The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that registered sex offenders who are homeless cannot be jailed for failing to immediately report their new address to law enforcement.
The ruling overturns one man’s seven-year prison sentence.
The state supreme court ruled that lower courts were wrong in finding that 45-year-old Lynn Lavern Burbey failed to register his new address within 72 hours. State law says sex offenders with registration requirements must report their new address within that time, but for people who are homeless it’s 90 days.
Justice Clint Bolick wrote for the unanimous court that because Burbey was a transient, he fell under the 90-day rule and not the shorter requirement that led to his conviction following his 2014 arrest.
Burbey will now be released from the state prison in Kingman.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
