GALLIPOLIS — Many individuals who once had to register as sex offenders, now may be removed from the sex offender registry.

In a ruling earlier this month, the Ohio Supreme Court voted to void two provisions as unconstitutional within the Ohio Adam Walsh Act (AWA).

The AWA went into effect on Jan. 1, 2008, and allowed the state attorney general to reclassify sex offenders who had already been classified under Megan’s Law.

The reclassification system categorized offenders into three tiers based solely upon the crime for which they were convicted and gave the Ohio attorney general the authority to review judicial decisions, a violation of the separation-of-powers doctrine.

The case was brought before the Ohio Supreme Court by three Ohio men, Christian Bodyke, David Schwab and Gerald Phillips, who were convicted separately for sex-related crimes prior to 2007. Due to the AWA, Bodyke, Schwab and Phillips were subject to more stringent registration and community notification requirements than they were previously subject to based upon their ruled classifications under Megan’s Law.

The court voted 5-1 in favor of overturning the two reclassification provisions of the AWA, while leaving the majority of the statue in place.

According to a statement released by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, offenders classified on or after Jan. 1, 2008, are unaffected by the recent ruling. However, 26,000 offenders who had been reclassified under the AWA will now be returned to their prior classifications, before the act was passed.

“To comply with the court’s order, my office will work to reclassify these offenders through Ohio’s Electronic Sex Offender Registration and Notification database and will notify offenders of their new classification,” Cordray said. “We will also continue to support local law enforcement agencies as they work to provide families with the information they need to keep their children safe.”

Over the next several weeks, the attorney general’s office will remove individuals from the sex offender registry who no longer have to register, and will contact those offenders who have new classifications.

Authorities recommend that all sex offenders continue to report to the local sheriff’s office until their status has been finally determined.