02/10/2012 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

       HB 296 - CRIME OF ESCAPE/DEF. OF CORRECT. FACILITY                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:30:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GATTO announced  that the final order of  business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 296, "An  Act relating  to service of  process on                                                               
prisoners;  relating to  the  crime of  escape;  relating to  the                                                               
definition of  'correctional facility';  amending Rule  4, Alaska                                                               
Rules of Civil  Procedure; and providing for  an effective date."                                                               
[HB 296 had been amended on 2/1/12.]                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG,  on  behalf of  the  committee,  which                                                               
sponsored  HB  296, explained  that  after  discussions with  the                                                               
administration,  the  committee  is  choosing not  to  include  a                                                               
legislative purposes  section -  which would have  specified that                                                               
the bill's  intended purpose was  to codify the  court's decision                                                               
in  Bridge v.  State, 258  P.3d 923  (Alaska App.  2011); not  to                                                             
amend the statutes  pertaining to "good time" credit;  to amend -                                                               
as  suggested  by  the  administration  -  Section  3's  proposed                                                               
AS 11.56.310(c)'s  definition  of   what  constitutes  a  "secure                                                               
correctional facility";  and to  delete Section  4 -  which would                                                               
alter   existing   AS   11.81.900(b)(9)'s  definition   of   what                                                               
constitutes  a "correctional  facility".    A proposed  amendment                                                               
included  in members'  packets is  intended to  effect those  two                                                               
changes, which, again, were suggested by the administration.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:33:46 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG made  a  motion to  adopt Amendment  2,                                                               
labeled 27-LS1199\D.4, Gardner, 2/10/12, which read:                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, line 2:                                                                                                            
          Delete "'correctional facility'"                                                                                    
          Insert "'secure correctional facility'"                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, lines 13 - 18:                                                                                                     
          Delete all material and insert:                                                                                       
               "(1)  has construction fixtures or security                                                                      
     features that are designed to restrict the ability of                                                                      
       a person under official detention from leaving the                                                                       
     facility without lawful authority; or                                                                                      
               (2)  has correctional officers or other                                                                          
     persons authorized to prevent a person under official                                                                      
     detention from leaving without lawful authority."                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, lines 19 - 23:                                                                                                     
          Delete all material.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 3, line 2, following "Act,":                                                                                          
          Insert "and"                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 3, lines 3 - 4:                                                                                                       
          Delete "and the definition of "correctional                                                                           
     facility" in AS 11.81.900(b)(9), as amended by sec. 4                                                                      
     of this Act,"                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES objected.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KELLER questioned  whether  Section 4's  proposed                                                               
change  to the  definition in  AS 11.81.900(b)(9)  regarding what                                                               
constitutes   a   "correctional   facility"  would   impact   the                                                               
reimbursement  of  Medicaid  funds  to  the  state  for  eligible                                                               
prisoners.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG again  relayed that  Amendment 2  would                                                               
delete  Section 4;  furthermore, HB  296 is  only addressing  the                                                               
crime of  escape in the second  degree - AS 11.56.310 -  in which                                                               
the  person  would  have  had  to have  escaped  from  a  "secure                                                               
correctional facility," with that term then also being defined.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
The committee took an at-ease from 2:38 p.m. to 2:49 p.m.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:52:04 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DOUGLAS GARDNER, Director, Legal  Services, Legislative Legal and                                                               
Research Services, Legislative Affairs  Agency (LAA), in response                                                               
to questions, concurred  with Representative Gruenberg's comments                                                               
and explanations, and additionally  noted that under Amendment 2,                                                               
proposed AS  11.56.310(c)(2) would  use the broader  term, "other                                                               
persons",  whereas currently  under the  bill, it  uses the  more                                                               
limited term,  "other facility staff"; that  retention of Section                                                               
4 could  lead to conflicts  with regard to the  various statutory                                                               
definitions of  the term, "correctional  facility"; and  that the                                                               
bill addresses the statutes pertaining  to the crime of escape in                                                               
the  second  degree,  not the  statutes  pertaining  to  Medicaid                                                               
reimbursements.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG  indicated  a preference  for  removing                                                               
Section 4,  and for having HB  296 focus narrowly on  the court's                                                               
decision in Bridge.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GATTO relayed that HB 296,  as amended, would be held over,                                                               
with the motion to adopt Amendment 2 left pending.