Honan

A jury convicted Donald William Honan of one count of lewd conduct (Pen. Code, § 647, subd. (a)), and one count of indecent exposure (§ 314, subd. I). At sentencing, the trial court placed Honan on three years’ informal probation with terms and conditions that included lifetime registration as a sex offender based on his indecent exposure conviction, as required by section 290.

Honan successfully appealed the registration requirement to the Appellate Division of the Orange County Superior Court on equal protection grounds. The appellate division agreed with Honan’s contention that mandatory sex offender registration for a conviction under section 314, subdivision 1, violates the constitutional guaranty of equal protection under the law. Reversing the judgment, the appellate division remanded the case to the trial judge for further proceedings under section 290.006 (discretionary registration).

The appellate division certified its opinion for publication and we transferred the matter here for review. We conclude Honan’s equal protection challenge lacks merit and thus affirm the registration requirement imposed by the trial court.

I

Facts

Jose Martinez-Gutierrez…