04/24/2003 03:40 PM Senate STA

              HB   1-STALKING & PROTECTIVE ORDERS                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  CHERYLL  HEINZE,  bill sponsor,  paraphrased  the                                                               
sponsor statement:                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     HB  1  closes  a   dangerous  loophole  in  the  Alaska                                                                    
     statutes, by allowing  unacquainted victims of stalking                                                                    
     to enjoy  the security of a  judicial protective order.                                                                    
     Current law  provides protection  to those  in domestic                                                                    
     situations and minor children,  but enjoins the victims                                                                    
     of strangers  from equal  protection of  the law.  HB 1                                                                    
     allows the  victims of  stalking to  seek and  obtain a                                                                    
     protective  order in  cases of  stalking  that are  not                                                                    
     crimes   involving   domestic    violence.   The   bill                                                                    
     streamlines the process for  public safety and judicial                                                                    
     practitioners   by    harmonizing   the    arrest   and                                                                    
     notification  procedures  to  mirror those  already  in                                                                    
     place for  domestic violence situations. The  bill adds                                                                    
     the crime of violation of  a child protective order and                                                                    
     of a  violation of  a stalking protective  order; these                                                                    
     changes also reflect existing practitioner procedures.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
There were no questions.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MARY WELLS testified via teleconference  from Anchorage to relate                                                               
a story  about a  man who  stalked her  family for  a three-month                                                               
period in  2001. Because the man  was not a relative  or domestic                                                               
partner, she had no legal  standing to obtain a protective order.                                                               
This bill would remedy that loophole.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  HEINZE stated  she, too,  was stalked  during her                                                               
campaign.  It was  a terrifying  experience and  the police  were                                                               
unable to offer any real help.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GARY STEVENS  said there isn't any  protection unless there                                                               
is a family connection.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR GRETCHEN GUESS  replied it goes farther  than that. There                                                               
isn't any protection unless it  is a domestic violence situation,                                                               
which makes it very restrictive.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked for a motion.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR GUESS  made a  motion to  move HB  1 from  committee with                                                               
individual recommendations and attached  zero fiscal notes. There                                                               
being no objection, it was so ordered.