Harrison v. Wyoming (Wyo. 2021)

Harrison v. Wyoming, No. 2021 WY 40 (Wyo. 2021)

Nature of Case: Appellant was convicted in 1994 of fourth degree sexual assault. 13 years later, the state legislature amended the law and required him to register as a sex offender. The law also provided that anyone who had registered for 25 years could petition for removal from the registry. In 2019, 25 years after Appellant’s conviction, he petitioned for removal.

The trial court initially granted the petition before the state intervened and asked the court to reconsider, which it did, finding that Appellant had not registered for 25 years as required under state law. Appellant sought review.

Holding: Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the denial, finding that the plain text of the law required registration for 25 years before an individual could be eligible to petition for removal regardless of how much time elapsed since the conviction. The Court additionally rejected an Ex Post Facto challenge as foreclosed by state precedent and an Equal Protection challenge as being waived.