The Iowa Supreme Court has again upheld the state’s living restrictions for sex offenders, a ruling connected to a Linn County man’s case. In 1997, Timothy Willard pled guilty to indecent contact with his stepdaughter who was 12 at the time.
In 2005, Willard bought a house in Alburnette that’s near a school. The Linn County sheriff told Willard he couldn’t live in the house, as state law forbids sex offenders from living within two-thousand feet of a school.
Willard refused to move and went to court, claiming the law was unconstitutional. The Iowa Supreme Court says "the two-thousand-foot rule is not necessarily the perfect protection against the danger posed by sex offenders." But the court ruled Willard does not have an "unfettered right" to choose where to live — because he’s a convicted sex offender.