HB 119: "An Act authorizing a sentencing court to impose a sentence of a day fine instead of a sentence of imprisonment on a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor; directing the Alaska Supreme Court to develop and implement a day fine plan; requiring the Department of Corrections to report to the legislature on the use of day fines; amending Alaska Rule of Criminal Procedure 32; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 119 01 "An Act authorizing a sentencing court to impose a sentence of a day fine 02 instead of a sentence of imprisonment on a defendant convicted of a 03 misdemeanor; directing the Alaska Supreme Court to develop and implement a 04 day fine plan; requiring the Department of Corrections to report to the 05 legislature on the use of day fines; amending Alaska Rule of Criminal Procedure 06 32; and providing for an effective date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. AS 12.55.015(a) is amended to read: 09 (a) Except as limited by AS 12.55.125 - 12.55.175, the court, in imposing 10 sentence on a defendant convicted of an offense, may singly or in combination 11 (1) impose a 12 (A) fine when authorized by law and as provided in 13 AS 12.55.035; or 14 (B) a day fine when authorized by law and as provided in
01 AS 12.55.036, if the court does not impose a term of periodic or continuous 02 imprisonment or place the defendant on probation; 03 (2) order the defendant to be placed on probation under conditions 04 specified by the court that may include provision for active supervision; 05 (3) impose a definite term of periodic imprisonment; 06 (4) impose a definite term of continuous imprisonment; 07 (5) order the defendant to make restitution under AS 12.55.045; 08 (6) order the defendant to carry out a continuous or periodic program 09 of community work under AS 12.55.055; 10 (7) suspend execution of all or a portion of the sentence imposed under 11 AS 12.55.080; 12 (8) suspend imposition of sentence under AS 12.55.085; 13 (9) order the forfeiture to the commissioner of public safety of a deadly 14 weapon that was in the actual possession of or used by the defendant during the 15 commission of an offense described in AS 11.41, AS 11.46, AS 11.56, or AS 11.61; 16 (10) order the defendant, while incarcerated, to participate in or comply 17 with the treatment plan of a rehabilitation program that is related to the defendant's 18 offense or to the defendant's rehabilitation [,] if the program is made available to the 19 defendant by the Department of Corrections. 20 * Sec. 2. AS 12.55.035(a) is amended to read: 21 (a) Except as provided in AS 12.55.036, upon [UPON] conviction of an 22 offense, a defendant may be sentenced to pay a fine as authorized in this section or as 23 otherwise authorized by law. 24 * Sec. 3. AS 12.55.035(b) is amended to read: 25 (b) Except as provided in AS 12.55.036, upon [UPON] conviction of an 26 offense, a defendant who is not an organization may be sentenced to pay, unless 27 otherwise specified in the provision of law defining the offense, a fine of no more than 28 (1) $75,000 for murder in the first or second degree, attempted murder 29 in the first degree, sexual assault in the first degree, sexual abuse of a minor in the 30 first degree, kidnapping, or misconduct involving a controlled substance in the first 31 degree;
01 (2) $50,000 for a class A, B, or C felony; 02 (3) $5,000 for a class A misdemeanor; 03 (4) $1,000 for a class B misdemeanor; 04 (5) $300 for a violation. 05 * Sec. 4. AS 12.55.035(c) is amended to read: 06 (c) Except as provided in AS 12.55.036, upon [UPON] conviction of an 07 offense, a defendant that is an organization may be sentenced to pay a fine not 08 exceeding the greater of 09 (1) an amount that is 10 (A) $500,000 for a felony offense or for a misdemeanor offense 11 that results in death; 12 (B) $200,000 for a class A misdemeanor offense that does not 13 result in death; 14 (C) $25,000 for a class B misdemeanor offense that does not 15 result in death; 16 (D) $10,000 for a violation; 17 (2) two times the pecuniary gain realized by the defendant as a result 18 of the offense; or 19 (3) two times the pecuniary damage or loss caused by the defendant to 20 another, or to the property of another, as a result of the offense. 21 * Sec. 5. AS 12.55 is amended by adding a new section to read: 22 Sec. 12.55.036. DAY FINES. (a) Upon conviction of a misdemeanor, other 23 than a violation of AS 11.41, a defendant may be sentenced to pay a day fine as 24 authorized by this section. If a day fine is imposed under this section, the defendant 25 may not be sentenced to pay a fine under AS 12.55.035, serve a term of imprisonment, 26 or be placed on probation. 27 (b) The Alaska Supreme Court shall adopt a day fine plan that includes 28 (1) an assessment of the gravity of all misdemeanor offenses, which 29 assessment shall include the existence of prior offenses, and the assignment of 30 presumptive penalties to them in day fine units, with a maximum presumptive penalty 31 of 365-day fine units;
