O'Brien v. Hill

965 N.E.2d 1050, 197 Ohio App. 3d 14
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 28, 2012
DocketNo. 11AP-542
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 965 N.E.2d 1050 (O'Brien v. Hill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Brien v. Hill, 965 N.E.2d 1050, 197 Ohio App. 3d 14 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Sadler, Judge.

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granting summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee, Mark A. Hill. Because appellee was not entitled to summary judgment, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this matter for further proceedings.

{¶ 2} The facts giving rise to this litigation are essentially undisputed. Since November 21, 1994, appellee has resided in the home he owns at 1765 Gerrand Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. On October 4, 2005, pursuant to his guilty plea, appellee was convicted in Butler County, Ohio, of one count of attempted unlawful conduct with a minor. Also on this date, appellee was found to be a sexually oriented offender. In the fall of 2006, Metro Early College High School (“MECHS”) opened within 1,000 feet of appellee’s home.

{¶ 3} Pursuant to R.C. 2950.034(A), which prohibits a person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a sexually oriented offense that is not a registration-exempt offense from residing within 1,000 feet of any school premises, appellant filed a complaint alleging appellee was in violation of the statutory provision. In the complaint, appellant sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to preclude appellee from residing within 1,000 feet of MECHS.

{¶ 4} Appellee moved for summary judgment, pursuant to Civ.R. 56, arguing that R.C. 2950.034 cannot be applied to him because he began residing in his home at 1765 Gerrand Avenue prior to the enactment of the statute. Upon conclusion of the briefing, the trial court rendered a decision granting appellee’s motion for summary judgment. The trial court held that to enforce the residency restrictions contained in R.C. Chapter 2950 upon a defendant who was convicted after the statute’s effective date, but who established residency prior to the statute’s effective date and prior to the establishment of the school, runs afoul of [16]*16the Supreme Court of Ohio’s decision in Hyle v. Porter, 117 Ohio St.3d 165, 2008-Ohio-542, 882 N.E.2d 899, and its progeny. Alternatively, the trial court held that application of R.C. 2950.034’s residency restrictions would infringe upon appellee’s fundamental right to use and enjoy the property.

{¶ 5} This appeal followed, and appellant brings the following assignment of error for our review:

The trial court erred in granting Defendanb-Appellee’s Motion for Summary Judgment as Appellee failed to establish that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law as R.C. 2950.034 applied to Appellee in that he committed his offense after the effective date of R.C. 2950.034.

(Emphasis sic.)

{¶ 6} We review the trial court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Coventry Twp. v. Ecker, 101 Ohio App.3d 38, 654 N.E.2d 1327 (9th Dist.1995). Summary judgment is proper only when the party moving for summary judgment demonstrates that (1) no genuine issue of material fact exists, (2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and (3) reasonable minds could come to but one conclusion, and that conclusion is adverse to the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made, when the evidence is construed in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Civ.R. 56(C); State ex rel. Grady v. State Emp. Relations Bd., 78 Ohio St.3d 181, 677 N.E.2d 343 (1997).

{¶ 7} Under summary-judgment motion practice, the moving party bears an initial burden to inform the trial court of the basis for its motion and to point to portions of the record that indicate that there are no genuine issues of material fact on a material element of the nonmoving party’s claim. Dresher v. Burt, 75 Ohio St.3d 280, 662 N.E.2d 264 (1996). Once the moving party has met its initial burden, the nonmoving party must produce competent evidence establishing the existence of a genuine issue for trial. Id.

{¶ 8} For the sake of completeness, we take this opportunity to set forth the statutory history of the residency restrictions that apply to sexual offenders. Through the enactment of R.C. 2950.031, the General Assembly imposed residency restrictions on certain sexually oriented offenders. These initial residency restrictions became effective on July 31, 2003, and provided that “[n]o person who has been convicted of, is convicted of, has pleaded guilty to, or pleads guilty to either a sexually oriented offense that is not a registration-exempt sexually oriented offense or a child-victim oriented offense shall establish a residence or occupy residential premises within one thousand feet of any school premises.” Former R.C. 2950.031(A). At that time, the statute also provided that “[a]n owner or lessee of real property that is located within one thousand feet of any school premises has a cause of action for injunctive relief against a person who violates division (A) of this section by establishing a residence or occupying [17]*17residential premises within one thousand feet of those school premises.” Former R.C. 2950.031(B).

{¶ 9} On April 29, 2005, the General Assembly amended R.C. 2950.031. This amendment allowed not only owners and lessees, but also “the prosecuting attorney, village solicitor, city or township director of law, similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation or township, or official designated as a prosecutor in a municipal corporation that has jurisdiction over the place at which the person establishes the residence or occupies the residential premises in question,” to enforce the statute’s provisions through a cause of action for injunctive relief. Former R.C. 2950.031(B).

{¶ 10} Two years later, the General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 10, Ohio’s version of the federal Adam Walsh Act, and amended R.C. Chapter 2950. At this time, R.C. 2950.031 was recodified as R.C. 2950.034 and the reach of the 1,000-foot residency restriction was expanded to include daycare and preschool centers. As effective July 1, 2007, R.C. 2950.034 currently provides:

(A) No person who has been convicted of, is convicted of, has pleaded guilty to, or pleads guilty to a sexually oriented offense or a child-victim oriented offense shall establish a residence or occupy residential premises within one thousand feet of any school premises or preschool or child day-care center premises.
(B) If a person to whom division (A) of this section applies violates division (A) of this section by establishing a residence or occupying residential premises within one thousand feet of any school premises or preschool or child day-care center premises, an owner or lessee of real property that is located within one thousand feet of those school premises or preschool or child day-care center premises, or the prosecuting attorney, village solicitor, city or township director of law, similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation or township, or official designated as a prosecutor in a municipal corporation that has jurisdiction over the place at which the person establishes the residence or occupies the residential premises in question, has a cause of action for injunctive relief against the person. The plaintiff shall not be required to prove irreparable harm in order to obtain the relief.

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Related

In re Davis
539 B.R. 334 (S.D. Ohio, 2015)
O'Brien v. Phillips
2015 Ohio 3901 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
965 N.E.2d 1050, 197 Ohio App. 3d 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/obrien-v-hill-ohioctapp-2012.