Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/11/1998 01:10 PM House JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 252 - REGISTRATION OF SEX & CHILD OFFENDERS Number 1901 CHAIRMAN GREEN announced the next item of business would be HB 252, "An Act relating to criminal records; relating to notice about and registration of sex offenders and child kidnappers; and amending Rules 11(c) and 32(c), Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure." Number 1907 TED BACHMAN, Captain, Division of Alaska State Troopers, Department of Public Safety (DPS), testified via teleconference from Anchorage, specifying that he is staff assistant to the director. He said they have worked with the sponsor of this bill since its beginning and are pleased with how it is going. However, there are a small number of changes they recommend, a couple of which are housekeeping changes. He asked if the committee wanted to address those now or if he should submit them to the sponsor. CHAIRMAN GREEN suggested he send those to the sponsor but provide the committee with a brief overview. Number 1950 CAPTAIN BACHMAN responded, "Certainly. We think that there are possibly some problems in Section 1 and subsection (a)(2) of the proposed statute, and also in subsection (b) of the statute, some possible constitutional problems that may arise out of the way that's crafted at this point. And we would have some recommended changes ... to the language in those particular sections." He added that he wouldn't go through the minor housekeeping changes. CHAIRMAN GREEN asked whether he would submit those as well to the sponsor. CAPTAIN BACHMAN said yes. He specified that he was working from Version R [0-LS0818\R, Luckhaupt, 2/9/98] and stated his understanding that it would be submitted as a proposed committee substitute. He advised members that in Section 10, they recommend that the offense be changed from perjury to unsworn falsification. He said that again, he didn't think it was worth going over all the reasons at this point. He then stated his belief that the rest of the changes are minor housekeeping one-word changes, which they could submit through the sponsor. Number 2019 CHAIRMAN GREEN asked whether there were questions, then asked Diane Schenker of DPS, who was on teleconference from Anchorage, if she wished to testify; however, Ms. Schenker said she would answer questions. Number 2052 PAUL SWEET testified via teleconference from the Mat-Su Legislative Information Office (LIO). He said for three years, he'd been trying to get information on people who have not registered, but he is constantly told that it is privileged, private or confidential. Sex offenders have been through the court system and have been prosecuted; all their testimony and whatever they get for a sentence is in the court records and therefore available. And yet, their names are in the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) file marked confidential. He said he doesn't understand that. MR. SWEET told members, "So, what I'm trying to prevent is if somebody goes wild out there and kills some kid or maims them or mutilate them, how are you going to explain to the parents that the only reason they didn't know that this guy was in their neighborhood is because they failed to sign up, and you couldn't release the information because it's confidential?" CHAIRMAN GREEN said he could commiserate with that concern. Number 2099 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER advised Mr. Sweet that he has some familiarity with that question. He explained, "It is an anomaly of the law that is inconsistent totally. And to draw on our recent discussion about an open-ended constitutional amendment, and it is because of that open-ended constitutional amendment of privacy that we have the APSIN regulations that preclude giving out information that is otherwise readily available in the court system. And so, you've got to be careful what you ask for, 'cause you might get it." Number 2120 MR. SWEET suggested that it tells a sex offender that if he doesn't feel like signing up, nothing will happen until he is caught. Therefore, nobody wants to come in and sign up automatically to be put on the Internet. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER responded, "I think that the original provision of requiring the offender to return and himself or herself sign up was, I think, an attempt to make sure that they knew where they were going to be living or something. But right now, that practice has changed, and they're being required to sign up before their release. So, most recently, and here in the future, that information will certainly be available in all cases." Number 2135 MR. SWEET stated that the original sex offender registration is very good, but we don't seem to be abiding by it very well. He asked why we don't adopt the Wetterling Act, the federal law that will be required in a year and a half anyway, which will eliminate "privacy and all that sort of thing" when it comes to a sex offender. MR. SWEET told members