Harless v. Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision

Summary

The Oregon Court of Appeals reviewed a Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision order setting Mark Todd Harless's sex offender notification level at Level 3. The court declined to address arguments concerning amendments to ORS 163A.100 and related due process issues in the first instance, vacated the board's order, and remanded for a new assessment.

Holdings

1. The court declined to decide arguments concerning the effect of Senate Bill 1122, including petitioner's due process arguments, because the board should address them in the first instance on remand and petitioner may then seek judicial review of the board's new order.
2. The court declined to consider the board's mootness argument because it depended on the unresolved premise that the 2025 amendments demonstrated that the board had correctly assessed petitioner's sex offender notification level.
3. Because the governing law changed while the case was pending and the board must reconsider its decision under the amended law, the court vacated the board's order and remanded for a new assessment of petitioner's sex offender notification level.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Court of Appeals should reverse and remand or vacate and remand the board's final order after the legislature amended ORS 163A.100.
2. Whether the Court of Appeals should decide in the first instance the effect of Senate Bill 1122 and petitioner's related due process arguments.
3. Whether the board's mootness argument should be decided on the assumption that the statutory amendments rendered its assessment correct.

Disposition

vacated