Legislature(1993 - 1994)
01/20/1993 01:00 PM House JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 20, 1993
1:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Rep. Brian Porter, Chairman
Rep. Jeannette James, Vice Chair
Rep. Pete Kott
Rep. Gail Phillips
Rep. Joe Green
Rep. Cliff Davidson
Rep. Jim Nordlund
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Organizational Meeting
General Discussion
Committee Procedures
Possible Committee Legislation
WITNESS REGISTER
Chris Christensen
Staff Counsel
Alaska Court System
303 K Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 264-8228
Position Statement: Explained proposed legislation
Gayle Horetski
Committee Counsel
House Judiciary Committee
Room 120, Capitol Building
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 465-4990
Position Statement: Explained proposed legislation
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-1, SIDE A
Number 000
The first meeting of the House Judiciary Committee was
called to order at 1:10 p.m. on January 20, 1993.
Members present were Representatives Porter, James, Kott,
Phillips, Green, Davidson, and Nordlund, representing a
quorum. There were no members absent.
Number 026
CHAIRMAN PORTER introduced committee staff: Gayle Horetski,
Committee Counsel, and Susan Phillips, Committee Secretary.
Chairman Porter then went over the schedule of committee
meetings for the rest of the session.
Number 095
CHAIRMAN PORTER proceeded to outline rules and procedures
under which the House Judiciary Committee would operate.
Number 207
CHAIRMAN PORTER explained what "committee bills" were, and
informed the committee that the Alaska Court System had
requested that the House Judiciary Committee submit three
pieces of legislation on its behalf. Chris Christensen from
the Alaska Court System was not yet present at the meeting,
so Chairman Porter asked Committee Aide Gayle Horetski to
address other subjects that the committee might choose to
incorporate into committee bills.
Number 263
GAYLE HORETSKI, Committee Counsel to the House Judiciary
Committee, discussed problems in the system perceived by the
Anchorage Crime Commission, including confidentiality in
juvenile court proceedings and lack of public access to the
result of these proceedings. Ms. Horetski explained that
the Anchorage Crime Commission would also like to see
legislation making it easier to "waive" juvenile offenders
from juvenile court into the adult court system. Another
area of interest for the Anchorage Crime Commission was
parental responsibility and financial liability with regard
to juvenile offenders. Other topics of interest included a
conspiracy law and limits on the terms of elected officials.
Number 340
MS. HORETSKI then mentioned other subject areas that the
committee could incorporate into committee legislation,
including forfeiture of property used in criminal offenses,
registration of sex offenders, the state's right to appeal
in criminal cases, lowering the blood alcohol content for
DWI cases from .10 to .08, extending the maximum period of
probation from five to ten years, stalking, criminal history
records, and mandatory testing of convicted sex offenders
for the HIV virus. Ms. Horetski explained that bills
addressing some of these topics had already been introduced
this year; and more would likely be introduced in the near
future by sponsors other than the House Judiciary Committee.
Number 408
CHAIRMAN PORTER brought up proposals from the Alaska
Sentencing Commission (the Commission), which would be
discussed at a Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee
meeting the following week. Of particular importance to the
Commission was that its database system continue to receive
funding after the Commission "sunsets" at the end of the
current fiscal year.
CHAIRMAN PORTER asked other committee members to comment on
these or other subjects for proposed committee legislation.
Number 451
REP. GREEN commented that he was pleasantly surprised to
have been named to the committee and pledged to work hard on
the committee's business.
REP. KOTT said that he was also pleased at having been named
to the committee and introduced his aide, George Dozier.
REP. JAMES noted her satisfaction at being a member of the
House Judiciary Committee and expressed the need to balance
punishment and deterrence with "what works." She also
encouraged the use of mediation instead of court proceedings
in some cases. She then introduced her aide, Walt Wilcox.
Number 487
REP. PHILLIPS said she was glad to be a part of the
committee as well, and looked forward to working with other
committee members. She stressed the need to address the
problem of overcrowded jails, to revise sentencing
procedures, and to develop a more manageable method of
punishment for nonviolent crimes. She then presented her
aide, Sandy Nusbaum, to the committee.
Number 500
REP. NORDLUND introduced his aide, Dennis Poshard. He noted
his pleasure at being a part of the committee. He stressed
his support for balancing the need to punish criminals with
the cost borne by the state for that punishment. He also
mentioned the problem of prison overcrowding.
Number 515
REP. DAVIDSON added his good feelings about the committee
and noted the need for rule makers to work closely with rule
enforcers. He mentioned the current diminishment of
individual rights in our society, and the loss of privacy
through technology. He said that our society could be one
of total surveillance, if so chosen by enforcement
officials. Accordingly, Rep. Davidson expressed his
interest in civil liberties issues that would come before
the committee.
Number 535
CHAIRMAN PORTER noted the arrival of Chris Christensen of
the Alaska Court System and asked him to address the
committee.
Number 536
CHRIS CHRISTENSEN, staff counsel for the Alaska Court System
(the Court System), told the committee members that under
present state law, only legislators, legislative committees,
and the governor are allowed to introduce legislation. The
Supreme Court does not have this authority. Consequently,
the Court System has traditionally requested that the
Judiciary Committee submit legislation on its behalf. This
year, the Court System has requested that the Judiciary
Committee submit three pieces of legislation. All three
bills were submitted in previous years; they all passed the
House but failed to make it through the Senate.
