Enrolled HB 18: Relating to the liability of parents and legal guardians of minors who destroy property; and providing for an effective date.
00Enrolled HB 18 01 Relating to the liability of parents and legal guardians of minors who destroy property; and 02 providing for an effective date. 03 _______________ 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature that this Act 07 (1) promote responsibility as well as the recovery of damages; 08 (2) require an unemancipated minor who causes civil damages to participate in 09 the justice process in order to provide a better remedy and to experience a learning 10 opportunity. 11 * Sec. 2. AS 34.50.020(a) is amended to read: 12 (a) Except as provided under (d) and (e) of this section, a [A] person, 13 municipal corporation, association, village, school district, or religious or charitable 14 organization, incorporated or unincorporated, may recover damages in a civil action in
01 an amount not to exceed $15,000 [$10,000] and court costs from either parent or [,] 02 both parents [, OR THE LEGAL GUARDIAN] of an unemancipated minor under the 03 age of 18 years who, as a result of a knowing or intentional act, destroys real or 04 personal property belonging to the person, municipal corporation, association, village, 05 school district, or religious or charitable organization. However, for purposes of this 06 subsection, recovery in damages shall be apportioned by the court between the parents 07 [OR BETWEEN THE PARENTS AND LEGAL GUARDIAN, OR BOTH,] without 08 regard to legal custody but with due consideration for the actual care and custody of 09 the minor provided by the parents [OR LEGAL GUARDIAN]. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 34.50.020(c) is amended to read: 11 (c) A parent [OR, IF ANY, A LEGAL GUARDIAN] of an unemancipated 12 minor under the age of 18 years who is a runaway or missing minor is not liable under 13 (a) of this section for the acts of the minor that are committed by the minor after a 14 parent [OR, IF ANY, A LEGAL GUARDIAN] of the minor has made a report to a 15 law enforcement agency, as authorized by AS 47.10.141(a), that the minor has run 16 away or is missing. In this subsection, "runaway or missing minor" means a minor 17 who a parent [OR LEGAL GUARDIAN OF THE MINOR] reasonably believes is 18 absent from the minor's residence for the purpose of evading a parent [OR THE 19 LEGAL GUARDIAN OF THE MINOR,] or who is otherwise missing from the 20 minor's usual place of abode without the consent of a parent [OR THE LEGAL 21 GUARDIAN OF THE MINOR]. 22 * Sec. 4. AS 34.50.020 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 23 (d) If a parent has an insurance policy that would compensate a claimant for 24 civil damages described under (a) of this section, and the policy limits are in excess of 25 $15,000, civil damages may be recovered under (a) of this section in an amount not to 26 exceed the policy limits or $25,000, whichever amount is lower. 27 (e) Subsection (a) of this section does not authorize the recovery of damages 28 from 29 (1) a legal guardian; or 30 (2) the adoptive parents of a hard-to-place child if the adoptive parents 31 are receiving, at the time the property is destroyed, financial assistance from the state
01 as a result of the adoption; in this paragraph, "hard-to-place child" has the meaning 02 given in AS 25.23.240. 03 (f) If damages are recovered in a civil action as allowed under (a) of this 04 section, the court shall require the unemancipated minor who caused the damages to 05 provide a written report to the court regarding 06 (1) financial resources of the minor that are available for purposes of 07 restitution; 08 (2) restitution the minor has made to the claimants; and 09 (3) what, if anything, the minor has learned from the civil justice 10 process. 11 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 12 read: 13 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to a civil action that accrues on or after the 14 effective date of this Act. 15 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect July 1, 2003.