03/10/2008 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB214 | |
| HB267 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 214 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 267 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 10, 2008
3:46 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Charlie Huggins, Chair
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Bill Wielechowski
Senator Thomas Wagoner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Bert Stedman, Vice Chair
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Jay Ramras
Representative Craig Johnson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 214
"An Act relating to big game hunting by nonresident members of
the military service and their dependents; and providing for an
effective date."
HEARD AND HELD
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 267(RES)
"An Act relating to authorizing the state to join with other
states entering into the Wildlife Violator Compact; excluding
commercial fishing and big game commercial hunting services from
the provisions of the compact; and directing the initiation of
civil actions to revoke appropriate licenses in this state based
on a licensee's violation of or failure to comply with the terms
of a wildlife resource citation issued in another state that is
a party to the compact."
HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 214
SHORT TITLE: HUNTING BY MILITARY, COAST GD., DEPENDENTS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) HUGGINS
01/16/08 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/4/08
01/16/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/08 (S) RES
02/27/08 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/27/08 (S) Heard & Held
02/27/08 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/10/08 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: HB 267
SHORT TITLE: WILDLIFE VIOLATOR COMPACT
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) JOHNSON
01/04/08 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/4/08
01/15/08 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/15/08 (H) RES, FIN
01/18/08 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
01/18/08 (H) Heard & Held
01/18/08 (H) MINUTE(RES)
01/28/08 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
01/28/08 (H) Heard & Held
01/28/08 (H) MINUTE(RES)
02/06/08 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
02/06/08 (H) Moved CSHB 267(RES) Out of Committee
02/06/08 (H) MINUTE(RES)
02/08/08 (H) RES RPT CS(RES) NT 4DP 2NR 1AM
02/08/08 (H) DP: SEATON, FAIRCLOUGH, GATTO, JOHNSON
02/08/08 (H) NR: GUTTENBERG, EDGMON
02/08/08 (H) AM: KAWASAKI
02/19/08 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
02/19/08 (H) Moved CSHB 267(RES) Out of Committee
02/19/08 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
02/20/08 (H) FIN RPT CS(RES) NT 8DP 1NR
02/20/08 (H) DP: KELLY, CRAWFORD, STOLTZE, HAWKER,
NELSON, THOMAS, MEYER, CHENAULT
02/20/08 (H) NR: GARA
03/03/08 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
03/03/08 (H) VERSION: CSHB 267(RES)
03/04/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/04/08 (S) RES
03/10/08 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
JODY SIMPSON
Staff to Senator Huggins
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 214 for the sponsor.
KRISTIN WRIGHT, Supervisor
Finance Licensing
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 214.
KEVIN SAXBY, Senior Assistant Attorney General
Department of Law (DOL)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered legal questions on CSSB 214(RES)
and CSHB 267(RES).
JEANNE OSTNES
Staff to Representative Craig Johnson
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on CSHB 267(RES) for the sponsor.
CAPTAIN BURKE WALDRON
Alaska Wildlife Troopers
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported CSHB 267(RES).
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR CHARLIE HUGGINS called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:46:49 PM. Present at the call to
order were Senators Green, McGuire, Stevens, Wielechowski,
Wagoner and Huggins.
SB 214-HUNTING BY MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY
3:47:43 PM
CHAIR CHARLIE HUGGINS announced SB 214 to be up for
consideration.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS moved to bring CSSB 214(RES), labeled 25-
LS1261\C, before the committee. There were no objections and it
was so ordered.
3:48:03 PM
JODY SIMPSON, staff to Senator Huggins, sponsor of SB 214, said
this legislation waives the 12-month waiting period for active
military members and their dependents to purchase big game tags
and hunting and fishing licenses at a resident rate. The CS was
recommended by the Department of Law (DOL) to better accomplish
the sponsor's intent and Mr. Saxby would discuss the differences
in it.
3:49:35 PM
KRISTIN WRIGHT, Supervisor, Finance Licensing, Alaska Department
of Fish and Game (ADF&G), said she didn't have anything to add,
but would answer questions.
