to preclude registration under Kansas’ Offender Registration Act (KORA) as being unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment and state constitutional grounds. Trial court denied motion and Appellant appealed and Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court. Kansas Supreme Court granted review.
Holding: Kansas Supreme Court held, overruling multiple other decisions that it issued the same day, that KORA was not sufficiently punitive to overcome the legislature’s stated civil intent in enacting registration scheme. Decisions of the trial court and Court of Appeals affirmed.