Number 555
MR. CHRISTENSEN explained that the former House Bill 93
would make a minor, housekeeping change to statutes relating
to awarding shared custody of a child. He explained that
this bill passed the House last year, but was later attached
to a controversial piece of legislation, which failed to
pass the Senate.
MR. CHRISTENSEN next explained the former House Bill 141,
which would give the Supreme Court the authority to
introduce its own legislation in a manner similar to that
followed by the governor. This bill unanimously passed the
House last year, but did not pass out of the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Number 578
MR. CHRISTENSEN also told committee members about the third
bill the Court System had asked the committee to introduce,
the former House Bill 172. He said this bill would make a
technical change relating to the preparation of the master
jury list. Jurors are drawn from the Permanent Fund
Dividend rolls; House Bill 172 would change the date when
the juror list is received by the Court System, increasing
administrative efficiency. This bill also passed the House
unanimously last year. Mr. Christensen offered to answer
any questions committee members might have.
Number 588
REP. PHILLIPS asked Mr. Christensen how many years the Court
System had been attempting to gain the authority to
introduce its own legislation.
Number 591
MR. CHRISTENSEN said that the Court System had submitted
legislation on the subject for the first time during the
17th Legislature. He then offered a brief history of the
Court System's legislation, as submitted by Judiciary
Committees and legislators, and accompanying problems. By
allowing the Court System to introduce its own legislation,
the process would be depoliticized, he said. Because the
Court System usually only takes positions on bills that
affect its internal functions, and not on policy matters,
the Court System would like to see its own bills removed
somewhat from partisan politics.
REP. DAVIDSON asked what advantages would accrue to the
judicial branch of government as a result of this bill, and
why there had been opposition to this change in the past.
Number 637
MR. CHRISTENSEN stated that in the past, there was no
opposition in the House. Two senators on the Senate
Judiciary Committee, Senator Adams and Senator Collins, felt
that it was inappropriate that the Court System present
bills to the legislature directly. Mr. Christensen cited
two reasons why the Court System thought the change was
appropriate. First, the change would allow the Supreme
Court's name to appear on the bill, allowing people to
understand where the bill came from. Also, the change would
allow for greater efficiency when the Court System decides
to introduce a bill.
REP. DAVIDSON said that he felt this change was a very
important one. He discussed the system of checks and
balances in our governmental structure, and said that a
fuller understanding was needed of how this change would
affect that system of checks and balances.
REP. KOTT asked Mr. Christensen what the Senate's major
objections to the bill were last year.
MR. CHRISTENSEN said that the objections were purely
philosophical in nature. The Senators simply felt that the
Court System should not be able to directly introduce
legislation, but should continue to be required to request
that bills be introduced on its behalf.
REP. KOTT mentioned that he, like Rep. Davidson, was also
concerned about this bill's possible effect on the
separation of powers. He asked Mr. Christensen how many
other states allowed their court systems the ability to
submit legislation directly.
MR. CHRISTENSEN said that he had never researched that
issue.
Number 685
CHAIRMAN PORTER ascertained that committee members had no
other questions for Mr. Christensen. He mentioned that some
committee members were obviously interested in researching
this issue prior to making a decision on submitting a bill
on the Court System's behalf. The proposed Court System
legislation would be back before the committee at the
January 27, 1993, meeting of the committee. Chairman Porter
said that his initial reaction to the Court's desire to
submit its own legislation was supportive, but he now felt
that there may be more to this issue than meets the eye.
Number 711
REP. NORDLUND said that he had no objection to the committee
introducing the three Court System bills. Regarding other
subjects that could become committee bills, he said that
committee bills often became "fatherless children," lacking
support of the committee and its members when the bills
needed to be moved through the legislative process.
Number 728
CHAIRMAN PORTER expressed appreciation for Rep. Nordlund's
remarks.
Number 731
REP. JAMES noted that if the Court System were to take the
lead role in moving its legislation through the legislative
process, the committee's role would be only that of
introducing the bills.
Number 739
CHAIRMAN PORTER said that he expected that if the Judiciary
Committee were to introduce the three Court System bills,
the Court System would be very involved in moving the
legislation through the legislative process.
Number 744
MR. CHRISTENSEN indicated that Chairman Porter's comment was
correct, that once submitted by the Judiciary Committee, the
bills would be handled by the Court System. He also said
that the content of each of the three bills would require
them to get a Judiciary Committee referral so that the
committee would have an opportunity to carefully examine the
bills after they were introduced.
REP. KOTT asked about the scheduling of committee bills as
compared to scheduling of all other bills.
Number 762
CHAIRMAN PORTER outlined the process for developing,
introducing and scheduling committee bills. He then thanked
the House leadership, particularly the Rules Committee, for
their assistance in acquiring and setting up the committee
room. He discussed further changes planned for the
committee room.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 796
CHAIRMAN PORTER adjourned the meeting at 1:54 p.m.
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