The Missouri Supreme Court recently held that a provision banning individuals convicted of certain sexual offenses from living within 1000 feet of a public school, private school or child care facility could not be applied to those who were convicted of their offenses and who already lived near a school at the time the law took effect.

The plaintiff in the case (R.L. v. State of Missouri Dept. of Corrections) was convicted of a sexual offense in December 2005. At the time of his conviction, he lived within 1,000 feet of a local grade school. However, at the time of his conviction, there was no law restricting his ability to live near a school. Using the constitutional bar on retrospective civil laws that dates back to the state's original constitution of 1820 (Article I, Section 13), the Court ruled that the 2006 amendment to section 566.147, RSMo., imposed a "new obligation" on the plaintiff "by requiring [him] to change [his] place of residence based solely upon offenses committed prior to the enactment of the statute."

It is important to note that the Court's decision did not strike down the law in its entirety. The ruling only applies to those individuals who were convicted and who lived near a school prior to the new law's enactment. Any person convicted since the law's implementation would be forced to move out of a residence that is within 1,000 feet of a school or day care facility.