3:49:56 PM
SENATOR LESIL MCGUIRE asked if she considered the committee
discussion regarding removing the controversial big game stuff
from the original bill and keeping the license as a specialized
non-resident military hunting tag (or privilege) as opposed to
redefining the definition of "resident."
MS. SIMPSON answered that is what the CS does in effect. It
deleted the language that pertained to the three dangerous
species and the guiding component. It attacks the problem
through the licensing provisions rather than through the
residency provisions. She advised that it still deletes the
guiding component and the committee might want to consider
retaining that. She has asked the Department of Law to provide
language.
CHAIR HUGGINS clarified if you're a private and move to Alaska,
you can get a license to hunt the three big game species.
Presently, language is being drafted that would exempt those
three species and a private could not hunt those three species
without a guide. A new military person who moved to Alaska could
not hunt goat, brown bear or sheep without a guide without a
license.
He said this issue was brought forward by the Professional Guide
Association. He explained that it's not about the guiding
business, because only about three people did that in the last
year. It's more about the strength of the residency provision in
requiring guides.
3:52:10 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE commented that she thought they were going to
simply take out the controversial three big game folks, but
Version C on line 6, still redefines "resident" as a method of
providing these privileges as opposed to the chair's bill, which
gives a special license for non-resident military folks, which
she supports. She asked Mr. Saxby to comment on that.
3:53:15 PM
KEVIN SAXBY, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Department of
Law (DOL), said he is assigned to the Board of Game and big game
issues in general. He explained that the first version of the
bill creates a specialized class of non-residents who would be
active duty military personnel permanently assigned to Alaska.
It does that by setting up a series of exceptions to the general
rules for non-residents. But the CS simply defines people who
are permanently assigned here as residents, and whenever rules
apply to residents in general, they would apply to these people
as well. So it meets all the goals of the original bill, which
also exempted this new class of non-resident from the guide
requirements along with a series of other exemptions. It meets
all those goals with a single sentence, and it's a much more
legally defensible position to take.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said she respectfully disagreed. She has heard
both legal arguments and she didn't see any problem with giving
a specialized privilege; the state does it for disabled
veterans, for instance. It's a privilege and not a right anyway;
so that's a lesser standard. However, she had deep concerns that
redefining "resident" would be setting a precedent, even though
it's just in the area of hunting right now. That is a dangerous
road to go down.
3:56:10 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said it's his experience that generally speaking
soldiers are considered residents for purposes of hunting and
fishing.
SENATOR MCGUIRE responded that the net affect will be the same;
military members get these privileges and they know that the
state appreciates their service. But even the department brought
up the point of how that would be explained to vendors because
they don't have access to all the information about the
definition of a resident. Redefining "resident" gets into an
area where other classes of people ask why they don't get that
privilege, too.
3:58:48 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS directed the discussion to the licensing part of
the bill. It's fair to say that there are two or three places,
if they factor out the Coast Guard, where people would be issued
licenses: Elmendorf Air Force Base, Fort Richardson, Fort
Greely, Fort Wainwright and Eilson. He asked Ms. Wright how the
licensing would be done in those places.
MS. WRIGHT responded that she hadn't been able to work on this
issue with Mr. Saxby yet, so she wasn't sure how he would feel
about her proposal. She said for the most part, military people
buy their licenses on base, but they are also able to buy them
elsewhere, so that language has to be clear.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked Mr. Saxby if he saw other elements of
concern that the committee should be sensitive to.
MR. SAXBY replied that the original bill raised an issue that
both he and the Professional Hunters' Association pointed out,
that because of the exceptions for the guided requirements, it
weakened the state's ability to defend that requirement. The CS
largely eliminates that concern. Deleting section 2 of the
original bill would largely eliminate that concern, as well.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS said he had compared the two bill versions
and the original one (A) included dependents as those who can
receive non-resident licenses and version C didn't include them.
"How did we arrive at that decision," he asked.
MS. SIMPSON answered they get the same privileges as residents
do, so dependents wouldn't have to be parsed out separately.
MR. SAXBY said he wasn't aware of the difference and didn't know
how to answer that.
4:03:25 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said that was an oversight and needed to be
addressed.
MR. SAXBY said the department has always included dependents in
the same category as the military personnel in similar
legislation.