another reason he'd heard for not being given information is that the agency hadn't been notified yet. He said this will also eliminate that problem, because the federal law says it isn't up to the state to notify the individual; it is up to the individual. Mr. Sweet suggested coming up with a sentence that will make offenders think before deciding not to sign up. He said a fine won't do any good, because they would have to chase offenders down to collect the fines, year after year. MR. SWEET suggested if the worst offenders were jailed, others would come running through the doors to sign up. He cited some figures and estimated that every 60th man in Alaska is some kind of sex offender. "And that's the ones we know about," he added. "That's not a good average." He indicated that of the 500-some offenders in the jail system, he can't find out if they are repeat offenders of sex crimes, if they violated parole, or if they have other felony convictions. He stated, "There doesn't seem to be any numbers on that. So, that still leaves a thousand that we're looking for. And the way I feel is that those thousand are probably worse offenders than the ones who've already signed up; I don't know." He suggested getting tough on them, again suggesting that the Wetterling Act would be a good one to adopt, because they'll have to do it anyway, or some portion of it, anyway. Number 2278 CHAIRMAN GREEN advised testifiers that they hadn't yet debated the bill but had wanted to get their testimony on record. Number 2298 SUSAN G. WIBKER, Assistant Attorney General, Human Services Section, Civil Division (Anchorage), Department of Law, came forward, specifying that she was standing in for Anne Carpeneti of the Criminal Division, who has worked on this bill. Ms. Wibker said she had a recommendation that she believes would close a bit of a loophole and that might help address some of the caller's concerns. She offered to submit it in writing or discuss it now. She added, "I think Public Safety talked to Representative Ryan about it this morning, so he knows that this is a recommendation that Law and Public Safety have agreed would be a good idea to close a bit of a loophole." MS. WIBKER referred to page 3, line 27, subsection (2). She recommended that it say, "A sex offender or child kidnapper who is physically present in the state shall register as provided in this section. The sex offender or child kidnapper shall register by the next working day following conviction for a sex offense or child kidnapping if the sex offender is not incarcerated at the time of conviction." MS. WIBKER explained, "The reason that Public Safety and the Criminal Division are recommending that is that there are cases where someone may be convicted by either coming in and pleading no contest or having a jury come back with a verdict of guilt. Their sentencing is then set 60 days later, to give time for a pre-sentence report. conviction and the date of sentencing, they can flee the state, and the duty to register never kicks in, so that they're convicted but unsentenced. There's no judgment, and they're not registered." MS. WIBKER continued, "I actually had that happen to me in a case ... where I had a jury convict a guy; it was in May of '95. Within 48 hours, he left - probably left the country but certainly left the state. He's never been found. There's a warrant out for his arrest. ... If you look in APSIN now, there's not even a record of the conviction. So, this would put every conviction -- at the time of conviction, the duty to register would kick in and give them one day." Number 2390 MS. WIBKER continued, "Another way to even close that gap more securely is toward the end of the bill, where it talks about all the different kinds of information that can be forwarded, on pages 8 and 9, that section of the bill would allow either the court or the DA's office [Office of the District Attorney] at the time of the conviction to give that conviction to the Department of Public Safety, so that conviction could be put in the registry. And then it would be there, and if he registered, he'd be in compliance. If he fails to register, right there you've got the conviction and the failure to register, out of compliance. That doesn't require an amendment in the statute. It requires just a change in practice, that either the DA or the court - that's something we can work out - would immediately get that conviction information into the registry, which it looks like this statute allows." MS. WIBKER concluded, "So, Representative Ryan has been made aware of that. The Governor's child protection bill has ... a sex offender registration provision in it, and we're recommending, whatever is passed, that that little hole be closed." Number 2450 CHAIRMAN GREEN asked whether David Pree, legislative assistant to sponsor Representative Ryan, wished to comment; Mr. Pree said he was available for questions. Chairman Green then closed public testimony and indicated HB 252 would be held over.
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