Legislature(2007 - 2008)SENATE FINANCE 532
03/26/2008 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB 303 | |
| SB185 | |
| HB 152 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 303 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 185 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 152 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SENATE BILL NO. 185
"An Act relating to sex offenders and child
kidnappers."
SENATOR BILL WIELECHOWSKI, presented an overview of the bill
updating the sex offender list to include the email
addresses and electronic identifiers of convicted sex
offenders and child kidnappers. He remarked that Alaska has
one of the highest internet uses in the country and one of
highest percentage of sex offenders in the nation. He argued
that the bill provides a powerful tool for law enforcement
to track the activities of convicted sex offenders and catch
and punish them when they break the law. Alaska currently
requires sex offenders to register their home addresses and
places of employment but there is, at present, no way to
track their internet communication. Senator Wielechowski
reviewed the bill sections. He noted that:
Section 1 makes not registering the sex offender's
email a crime.
Section 2, Page 3, line 4-6 added the definition of
what must be registered.
Section 3 states that the email must be registered
within one day.
Section 4 has two components, which were added after
statements from the Senate State Affairs Committee.
Section 4, paragraph 2, is a request from Senator
Stevens to make this information available to the
central registries of internet service providers.
Section 5 is the applicability section describing the
dates and times the bill goes into effect.
9:49:21 AM
Co-Chair Stedman questioned the deletion of "knowingly" on
Page 1, line 6.
GEORGE ASCOTT, STAFF, SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI, explained that
the word was deleted on the advice of drafter, Jerry Lukup,
Legislative Affairs legal.
9:50:26 AM
Co-Chair Stedman asked what restrictions are placed on
access to computers for sex offenders.
Senator Wielechowski remarked that this bill does not impact
the use of computers by sex offenders; the bill simply
requires them to register their email addresses.
9:50:42 AM
Senator Thomas requested an explanation on Page 3, lines 22-
31, on how someone could substantiate if their child was
having an internet conversation with a sex offender.
9:51:37 AM
Senator Wielechowski revealed that the original plan was to
generate a public list of sex offenders but the Department
of Public Safety realized this could be used by sex
offenders to network with one another to share pornography.
He explained there would be a system in place, within a
federal office, where parents could type in the email
address or identifier of an individual and find out if that
person is a registered sex offender.
9:52:15 AM
Senator Elton questioned why the registration fee was
assessed to the state and not the sex offender.
9:53:33 AM
KATHY MONFREDA, CHIEF OF CRIMINAL RECORDS AND IDENTIFICATION
BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, testified via
teleconference in support of the bill. She remarked that the
issue of having sex offenders pay for the registration had
occurred in the past but the purpose of the bill is to get
the sex offender to register and many offenders are indigent
and may not be able to pay.
9:54:48 AM
KAREN FOSTER, SURVIVING PARENTS COALITION, testified via
teleconference, and supported the bill. Ms. Foster, the
mother of Bonnie Craig who was murdered in 1994, shared the
statistics of child pornography and sexual predators. She
believed the bill would give law enforcement an incredible
tool to see if a registered sex offender is doing something
illegal on the computer. Ms. Foster stressed that this bill
will provide detailed information and evidence that will
help prosecute the offenders and provide more time to rescue
victims.
9:59:01 AM
PEYTON MERIDETH, DETECTIVE, FAIRBANKS POLICE DEPARTMENT
testified via teleconference, supported SB 185 on behalf of
the Fairbanks Police Department and Chief of Police, Dan
Hoffman. Mr. Peyton reported that he was the Agency
Representative for Fairbanks Police Department on the Alaska
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He remarked
that one of his jobs is to investigate child pornography
cases in conjunction with the Anchorage Police Department
and other statewide task force members. He felt that it
would greatly aid law enforcement if sex offenders had to
register their email or other internet identifiers so that
when the police department was researching proactive cases
against children, the offenders could be identified earlier.
10:01:51 AM
Senator Thomas questioned the number of registered child sex
offenders or child kidnappers in Alaska. Detective Meredith
responded he did not know but suggested contacting the
Department of Public Safety. Ms. Monfreda replied that there
are 4200 registered sex offenders in Alaska.
10:03:04 AM
RON TIDLER, DETECTIVE, ANCHORAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT,
testified via teleconference, and supported this bill on
behalf of the Anchorage Police Department and the Alaska
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
10:03:41 AM
ANNE CARPENETI, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, LEGAL SERVICES
SECTION-JUNEAU, CRIMINAL DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LAW, spoke
to the drafting of this law. She explained that it is not
necessary to put "knowingly" into the bill; it will be read
that way by the judge.
10:04:34 AM
Senator Olson questioned if this bill would apply to any one
who may be downloading sexual material.
Senator Wielechowski replied that the bill only applies to
convicted sex offenders.
Co-Chair Stedman referenced an earlier presentation on this
issue and noted the ability of the law enforcement arm to
monitor downloading and uploading of sexual material by
offenders. He reported that law enforcement has the
capability of pinpointing neighborhoods where the computer
resides. He stressed that the scope and magnitude of sex
offenders on the internet in Alaska is alarming.
10:06:49 AM
Co-Chair Hoffman MOVED to REPORT SB 185 (STA) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
SB 185 (STA) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass"
recommendation and accompanying new zero fiscal notes from
the Department of Corrections and the Department of
Administration and previously published fiscal notes from
the Department of Administration, Department of Law, and the
Department of Public Safety.
10:07:56 AM
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