CHAIR HUGGINS said version C doesn't have the dependent
provision; it just talks about a member of the military service.
He said that a provision for dependents should be considered.
4:05:38 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE said she would "take a stab" at her own CS that
would eliminate section 2, add fishing and hunting rights in
section 1 and add dependents. She preferred using more narrowly
tailored language.
CHAIR HUGGINS said he appreciated that. He asked if there were
other concerns.
4:06:21 PM
SENATOR WAGONER noted this version pertained to hunting and
fishing licenses, and he asked if that included all aspects of
fishing, like subsistence and personal use fishing.
CHAIR HUGGINS answered whatever a resident could do.
SENATOR WAGONER said that would be hard for him to support,
because for instance, the dip net and personal use fisheries on
the Copper, Kenai and Kasilof Rivers already have battles on the
beaches. "It's a mess right now; it's hard to regulate it. And
all this would do would be to add more people in there earlier
to compound that problem and I wouldn't be in favor of that."
CHAIR HUGGINS said that some people have problems with the fish
getting up to their fishing grounds.
SENATOR WAGONER said this is not about getting fish up to his
fishing grounds.
4:07:56 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said set aside SB 214.
CSHB 267(RES)-WILDLIFE VIOLATOR COMPACT
4:08:33 PM
CHAIR CHARLIE HUGGINS announced CSHB 267(RES) to be up for
consideration.
4:09:43 PM
JEANNE OSTNES, staff to Representative Craig Johnson, sponsor of
HB 267, said this bill allows the Alaska Department of Fish and
Game (ADF&G) to follow the same compact provisions as used for
people who have lost their driver's license. The Wildlife
Violator Compact provides that if you lose a hunting or fishing
license in one state, you're not going to be able to go to
another state to get another one. Alaska is the number-one
state for people to come to hunt and fish in.
Every state has the same compact language, so Article 1-12
cannot change substantially. That is why sections 2 and 3 at the
end of the bill deal with Alaska statutes. She said she had a
slide show available that was based on information provided by
Al Cain, Criminal Justice Planner, Division of Sport Fish,
Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
4:11:43 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked for her to go through an expedited version
of the slide show.
4:12:06 PM
MS. OSTNES said the Wildlife Violator Compact (WVC) is patterned
after the driver's license provision that was started in 1985 by
Nevada and Colorado. Oregon joined the Compact in 1989. Showing
a picture of two Missouri poachers who were convicted of taking
a big horn ram without licenses in Wyoming, she said that is
mainly why this legislation was developed. They were fined and
lost their privileges for 10 years. Had Missouri been a part of
the compact, they would have lost their licenses in all of the
member states. She showed other incriminating pictures remarking
that these violators always seem to take pictures of themselves
and take the evidence home.
She said that the compact keeps poachers revoked in one state
from hunting in other states. Each state treats the out-of-state
conviction as if it had occurred there. She said the compact is
making a difference in terms of enforcement staying in the
field. An officer could hand a citation to a non-resident
violator versus arresting him, which is what happens currently.
In this case the non-resident must be taken by an enforcement
officer and, usually, flown to some place that has a magistrate.
If they are out in the bush, they would have to fly to McGrath
or Bethel.
If the compact becomes law, the non-resident violator would be
given a citation. Not answering it would be a violation and
their license would be taken away. Each state treats the
conviction as if it occurred in their own state, so the
administrator would have the ability to make some decisions on
whether the license would be revoked. The violator has the due
process available to him to go before a court in all states.
4:16:07 PM
MS. OSTNES explained that failure to appear is a violation, and
the home state, which is the residence of the violator, would
notify the violator that his license had been suspended until
the terms of the citation were complied with. The revocation
information is held in a database and each state would enter its
own information.
MS. OSTNES noted zero fiscal notes and she said the DPS said it
wouldn't add a lot work. States that belong to the compact would
be able to view the violations.
4:17:19 PM
She said the Utah DPS has passed data entry off to a private
company that has made the software compatible with all the 28
different states. This has saved the company so much money in
personnel time that it provides this service free of charge.
