SB 267: "An Act relating to court hearings involving minors; and amending Rule 3(c), Alaska Delinquency Rules."
00SENATE BILL NO. 267 01 "An Act relating to court hearings involving minors; and amending Rule 3(c), 02 Alaska Delinquency Rules." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 47.10.070 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 47.10.070. HEARINGS. (a) The court may conduct the hearing on the 06 petition in an informal manner in the courtroom or in chambers. The [A] hearing 07 may be held before a young adult advisory panel in accordance with AS 47.10.075. 08 The court shall give notice of the hearing to the department and the department [IT] 09 may send a representative to the hearing. The court shall also transmit a copy of the 10 petition to the department. The representative of the department may also be heard at 11 the hearing. [THE PUBLIC SHALL BE EXCLUDED FROM THE HEARING, BUT 12 THE COURT, IN ITS DISCRETION, MAY PERMIT INDIVIDUALS TO ATTEND 13 A HEARING, IF THEIR ATTENDANCE IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE BEST 14 INTERESTS OF THE MINOR. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION MAY BE APPLIED
01 IN SUCH A WAY AS TO DENY A CHILD'S RIGHTS TO A PUBLIC TRIAL AND 02 TO A TRIAL BY JURY.] 03 (b) The [NOTWITHSTANDING (a) OF THIS SECTION, THE] victim of an 04 offense that a minor is alleged to have committed, or the designee of the victim, has 05 a right to be present at all hearings based on a petition to adjudicate a minor a 06 delinquent that are held under this section. If the minor is found to have committed 07 the offense, the victim may at the disposition hearing give sworn testimony or make 08 an unsworn oral presentation concerning the offense and its effect on the victim. If 09 there are numerous victims of a minor's offense, the court may limit the number of 10 victims who may give sworn testimony or make an unsworn oral presentation, but the 11 court may not limit the right of a victim to attend a hearing. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 47.10.070 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 13 (c) In a hearing held under this section on a petition to find the minor a child 14 in need of aid, the court shall exclude the public from the hearing. However, the 15 court, in its discretion, may permit an individual to attend a hearing if the attendance 16 of the individual is compatible with the best interests of the minor. 17 (d) In a hearing held under this section on a petition to adjudicate a minor a 18 delinquent based on a criminal offense that the minor is alleged to have committed, 19 the public may attend the hearing. However, on application by a party, the court may 20 exclude the public from the hearing or a portion of it. Before issuing an order 21 excluding the public from the hearing or a portion of it, the court shall consider 22 possible alternatives to ensure that the closure order is no broader than necessary to 23 accomplish the court's purpose in requiring the closure, and shall place its reasons for 24 ordering the closure or partial closure on the record. The court may order a closure 25 or partial closure to exclude the public from the hearing 26 (1) if the court determines that a closure or partial closure is necessary 27 to protect the minor or the victim of the offense from physical harm or from severe 28 emotional harm; 29 (2) to maintain order in the courtroom; 30 (3) to ensure truthful testimony; or 31 (4) to meet any other interest of a party or of the court that the court
01 finds to be compelling. 02 (e) Nothing in this section may be applied in such a way as to deny a minor's 03 rights to a public trial and to a jury trial. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 47.10.070(d), added by sec. 2 of this Act, has the effect of amending Rule 05 3(c), Alaska Delinquency Rules, by establishing a presumption that court hearings on 06 delinquency proceedings will be open to the public except when ordered closed by the court. 07 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect only if sec. 3 of this Act receives the two-thirds vote of 08 each house required by art. IV, sec. 15, Constitution of the State of Alaska.