A panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals has rejected the appeal of Barbara Jo Schnegelsiepen, who was convicted of striking a Lawrence police officer with a car.

In a decision released Friday, the three-judge panel affirmed a district court order requiring the Topeka woman to register under the Kansas Offender Registration Act and dismissed her contention she was improperly sentenced.

On Dec. 2, 2008, Lawrence police tried to stop Schnegelsiepen, who was 27 at the time, because they believed the vehicle she was driving had been involved in several burglaries.

During the pursuit, Schnegelsiepen struck Lawrence Police Officer Doug Payne, who was trying to place stop sticks on U.S. Highway 40, east of Big Springs. Payne was treated at a hospital and released the following day. Schnegelsiepen also was accused of hitting an occupied police car.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer and one count of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer. She was sentenced to 145 months in prison and ordered to pay $36,591 in restitution.

On appeal, Schnegelsiepen said District Court Judge Peggy Kittel failed to orally inform her at sentencing she must register under the Kansas Offender Registration Act.

There was a dispute over whether Kittel told Schnegelsiepen she would be required to “testify” or “register” or whether there was an error in the court transcript. The panel said it didn’t matter.

“In either case, though, the context in which the court made the statement suggests the court sufficiently informed Schnegelsiepen that her use of a deadly weapon in the commission of her crimes would require her to register under the KORA,” the appeals panel said.

Schnegelsiepen contended that being required to register as an offender may have increased her sentence because it included a finding of “use of a deadly weapon in the commission of her crime” and should have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But the appeals panel said offender registration under KORA did not increase her sentence beyond the statutory maximum.