Since Alaska has drawings for hunts, this kind of information
would be finalized before the drawing to prevent any revokee
from obtaining a license in their state. She said there are now
5,000 names in the compact database, and nearly 17,000
individuals have at one point had their licenses revoked through
the compact. Fifty percent of the licenses were revoked due to
big game violations.
The DPS has indicated that it takes just three minutes to enter
the data. Mr. Cain said that there was a high of 1,873 violators
entered into the compact database in 2003, but that went down a
little in 2004, which he hoped indicated the compact was
effective.
4:19:51 PM
She said 46 percent of violations involve big game; others
involve waste of game, small game, safety issues, license
transfers and false information on the license. Since the first
month of this year, 30 people had lied on their licenses; seven
were from out of state.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked what threshold would cause the vacation of
licenses in other states.
MS. OSTNES replied whatever the other state's law is. The
violator can go before his state's administrator, whether it's a
big game commission or a fish and game administrator, and they
would discuss whether that violation equaled in their state what
the violation was from the other state. She just read that in
another state an 18-year old who for the second time had been
caught shooting fawn deer; this time he killed three fawns on
Christmas Eve. They took his license for life even though some
people felt that was a little strong, but it was his second
offense and it was the state's decision.
4:21:58 PM
She explained that each state's chief or licensing authority
shall appoint a compact administrator; in Alaska, the licensing
authority is identified as the Department of Public Safety (DPS)
even though licensing is administered through the Department of
Fish and Game. All the other states have a licensing authority
that also does the enforcement. The compact has annual meetings
and the public safety officers that go to the annual meeting
anyway meet at the same time.
SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER asked who would enter the information.
MS. OSTNES replied the public safety officer.
SENATOR WAGONER asked if that wouldn't be after a trial, because
names should be entered unless they are found guilty.
MS. OSTNES replied they would have to be identified as having
their license revoked.
SENATOR WAGONER said he didn't see how this would have any
affect on people who were poaching game. They don't care anyway.
MS. OSTNES agreed, but said that it allows enforcement to give a
citation and stay in the field rather than having to make an
arrest and look for a magistrate.
4:24:35 PM
She said that Nebraska recognizes that hunting and fishing
licenses have been revoked from other states, but it is not a
member of the compact. Oklahoma had legislation introduced at
one time; Missouri isn't in at this point and Texas is
considering it.
4:26:09 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked how this applies to the different species;
Alaska has polar bears and walruses. Alligators may be
elsewhere, for instance and, "Is that a free ride?"
MS. OSTNES replied no; a polar bear would probably be identified
as big game and other states would identify something in their
statutes that would be equal to big game.
4:26:53 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE asked if the database has expungement
provisions.
MS. OSTNES replied that that expungement is not in this bill; it
is part of the database that the Interstate Wildlife Violator
Compact (IWVC) administrators have control of.
4:27:51 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE recommended inserting the laws into the statute
itself that will govern entering and removal of information into
the database.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked where language in the bill shows the length
of time or some parameters for how long someone's license would
be revoked in Alaska.
MS. OSTNES replied it's not in the bill; it's actually in our
statutes already.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked her to go to the list of states.
MS. OSTNES found the list: in 2006/7 Mississippi, Illinois,
Tennessee, Florida, and New York came on; in January 2008 Iowa
th
came on. Alaska would be the 28 state.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked the parameters for suspension of hunting
privileges in Alaska.
4:30:17 PM
CAPTAIN BURKE WALDRON, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, Department of
Public Safety (DPS), asked if he meant how violators are treated
in Alaska or how people who are in the compact will be treated.
CHAIR HUGGINS replied for Alaska first and then how people will
be treated by the compact.
CAPTAIN WALDRON said that currently license revocations for
violations committed in Alaska are handled through the court
system. There are no offenses that warrant an automatic
revocation of a license, but a few statutes commonly would get
someone's license revoked such as for hunting in a closed season
or taking over-limit. Revocations are typically for 1-3 years,
but 10 years was the most time and that was a condition of
probation.
The administrator would enter that person into the database and
include when the period of revocation would end. This would be
the same for people coming to Alaska.
