Ohio Supreme Court sides with Muskingum County in case challenging Sierah's Law
ZANESVILLE — An Ohio Supreme Court decision involving Muskingum County has changed the way violent crimes are registered in Ohio.
The case challenged the application of Sierah's Law, which was passed in 2018 and requires people convicted of certain violent crimes to register in Ohio's Violent Offender Database for 10 years.
It was created in memory of 20-year-old Sierah Joughin, who was murdered in 2016 by a a man with a violent criminal history who lived miles from her home, but the family was unaware.
Now offenders in Ohio who are convicted of aggravated murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, abduction and kidnapping must enroll in a public database, similar to the sex offender registry.
Months after the law went into effect, Albert Jarvis IV. pleaded guilty in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court to one count each of kidnapping with a firearm specification, disrupting public service and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle.
Under Sierah's Law, Jarvis qualified for the violent offender registry due to the kidnapping charge.
But because the charges preceded Sierah's Law, it was Jarvis' stance that he did not need to register in the violent offender database.
The judge disagreed and was ordered to register as a violent offender.
Jarvis appealed the decision, which was later reversed by the Fifth District Court of Appeals.
The Ohio Supreme Court then took the case based on a conflicting ruling from another appellate district, according to prosecutors in Muskingum County.
In collaboration with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, assistant prosecutor Taylor Bennington successfully argued before the Ohio Supreme Court, which decided offenders who qualify for the violent offender database must register regardless of when the crime was committed.
"As a result of the success in our case, violent offenders will continue to register in a database allowing for communities to feel safer," Bennington said.
cmholmes@gannett.com
740-450-6758
Twitter: @cmholmesgannett
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Prosecutors earn Supreme Court victory regarding violent offenders
