Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
03/30/2006 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB45 | |
| SB249 | |
| HJR27 | |
| HB461 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 45 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 249 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HJR 27 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 461 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 249-REPORTING BAIL AND RELEASE INFORMATION 8:38:50 AM CHAIR SEATON announced that the next order of business was CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 249(JUD), "An Act relating to criminal justice information." 8:38:51 AM SENATOR HOLLIS FRENCH, Alaska State Legislature, presented SB 249 as sponsor. He related a story to illustrate why the proposed legislation is necessary as follows: About a year ago, on the Summer Solstice, in my ... neighborhood, there was a SWAT team shut down of the neighborhood due to a domestic violence disturbance. A former boyfriend of a woman that lived just around the corner from my house had returned to that home, had pulled a gun on her, [and] threatened her. She called the police, and when the police arrived, he fired a shot at the police. That of course caused a major response from the Anchorage police department. Neighbors were hustled out of their homes [and] the street was cordoned off. Eight hours later, thankfully, the system was defused without anyone having been hurt, thanks to the good work of the Anchorage Police Department. ... That person had been, of course, arrested, charged with a crime, put in jail, and he'd bailed out of jail. Two weeks later he shows up at the same house again, and a neighbor sees him there and knows the system well enough to know for a certainty that he was not allowed to be back at that location; he had been warned to stay away from there by the judge. She called the police, a patrol officer showed up, and when she told her story to the patrol officer, he went back to his car, checked the computer, and came out and said, "There's nothing I can do; there's nothing in the computer that tells me that he's not allowed to be there." Well that, of course, caused her great consternation. She called several people, including myself, and we were able to get the situation straightened out safely. But it really highlighted the lack of communication, if you will, between the court system and patrol officers. And that's the impetus behind this fairly short and fairly simple bill. SENATOR FRENCH said the idea is to provide a place in the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) to record bail information. He explained that bail information frequently prohibits individuals from doing things that are otherwise lawful. He said, "It can prohibit you from driving a car, from going to a certain place in a part of town, or even from consuming alcohol in no matter how small amounts. And those are things that police can't detect as being unlawful, unless they know what the conditions of bail are." SENATOR FRENCH credited the chair of the House Judiciary Standing Committee for pointing out that conditions of parole were not included. He said the bill comes with three fiscal notes. He said, "It doesn't command that this information suddenly be added, it just puts a place in the absent architecture for the addition of that information, and future efforts will be necessary to complete the link ... to provide enough horse power to make that a reality." 8:41:49 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked what effect the bill would have on the street if it were to pass right now unchanged. 8:42:09 AM SENATOR FRENCH answered that the changes would not be apparent over night; however, he said there are groups at work on the issue, including "the magic group" in Anchorage, which is comprised of people from the Alaska State Troopers, the Department of Law, and the court system, including [information technology (IT)] people from each. He noted that [the magic group] is trying to find a way to "put this information out ...." 8:42:43 AM CHAIR SEATON said he wants to clarify that this bill does not mandate that "this immediately be done," but would provide statutory framework. SENATOR HOLLIS responded, "It's more permissive than mandatory, yes ...." REPRESENTATIVE LYNN said SB 249 seems like common sense. SENATOR FRENCH, in response to a question from Representative Gardner, stated that there has been no opposition to SB 249. 8:43:52 AM CHAIR SEATON, after ascertaining that there was no one else to testify, closed public testimony. 8:44:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER moved to report CSSB 249(JUD) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSSB 249(JUD) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
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