Published: June 09, 2009 12:13 pm      

Court of Appeals rules Dowdell allowed in Jeffersonville parks

The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a decision by Clark County Superior Court No. 1 banning convicted sex offender Eric Dowdell from going in Jeffersonville parks.

An ordinance, which was passed by the Jeffersonville City Council in January of 2007, prohibits sex offenders from ever entering Jeffersonville’s municipally-owned parks. The ordinance allows for sex offenders to request an exemption.

The majority opinion of the Court of Appeals described the exemption process as “extraordinarily burdensome and virtually illusory.”

Eric Dowdell was convicted of sexual battery of a 13-year-old girl in 1996. His duty to register as a sex offender ended in 2006.

Jeffersonville City Court Judge Ken Pierce and former Clark County Circuit Court Judge Abe Navarro both denied Dowdell’s request for an exemption, citing Dowdell’s lengthy criminal history. Judge Vicki Carmichael ruled in November that the ordinance was not unconstitutional.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the ordinance, as applied to Dowdell, violates the Constitution’s prohibition on ex post facto laws because the ordinance was not enacted until after Dowdell was convicted, served his sentence and completed his registration requirement.