SB 12: "An Act relating to confidentiality of information; relating to the duties of the Department of Administration; creating an address confidentiality program; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 12 01 "An Act relating to confidentiality of information; relating to the duties of the 02 Department of Administration; creating an address confidentiality program; and 03 providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 12.61.100 is amended to read: 06 Sec. 12.61.100. Declaration of purpose. The purpose of AS 12.61.100 - 07 12.61.150 is to protect victims of and witnesses to crime, and peace officers and 08 correctional officers enrolled in the address confidentiality program under 09 AS 44.21.022, from risk of harassment, intimidation, and unwarranted invasion of 10 privacy by prohibiting the unnecessary disclosure of their addresses and telephone 11 numbers. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 12.61.110 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 12.61.110. Confidentiality of victim, [AND] witness, peace officer, and 14 correctional officer addresses and telephone numbers. The residence and business
01 addresses and telephone numbers of a victim of a crime or witness to a crime and the 02 residence address and telephone number of a peace officer or correctional officer 03 enrolled in the address confidentiality program under AS 44.21.022 are 04 confidential. A report, paper, picture, photograph, court file, or other document that 05 relates to a crime and contains the residence or business address or telephone number 06 of a victim or witness, or that contains the residence address or telephone number 07 of a peace officer or correctional officer enrolled in the address confidentiality 08 program, and that is in the custody or possession of a public officer or employee, may 09 not be made available for public inspection unless the residence and business 10 addresses and telephone numbers of all victims, [AND] witnesses, peace officers, and 11 correctional officers have been deleted. 12 * Sec. 3. AS 12.61.130 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 12.61.130. Disclosure during court proceedings. (a) During a trial or 14 hearing related to a criminal prosecution, the residence and business addresses and 15 telephone numbers of a victim of or witness to the charged offense and the residence 16 address and telephone number of a peace officer or correctional officer enrolled 17 in the address confidentiality program under AS 44.21.022 may not be disclosed in 18 open court, and a victim, a [OR] witness, or a peace officer or correctional officer 19 enrolled in the address confidentiality program may not be required to provide the 20 addresses or telephone numbers in response to questioning, unless the court 21 determines that the information is necessary and relevant to the facts of the case. The 22 burden to establish the need and relevance for disclosure is on the party seeking 23 disclosure. Before ordering disclosure, the court shall take appropriate measures to 24 minimize the risk of personal harm to the victim, [OR] witness, peace officer, or 25 correctional officer that would result from the disclosure. 26 (b) The residence address or telephone number of a victim of or witness to a 27 charged offense, or a peace officer or correctional officer enrolled in the address 28 confidentiality program, may not be placed in the court file or court documents 29 relating to that offense except when 30 (1) the address is used to identify the place of the crime; or 31 (2) the address or telephone number is contained in a transcript of a
01 court proceeding and disclosure of the address or telephone number was ordered under 02 (a) of this section. 03 * Sec. 4. AS 12.61.900 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 04 (5) "correctional officer" means a person 05 (A) appointed by the commissioner of corrections whose 06 primary duty under AS 33.30 is to provide custody, care, security, control, and 07 discipline of persons charged or convicted of offenses against the state or held 08 under authority of state law; 09 (B) employed in a correctional facility in this state whose 10 primary duty is to provide custody, care, security, control, and discipline of 11 persons charged or convicted of offenses or held under authority of law; or 12 (C) employed full time in a municipal correctional facility 13 whose primary duty is to provide custody, care, security, control, and 14 discipline of persons charged or convicted of offenses or held under authority 15 of law, and the correctional facility is located in a municipality that has 16 adopted AS 18.65.130 - 18.65.290 by ordinance under AS 18.65.285. 17 * Sec. 5. AS 44.21.020 is amended to read: 18 Sec. 44.21.020. Duties of department. The Department of Administration 19 shall 20 (1) make surveys and studies to improve administrative procedures, 21 methods, and organization; 22 (2) keep general accounts; 23 (3) approve vouchers and disburse funds for all purposes; 24 (4) operate centralized purchasing and supply services, and necessary 25 storerooms and warehouses; 26 (5) [REPEALED 27 (6)] supervise telephone, mailing, messenger, duplicating, and similar 28 services adaptable to centralized management; 29 (6) [(7)] administer the public employees' retirement system and 30 teachers' retirement system; 31 (7) [(8)] administer a statewide personnel program, including central
