State's sex offender registry found unconstitutional

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - A federal appeal court found Indiana's sex offender registry to be unconstitutional, saying it violates due process rights for not allowing offenders to change wrong information about them on the registry.

This comes just one month after the state's registry was found to be violating federal standards.

Tippecanoe County Sheriff Detective Jason Morgan is in charge of the county's sex offender registry.

"I don't understand why corrections couldn't be made before," Morgan said. "If you have the proper court documents to make those change and you know what they should be, then make them."

Morgan said he just recently had to change an offender's status online.

"I had a recent offender who was classified as a sexually violent offender from D.O.C.," Morgan said. "After looking into his court documents, I realized he was classified wrong, so it was changed."

The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana for David Lee Schepers.

Schepers was convicted of sex crimes in 1987 and 2006.

He said he was listed incorrectly as a sexually violent predator in Pike County, and was not able to change it.

Morgan believes the whole registry isn't unconstitutional, but this mistake may have just been a miscommunication between the D.O.C. and the Sheriff's Association.

"Ultimately the D.O.C. is responsible for publishing what is put out on the offenders registry site," Morgan said. "I believe it's just a miscommunication between whatever sheriff was publishing [Schepers] and the D.O.C."

A legislative summer committee continues to evaluate Indiana's sex offenders registry, and making sure it maintains the right information.