00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 187                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to the destruction, desecration, and vandalism of cemeteries and                                       
02 graves."                                                                                                                
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1.  AS 11.46.482(a) is amended to read:                                                                  
05            (a)  A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the second degree if,                                
06       having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a                                
07       right,                                                                                                            
08                 (1)  with intent to damage property of another, the person damages                                      
09       property of another in an amount of $500 or more;                                                                 
10                 (2)  the person tampers with an oil or gas pipeline or supporting facility                              
11       or an airplane or helicopter with reckless disregard for the risk of harm to or loss of the                       
12       property; or                                                                                                      
13                 (3)  the person recklessly creates a risk of damage in an amount                                        
14       exceeding $100,000 to property of another by the use of widely dangerous means; [.]                           

01                 (4)  [REPEALED]                                                                                         
02                 (5)  [REPEALED]                                                                                         
03                 (6)  the person knowingly                                                                           
04                      (A)  defaces, damages, or desecrates a cemetery or the                                         
05            contents of a cemetery or a tomb, grave, or memorial regardless of                                       
06            whether the tomb, grave, or memorial is in a cemetery or whether the                                     
07            cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial appears to be abandoned, lost, or                                     
08            neglected;                                                                                               
09                      (B)  removes human remains or associated burial artifacts                                      
10            from a cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial regardless of whether the                                      
11            cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial appears to be abandoned, lost, or                                     
12            neglected.                                                                                               
13    * Sec. 2.  AS 11.46.482 is amended by adding new subsections to read:                                              
14            (c)  It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under (a)(6) of this section that                         
15       the defendant, at the time of the offense, was                                                                    
16                 (1)  an employee of the cemetery and was engaged in an authorized                                       
17       activity on behalf of the cemetery; or                                                                            
18                 (2)  authorized by law to engage in the conduct.                                                        
19            (d)  In this section,                                                                                        
20                 (1)  "contents of a cemetery" includes anything that is designed or used                                
21       for the protection, security, or ornamentation of a cemetery and that is located within a                         
22       cemetery;                                                                                                         
23                 (2)  "memorial" means a headstone, marker, gravestone, monument, or                                     
24       other object designed or intended to mark a gravesite or to memorialize the death of a                            
25       person;                                                                                                           
26                 (3)  "tomb" means a mausoleum, columbarium, or crypt, whether that                                      
27       mausoleum, columbarium, or crypt is located above or below ground.                                                
28    * Sec. 3.  AS 41.35.200(c) is repealed.