State v Hough

12-3-2012 Indiana:

State v Hough
No. 64A05-1203-MI-113.

Terry Hough ("Hough") filed a petition in Porter Superior Court requesting that his name be removed from Indiana's sex offender registry. Specifically, Hough, who was convicted of rape in Pennsylvania in 1993, argued that his name should be removed from the registry pursuant to our supreme court's decision in Wallace v. State, 905 N.E.2d 371 (Ind. 2009). The trial court granted Hough's petition and the State appeals.

Specifically, the State argues that Hough should not be removed from the sex offender registry because he would still be required to register under Pennsylvania's registry law, and he has an independent duty to register as a sex offender under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History
In 1993, Hough was convicted of rape in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was ordered to serve two to five years incarceration. Hough was released to parole in 1997, and he completed his parole in 1998. Shortly after completing his parole, Hough moved to Indiana.

Pennsylvania enacted its first sex offender registry law, known as Megan's law, in 1996, while Hough was incarcerated in that jurisdiction. But Pennsylvania officials did not require Hough to register as a sex offender upon release from incarceration and/or parole because he notified Pennsylvania officials of his move to Indiana. Hough was told that he would be subject to Indiana's registration requirement, and he did register in Indiana. Appellant's App. p. 32. Hough also registered in Illinois because he was employed in that state. However, in 2007, Hough received a notice from the State of Illinois that he was no longer required to register as a sex offender. Appellant's App. p. 34.

On August 19, 2010, Hough filed a petition to remove himself from the Indiana sex offender registry. Hough claimed that he should be removed because his conviction occurred before Indiana and Pennsylvania enacted their sex offender registry laws, and argued that, pursuant to Wallace v. State, 905 N.E.2d 371 (Ind. 2009), his petition should be granted. In response, the State argued that under Pennsylvania's current sex offender registry law, Hough would be required to register for life, and therefore, Wallace is inapplicable to Hough's situation. The State also claimed that Hough has an independent duty to register under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

After holding a hearing on Hough's petition, the trial court issued an order granting Hough's petition to remove his name from the Indiana sex offender registry. The State filed a motion to correct error, which the trial court denied on February 10, 2012. The State now appeals.

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Likewise, in the case before us, Indiana is the only state that currently requires Hough to register as a sex offender, and he has resided in our state since 1998. Pursuant to our supreme court's decision in Wallace, to continue to require that Hough register as a sex offender for a conviction pre-dating the enactment of INSORA would violate Indiana's constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws. See Ind. Const. Art. 1, § 24; 905 N.E.2d at 384. For all of these reasons, we affirm the trial court's order granting Hough's petition to remove his name from the Indiana sex offender registry. Affirmed.