Legislature(1999 - 2000)
2000-01-20 Senate Journal
Full Journal pdf2000-01-20 Senate Journal Page 2005 SB 199 SENATE BILL NO. 199 BY THE SENATE RULES COMMITTEE BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR entitled: An Act adopting the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact; making criminal justice information available to interested persons and criminal history record information available to the public; making certain conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date. was read the first time and referred to the Judiciary and Finance Committees. Zero fiscal note published today from Department of Public Safety. Governors transmittal letter dated January 18: 2000-01-20 Senate Journal Page 2006 SB 199 Dear President Pearce: People in the last decades of the twentieth century have had to address an important question that those before have not confronted: How do we achieve the delicate balance when releasing personal information between individual rights and the need to protect the public? One decision that has already been made in Alaska and other states is that some criminal justice information should be available to people making sensitive employment and license decisions. We have decided, for example, that an employer in a nursing home should be able to know whether a prospective employee has been convicted of elder abuse or other crimes; or that a person operating a day care center should have access to criminal history information for prospective child care workers. This bill I transmit today adopts The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact (Compact) which simplifies procedures and establishes a framework for inter-state sharing of criminal history records. The records are intended for use in noncriminal justice matters, such as employee background checks, as allowed by law. The National Criminal History Access and Child Protection Act, which adopts the Compact, was enacted in 1998. Two states have adopted the Compact and other states are now considering it. Adoption by a majority of states is expected within the next few years. The Compact would not change or expand the decisions Alaskans have already made about employers and licensing agents who should have access to criminal history information. Nor would adoption of the Compact change any of the procedures, such as submission of fingerprints and payment of a fee through the state repository, for obtaining information. Rather, adoption of the Compact would allow persons who may obtain criminal justice information under present law to obtain more complete and accurate information. 2000-01-20 Senate Journal Page 2007 SB 199 Currently, Alaska obtains out-of-state criminal history information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The information available depends on records that have been supplied to the FBI by other states. However, states may fail to provide information to the FBI or, as a matter of state policy, do not submit certain records to the FBI. Thus, the information in the FBI's files is often incomplete. By adopting the Compact, Alaska will obtain the records directly from other Compact states instead of relying on the accuracy of the FBI's duplicate repository. The information would be distributed according to Alaska law. Further, as a Compact state, Alaska would supply its criminal history records (other than information that is sealed under Alaska law such as juvenile records) to other Compact states upon request. The bill simplifies Alaska law for dissemination of records by allowing all past conviction information to be released, rather than basing release on time lapsed since the date of unconditional discharge. This ensures that all relevant information is available and removes the current confusion in determining the unconditional discharge date. The bill also allows the state to release all information about prior convictions, not just for a "serious offense." This solves the dilemma of trying to determine whether a crime in another jurisdiction would be a serious offense in Alaska and expands the relevant information available to interested persons. Sincerely, /s/ Tony Knowles Governor