Koch v. Village of Hartland, No. 21-cv-00503 (E.D. Wis. 2021)
Nature of Case: Plaintiff sought to challenge an ordinance enacted in the Village of Hartland, Wisconsin, which prohibited “designated offenders” from establishing residence in Hartland until the saturation level for designated offenders reached a factor of 1.1 or lower. Plaintiff falls under the definition of “designated offender” and is prohibited from establishing residence in Hartland based on his guilty plea fifteen years prior to Repeated Sexual Assault of the Same Child and two counts of Second-Degree Sexual Assault of a Child.
Plaintiff brought suit challenging the constitutionality of Hartland’s Ordinance arguing that it violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution as a form of retroactive punishment. Both parties moved for summary judgment.
Holding: The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, granted defendant’s motion and dismissed the case with prejudice. In making that determination the Court stated that it was bound to follow Seventh Circuit precedent, United States v. Leach, 639 F.3d 769 (7th Cir. 2011) and Vasquez v. Foxx, 895 F.3d 515 (7th Cir. 2018), and concluded that under that precedent the Ordinance did not apply retroactively because it only applied to conduct occurring after enactment, in other words the Ordinance only applies to Koch because he now desires to move to Hartland.