State v. Hartley, 64 N.E.3d 472

Hartley was adjudicated a delinquent in Vinton County (plea history includes a withdrawn 2006 admission and a 2009 admission to importuning) and was classified as a Tier I sex offender in July 2009.
Hartley failed to notify a change of address and was indicted in Franklin County for violating R.C. 2950.05; he pled guilty in July 2010 and received community control, later revoked and converted to 17 months imprisonment.
In November 2013 Hartley moved to vacate the failure-to-notify conviction (alternatively Civ.R. 60(B)), arguing his underlying S.B. 10 Tier I classification was void under State v. Williams and thus the notification conviction was void.
Trial court granted the motion; this court remanded for the trial court to address the state’s responses; on remand the trial court reaffirmed vacatur and terminated community control.
On appeal the State raised five assignments of error challenging (1) voidness of classification and conviction, (2) res judicata, (3) applicability of Williams to a long-final juvenile adjudication, (4) effect of Hartley’s guilty plea, and (5) timeliness of the postconviction petition.
The Tenth District affirmed: it held Hartley’s Tier I classification (entered after S.B. 10 for offenses committed pre-S.B. 10) was void under Williams; because the classification was void, the failure-to-notify conviction (which depended on that classification) was void; res judicata, plea waiver, and timeliness defenses did not bar relief.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Hartley’s Tier I S.B. 10 classification is void as retroactive	State: S.B. 10 properly applied; Williams does not render this classification void	Hartley: Offense pre-dated S.B. 10; Williams makes retroactive S.B. 10 classifications void	Classification was void under Williams and controlling precedent
Whether the failure-to-notify conviction is void or merely voidable	State: Conviction is valid/voidable because reporting duty could have attached or been governed by Megan’s Law	Hartley: Conviction depends on a void classification and is therefore void	Conviction is void because it rested on a void classification (analogous to Billiter)
Whether res judicata or guilty plea bars collateral attack	State: Hartley could have raised the issue earlier or waived it by plea	Hartley: Void judgments/sentences may be attacked at any time; plea does not preclude relief from a void conviction	Res judicata and plea waiver do not bar attack on a void sentence/conviction
Whether Hartley’s petition was time-barred under postconviction statute	State: Petition filed well outside statutory window and should be dismissed	Hartley: Void judgment exception allows collateral attack regardless of statutory timing	Trial court properly entertained the untimely petition because the sentence/conviction is void

State v. Williams, 129 Ohio St.3d 344 (Supreme Court of Ohio) (holding S.B. 10’s retroactive application to offenses committed before its enactment violates Ohio’s Retroactivity Clause)
State v. Bodyke, 126 Ohio St.3d 266 (Supreme Court of Ohio) (addressing repeal/replacement of Megan’s Law by S.B. 10 and limits on AG reclassification)
State v. Billiter, 134 Ohio St.3d 103 (Supreme Court of Ohio) (void sentence due to improper postrelease control rendered later conviction for escape invalid)
State v. Hayden, 96 Ohio St.3d 211 (Supreme Court of Ohio) (sexually oriented offender designation can attach as a matter of law in certain circumstances)
State v. Brunning, 134 Ohio St.3d 438 (Supreme Court of Ohio) (offenders classified under Megan’s Law remain subject to Megan’s Law reporting requirements despite S.B. 10 enactment)
State v. Fischer, 128 Ohio St.3d 92 (Supreme Court of Ohio) (void sentences are reviewable at any time; res judicata does not bar collateral attack on void judgments)