4:33:53 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS posed the question of crows that are a migratory
bird and legally protected in numerous compacts, but at "the
crow capital of the world" in Oklahoma, you can kill them by the
hundreds. If you shoot a crow in Juneau, you have to use the
feathers, eat the meat and all sorts of things. "How do you
connect those two?"
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied the connection would be if the person is
convicted, would the court in Alaska see that offense as
egregious enough to revoke privileges. If that person's
privileges were revoked, his name would go into the database and
Oklahoma, assuming it is a member state (which it is not), would
honor that revocation. That is similar to the drivers' license
compact in that Alaska honors every other state's revocations
regardless of whether it was an offense Alaska wouldn't revoke
for in the first place. He said many states in the Lower 48
revoke someone's license for unpaid speeding tickets; Alaska
does not. However, if someone from New Mexico has their license
revoked for an unpaid speeding ticket and they drive in Alaska,
they will get charged with driving on a suspended and revoked
driver's license and the DMV will not issue that person an
Alaska driver's license until they correct their misdeeds in New
Mexico.
CHAIR HUGGINS followed up saying that federal species
historically have a severer punishment and asked if that would
be taken into account.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied that wouldn't be taken into account any
more than at present if the compact language is passed.
4:38:46 PM
SENATOR WAGONER said he didn't see a report of any conviction or
any punishment dolled out when two men "literally slaughtered a
bunch of musk oxen" here about three years ago. If we're not
going to punish our own people for egregious acts, why should we
do it for other states, he asked. He also asked if he knew of
that case's final outcome.
CAPTAIN WALDRON responded that he didn't know about that case's
final outcome. He assured Senator Huggins that if there is
enough evidence to file criminal charges, they present that
evidence to the prosecuting attorney and request that he follow
through with the charges. Often, for a variety of reasons, they
don't get the convictions they would like to see.
SENATOR WAGONER asked him to research whether Alaska's system
works or not.
4:41:30 PM
MS. OSTNES said once an Arizona court did not get the 180-day
notification out in time to the violator who said he didn't get
his due process. The court chose the violator compact law over
the state law dealing with what was a paper failure. The compact
law has a stronger application in the eyes of the court system.
SENATOR WAGONER said he understands the program, but Alaska
needs to be very cautious. If somebody charges a citizen with a
crime outside of Alaska's jurisdiction, that person can be
extradited and the governor might choose to not stop it.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if someone in Alaska shoots a black bear,
for instance, and takes the hide out of the state, what act do
they violate.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied the Lacey Act.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if they should be sensitive to having any
Lacey Act violations or prosecutions in Alaska versus other
states. Other states treat it differently than Alaska does, and
we would have to honor that.
4:45:12 PM
CAPTAIN WALDRON responded that when someone is hunting in any
state, that person is required to know its laws and regulations
along with the cost of their violation. He said that poachers
are very mobile; they don't care what's important to the state
they are in. They will come to Alaska and violate our laws, too.
For them it's not about sportsmanship. People call the
department and want to know if Alaska is part of the compact
because they can't hunt in those states. Right now the
department doesn't have the means of knowing if their license
has been revoked in any other state. The compact's published
list would be readily available to enforcement here.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if it also applies to fish.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied yes.
SENATOR WAGONER asked how that list would be made available to
the license vendors.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied that issue hadn't been resolved, because
the state's licensing system isn't computerized yet.
REPRESENTATIVE CRAIG JOHNSON explained when you apply for a
license you sign an affidavit saying it hasn't been revoked in
any other state, subject to a one-year penalty and a $10,000
fine. It can be tracked under the compact, but not without it.
SENATOR WAGONER asked if it is a felony.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied no; it's an unsworn falsification - one
year in jail and a $10,000 fine.
CHAIR HUGGINS said he supported the essence of the compact and
asked if the Department of Law had any other concerns.
KEVIN SAXBY, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Department of
Law (DOL), answered that he didn't have any concerns, but was
available to answer questions. He said he is in communication
with his compatriots in other states and they haven't outlined
any particular problems with implementing the compact and the CS
takes care of potential commercial fishing issues.
