Court to hear county case
Staff writer
The Kansas supreme court will review a Marion County case regarding offender registration March 30.
In the case, Aaron D. Unruh, 44, Marion, charged Aug. 29, 2017, with two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of criminal restraint. He pleaded no contest Nov. 5, 2019, was sentenced to a year’s community corrections and was ordered to register as a violent offender under the Kansas Offender Registration Act.
Unruh challenged the registration act as unconstitutional because it does not offer offenders an opportunity to challenge discretionary findings and lacks an express standard of proof.
He also argued that revised sentencing guidelines violate federal and state constitutions because they permit judicial fact-finding of prior convictions.
Unruh’s claims were rejected by the Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court will examine whether Unruh’s rights were violated when he was ordered to register and given an extended sentence.
Justices also will examine whether the Court of Appeals should have interpreted the law as to require Unruh to prove he qualified for exception to registration, and whether the appellate court erred in considering the issue for the first time on appeal.