01 personnel services such as recruitment, assessment, position classification, and pay 02 administration; 03 (8) [(9)] administer and supervise a statewide automatic data 04 processing program; 05 (9) [(10)] study, design, implement, and manage the 06 telecommunications systems and services of the state under AS 44.21.305 - 44.21.330; 07 (10) establish and administer the address confidentiality program 08 under AS 44.21.022. 09 * Sec. 6. AS 44.21 is amended by adding a new section to read: 10 Sec. 44.21.022. Address confidentiality program. (a) The address 11 confidentiality program is established in the department to protect the confidentiality 12 of the address of an individual enrolled in the program. 13 (b) The department shall 14 (1) establish and administer the program; 15 (2) designate a post office box as a substitute mailing address for an 16 individual enrolled in the program; 17 (3) forward the mail of an individual enrolled in the program from the 18 post office box designated under (2) of this subsection to the individual's residential 19 street address, post office box, school address, or work address as specified on the 20 individual's application for enrollment in the program; 21 (4) maintain the confidentiality of the address of an individual enrolled 22 in the program; and 23 (5) adopt regulations establishing a procedure for a qualified individual 24 under (c) of this section to enroll in or withdraw from the program. 25 (c) The following individuals may enroll in the program: 26 (1) a victim of a crime involving domestic violence, stalking, or sexual 27 assault, if a court has issued a protective order on behalf of the victim; 28 (2) a guardian of a minor, if a court has issued a protective order on 29 behalf of the minor; 30 (3) a protected person, if a court has issued a protective order for that 31 person under AS 13.26.450 - 13.26.460;
01 (4) a peace officer; 02 (5) a correctional officer; and 03 (6) a household member of an individual specified under (1) - (5) of 04 this subsection who is enrolled in the program. 05 (d) A state or municipal agency shall allow an individual enrolled in the 06 program to use the post office box designated by the department under (b)(2) of this 07 section as the individual's mailing address. 08 (e) The department shall remove an individual enrolled in the program under 09 (c)(1), (2), or (3) of this section, or under (c)(6) of this section if the individual is a 10 household member of a person enrolled in the program under (c)(1), (2), or (3) of this 11 section, from the program five years after the expiration of the protective order issued 12 on behalf of the victim or minor. The department shall remove an individual enrolled 13 in the program under (c)(4) or (5) of this section, or under (c)(6) of this section if the 14 individual is a household member of a person enrolled in the program under (c)(4) or 15 (5) of this section, from the program five years after the last day the individual or 16 individual's household member is employed as a peace officer or correctional officer. 17 (f) The department may not collect a registration fee from an individual 18 qualified under (c) of this section to enroll in the program. 19 (g) The department shall disclose an individual's address to a peace officer in 20 response to a search warrant issued by a state or federal court. 21 (h) A person who discloses information that is confidential under this section 22 about an individual enrolled in the program under (c) of this section is guilty of a class 23 B misdemeanor if the person 24 (1) is authorized to access the address confidentiality program database 25 and recklessly discloses the information to the respondent of a protective order; 26 (2) is not authorized to access the address confidentiality program 27 database and knowingly discloses the information to the respondent of a protective 28 order; or 29 (3) accesses the address confidentiality program database without 30 authorization to access the database and recklessly discloses the information. 31 (i) In this section,
01 (1) "correctional officer" means a person 02 (A) appointed by the commissioner of corrections whose 03 primary duty under AS 33.30 is to provide custody, care, security, control, and 04 discipline of persons charged or convicted of offenses against the state or held 05 under authority of state law; 06 (B) employed in a correctional facility in this state whose 07 primary duty is to provide custody, care, security, control, and discipline of 08 persons charged or convicted of offenses or held under authority of law; or 09 (C) employed full time in a municipal correctional facility 10 whose primary duty is to provide custody, care, security, control, and 11 discipline of persons charged or convicted of offenses or held under authority 12 of law, and the correctional facility is located in a municipality that has 13 adopted AS 18.65.130 - 18.65.290 by ordinance under AS 18.65.285; 14 (2) "crime involving domestic violence" has the meaning given in 15 AS 18.66.990; 16 (3) "department" means the Department of Administration; 17 (4) "household member" means an adult or minor who lives in the 18 same residence as another individual; 19 (5) "peace officer" has the meaning given in AS 01.10.060; 20 (6) "program" means the address confidentiality program. 21 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 22 read: 23 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Administration may adopt 24 regulations necessary to implement AS 44.21.022, enacted by sec. 6 of this Act. The 25 regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) but not before the 26 effective date of the law being implemented by the regulation. 27 * Sec. 8. Section 7 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 28 * Sec. 9. Except as provided in sec. 8 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2024.