A convicted sex offender forced to move by state law lost his bid for a court order that would have allowed him to return home, but his attorney said other legal options were available.

An attorney for the man called John A. Doe in court documents said he planned to file a preliminary plea to the Indiana Court of Appeals as a first step. The appellate court then would have 30 days to rule on whether Tippecanoe Superior Court Judge Don Johnson erred Tuesday when he denied Doe's request for a preliminary injunction.

"If that doesn't work, we still have one more petition on file -- the permanent injunction challenging the constitutionality of this law," attorney Chad Montgomery said. "We hope that through the permanent injunction, they don't apply the law at all."

Doe is one of 28 convicted sex offenders in Tippecanoe County whom prosecutors warned to find new homes because of a state law that prohibits them from living within 1,000 feet of a school, public park or youth program center. Doe was convicted of child molesting in 1988 and released from prison in 1992.

In May, the 56-year-old man was given 45 days to move because his home was near a church that hosts youth events. After moving to his brother's home about 25 miles away in Monticello, he was again warned to move because that residence is within 1,000 feet of a former school that is now used for administrative offices. He was supposed to move by Tuesday.

Doe filed a lawsuit in July asking Johnson to decide whether he still should be considered an offender against children and seeking to remain in his Lafayette home pending that decision. Johnson appointed two independent psychiatrists to evaluate Doe, but Montgomery said Tuesday his client still was waiting to be examined.

Johnson on Tuesday denied Doe's request for a preliminary injunction, saying, "The public interest will be disserved should the preliminary injunction be issued."