01 (2) a schedule of the presumptive day fine penalties; 02 (3) procedures for a court to increase or decrease the presumptive day 03 fine penalties if the court finds the existence of an aggravating factor under 04 AS 12.55.155(c) or a mitigating factor under AS 12.55.155(d); 05 (4) a table for the conversion of a defendant's actual, potential, or 06 estimated gross income, less one-third for a defendant above the federal poverty 07 guideline as determined by the United States Department of Health and Human 08 Services, and less one-half for a defendant below the federal poverty guideline into net 09 daily income amounts; the table must include adjustments for the number of 10 dependents actually supported by the defendant; 11 (5) procedures for a court to gather information about the defendant's 12 occupation, actual, estimated, and potential income, number of dependents, and other 13 facts necessary or relevant to sentencing a person to a day fine; a court may order the 14 production of the financial or other records of a person it determines to be relevant to 15 a determination under this section; the procedures must include a requirement that the 16 facts shall be received 17 (A) under oath so that the defendant is subject to prosecution 18 under AS 11.56.200; or 19 (B) in a writing or recording that bears notice that false 20 statements made in it are punishable under AS 11.56.210; and 21 (6) other information the court determines to be necessary for 22 implementing the day fine plan. 23 (c) The amount of a day fine shall be the product of the net daily income of 24 the defendant, adjusted for the number of dependents actually supported by the 25 defendant, times the day fine penalty. When imposing a sentence of a day fine, the 26 court shall 27 (1) state on the record the 28 (A) presumptive day fine penalty for the offense, and whether 29 the court is adjusting the presumptive day fine penalty for the existence of 30 aggravating or mitigating factors; 31 (B) net daily income of the income of the defendant, adjusted
01 for the number of dependents actually supported by the defendant; and 02 (C) amount of the day fine; 03 (2) make written findings of the facts considered in 04 (A) finding the existence of aggravating or mitigating factors 05 and in assigning a value to those factors; and 06 (B) determining the defendant's gross and daily net incomes. 07 (d) When imposing a sentence of a day fine, the court may permit the payment 08 of the day fine in specified installments or within a certain period of time, provided 09 the entire day fine is paid within 180 days of imposition. 10 (e) A sentence imposing a day fine shall be considered a civil judgment for 11 the day fine. The Department of Law shall enforce the judgment and may utilize any 12 procedure available for the enforcement of civil judgments. If the Department of Law 13 uses the civil process of the court to enforce or collect a day fine, the department shall 14 be awarded costs and attorney fees. 15 (f) The Department of Corrections shall evaluate and annually report to the 16 legislature not later than February 1 on the use of day fines and their effectiveness. 17 The report must include 18 (1) a comparison of the number of defendants receiving a day fine as 19 a sentence with the number of other defendants, eligible to receive a day fine, who 20 receive another sentence; 21 (2) a comparison of the recidivism rates between defendants receiving 22 a day fine with other defendants, 23 (A) eligible for a day fine, who receive another sentence; and 24 (B) not eligible for a day fine, who receive another sentence; 25 (3) the potential savings to the state from the number of defendants, 26 who are eligible to receive a sentence of imprisonment, and who receive a day fine, 27 assuming those defendants would have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment; 28 (4) the amount of day fines collected, the success rate of collections, 29 and the number of cases requiring civil process to collect the day fine; and 30 (5) recommendations concerning expansion or restriction of the use of 31 day fines, including proposals for legislation.
01 * Sec. 6. CHANGE OF CRIMINAL RULE. AS 12.55.036, added by sec. 5 of this Act, has 02 the effect of modifying the sentencing provisions of Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure 32, 03 by establishing procedures for imposition of sentences of day fines. 04 * Sec. 7. AS 12.55.036(f), as enacted by sec. 5 of this Act, is repealed February 2, 2003. 05 * Sec. 8. This Act takes effect July 1, 1993.