4:52:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON reiterated this bill would protect Alaska
much more from outside hunters than it would from Alaskans going
outside to hunt. The department needs the ability for an officer
in the field to issue a citation and not have to leave the field
to find a magistrate to administer it to an out-of-state person.
Alaska is subject to more poachers than any other state in the
country and this is another tool the department can use to keep
those people from coming to Alaska, and when they do come, to
have a bigger hammer to deal with them.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked him to share any questions that were brought
up in previous committees of referral that caused him to do some
research.
4:53:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON explained that he dealt a little bit with
the Boards of Fisheries, Game and Guides. It was determined that
one couldn't be a big game guide without a license; so if you
lose your license, you lose your ability to be a guide. He said
commercial fishing had been discussed in relation to the
compact, but it was decided to take it out for now, because it
is not appropriate for the existing members of the compact. But
it would be something to look at in the future. The greatest
concern he found is the state losing control of its game, but he
had been assured from legislative legal that the state would
still be in control of its game. Nothing that happens in the
other states would affect how the state would manage its game or
subsistence.
MS. OSTNES added that one person wrote a letter saying the
compact was unconstitutional, but legislative legal said it was.
She said the question came up of if you would still have a
conviction after being cited and paying the fine. The answer had
to be yes.
4:55:30 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said that particular instance was
specifically a contract situation where the guide was looking at
one animal and he client was looking at the other and shot it.
The citation was issued, but the license wasn't revoked because
they did everything right; they turned the animal over to ADF&G.
That client worked for a company whose policy it was to not
allow citations, so he was going to have to fight the citation.
It had nothing to do with the compact.
SENATOR WAGONER asked whose responsibility it is to ascertain
completion of a sentence and who purges the name from the list
and makes sure the database is updated on an often-enough basis
so that all of a sudden someone who comes here to hunt and isn't
still on the list.
CAPTAIN WALDRON answered that each state appoints a license
administrator who makes sure entries are made on time. The
actual published list of revocations includes a start and finish
date, which anyone accessing the list can see. He said the list
doesn't publish convictions, just the revocations and the period
of revocation. The list is on a website that is accessed by a
password.
4:59:56 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if he was saying that vendors would have
access to the list.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied not right now; only the Department of
Public Safety and a few people in ADF&G would have access to it
because licensing is not yet computerized.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if he is in Cold Bay and wants to buy a
license to go duck hunting and the vendor has no way of
checking, how long would it take for someone to close the loop
to detect that he was hunting elk in New Mexico and got a
violation and his license was suspended a year ago.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied conceptually it's possible that
occasionally that loop wouldn't be closed, but if the trooper
checked a person's license in the field, he could follow up with
the database after the fact. If his license had been revoked,
the trooper could either try to contact the person again in the
field or follow up with a criminal investigation and criminal
charges for hunting without a valid license and unsworn
falsification. If that person had already absconded back to New
Mexico, the citations would follow that individual. If the
individual didn't respond, his name would be entered into the
database as being nonresponsive to the citation, and through due
process in New Mexico, that person's privileges would be revoked
until he addressed his citations in Alaska.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked under that scenario, if you're not checked
by an agent, what's the likelihood that someone would be able to
detect that the purchased license was invalid.
CAPTAIN WALDRON replied that it's not done often. Typically,
wildlife troopers take many of the license books from their
vendors during the winter months and check them then; they are
called "residency investigations." Thirty of those have been
filed since January 1. This would add lying about residency to
those residency investigations.
5:04:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said that enforcement would only get
better from getting the computerized capability that would allow
them to run the check before issuing the license. Internet
connectivity is not a good reason to not proceed with the
program because of all the other benefits it offers like the
ticketing of the violator in the field and answering in the
affirmative the calls received from out of state asking if
Alaska is a member of the WVC.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked him to explain again about ticketing in the
field.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said if Alaska were to become a compact
state, a citation could be issued for an out-of-state violation
in the field without having to transport the violator to a
magistrate. That officer could then stay in the field and do his
job. Some of the locations are very remote and it's a full day
to the magistrate. If the person skips out on the citation, he
could be found in his home state and go on the list.
CHAIR HUGGINS said CSHB 267(RES) would be held.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Huggins adjourned the meeting at 5:06:38 PM.
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