State v. Cole, 2011 Ohio 6283

Cole was convicted of a sexually oriented offense in 1979 and later of murder in 1983.
In 2004, while incarcerated for the murder conviction, the State sought and the trial court held a H.B. 180 sexual offender classification hearing.
The court classified Cole as a sexually oriented offender based on the 1979 conviction and ordered ten years of address- verification registration.
The judge who conducted the hearing was not the original sentencing judge nor a successor to that judge.
The Court of Appeals vacated the judgment, holding lack of jurisdiction under former R.C. 2950.09(C)(1) and, alternatively, no duty to register under former R.C. 2950.04.
Even if jurisdiction existed, Bellman and Taylor limited the reach of registration duties in light of the gap in former R.C. 2950.04.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the hearing lacked jurisdiction due to the wrong court presiding	Cole argues the hearing wasn’t before the sentencing court.	Cole asserts the correct court should adjudicate sexual offender status under former R.C. 2950.09(C)(1).	Jurisdiction lacked because the presiding judge was not the sentencing court.
Whether, even if jurisdiction existed, Cole had a duty to register	Bellman guidance shows some adjudicated predators have no registration duty.	Cole did not fit any former R.C. 2950.04(A)(1) category.	No registration duty under former R.C. 2950.04(A)(1) because Cole did not fit categories.

State v. Taylor, 100 Ohio St.3d 172 (2003-Ohio-5452) (sex offender hearings may be held for offenders in prison as of Jan. 1, 1997; statute unambiguous about imprisonment)
State v. Bellman, 86 Ohio St.3d 208 (1999-Ohio-95) (adjudication as sexual predator does not necessarily trigger registration)
State v. Champion, 106 Ohio St.3d 120 (2005-Ohio-4098) (categories of compulsory registrants under former 2950.04(A)(1) tightly defined)
State v. Riley, 2001 Ohio App.3d 580 (2001-Ohio-**) (construction of former 2950.04(A)(1) eligibility for registration)