Colorado’s second-highest court last week clarified for the first time that a 2018 change to state law now permits severely disabled sex offenders who are otherwise required to register for life to discontinue their registrations.

Defendants convicted of certain serious sex crimes are generally required to register for the rest of their lives. However, the legislature in 2018 enacted a set of changes by overwhelming majorities to the sex offender registration system, including a mechanism to allow those with severe physical or intellectual disabilities to de-register, “notwithstanding any other provision” to the contrary.

In 2021, Maurice Warren filed a petition in Jefferson County to discontinue his lifetime sex offender registration for an offense he pleaded guilty to in 1997. Paperwork from the time showed Warren to have a very low IQ, and he has resided in an assisted living facility since his release from prison.

Prosecutors opposed Warren’s attempt to de-register, arguing, among other things, his offense required him to register for life. District Court Judge Tamara S. Russell disagreed, finding the 2018 change did enable Warren to remove himself from the sex offender registry. However, without holding a hearing, she concluded Warren “provided no evidence” that he does not pose a public safety risk, which is a requirement for de-registration.

On appeal, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office maintained the legislature’s 2018 exception for severely disabled defendants did not apply to those with mandatory lifetime registrations. But a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals concluded the language of the law clearly undermined the government’s position.

“Indeed, the categorical ‘notwithstanding’ clause,” wrote Judge Stephanie Dunn on May 30, “communicates a clear intent to allow a narrow group of persons subject to sex offender registration — those who are permanently incapacitated and pose no unreasonable public safety threat — to petition to discontinue registration.”

The panel determined Russell needed to hold a hearing on Warren’s request and permit him to de-register if he met the criteria.

Former Sen. Daniel Kagan, D-Cherry Hills Village, who sponsored the 2018 change to the sex offender registration law, agreed the legislature had wanted severely disabled defendants like Warren to be able to discontinue their registrations.

“Absolutely, we intended exactly that,” he said. “We tried to make that as clear as possible in the statute and I am very glad the Court of Appeals recognized that.”

The case is People v. Warren.