05/10/2022 01:30 PM House FINANCE

HOUSE BILL NO. 5                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act relating  to sexual abuse of  a minor; relating                                                                    
     to  sexual assault;  relating to  the code  of military                                                                    
     justice; relating  to consent; relating to  the testing                                                                    
     of sexual  assault examination kits; and  providing for                                                                    
     an effective date."                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:01:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GERAN TARR,  SPONSOR, thanked  the committee                                                                    
for  the  opportunity  to  introduce  the  legislation.  She                                                                    
shared  that  the  bill  had  15  prior  hearings  in  prior                                                                    
committee. She reported that  the draft Committee Substitute                                                                    
(CS), version  U that she  wanted the committee  to consider                                                                    
accomplished  three  things.  She explained  that  the  bill                                                                    
changed the  timeframe for testing  rape kits from  one year                                                                    
to six  months. She indicated  that the second  item updated                                                                    
the  definition  of  consent.   The  current  definition  of                                                                    
consent  was established  in the  late 1970s  and no  longer                                                                    
reflected  what   was  presently  culturally   and  socially                                                                    
acceptable, which  had changed.  The modern  definition that                                                                    
was included  in the CS  was in  statute in many  states and                                                                    
was  included in  Section 5.  She stated  the definition  of                                                                    
consent  in the  CS  as follows    freely given,  reversible                                                                    
agreement  specific to  the conduct  at issue   freely given                                                                    
means  agreement  to cooperate  in  the  act was  positively                                                                    
expressed by word  or action.  She shared that  she had been                                                                    
working with the Department of  Law (DOL) to ensure that the                                                                    
definition  was   copesetic  and  clearly   understood.  The                                                                    
language  the  use or  threat of use  of force   was removed                                                                    
because  it  was  problematic   when  trying  to  criminally                                                                    
prosecute sexual  assault cases. She referred  to an article                                                                    
included  in  members  packets titled   Without  justice  in                                                                    
Nome,  Women Wrestle  with Trauma  and Healing  After Sexual                                                                    
Assault  (copy  on file) as  an example  of the need  for an                                                                    
updated definition  of consent. She noted  the broad support                                                                    
from  stakeholders and  citizens for  the bill.  The current                                                                    
statute  was  ineffective,  and   change  was  necessary  to                                                                    
rectify the problem. She highlighted  that the third item in                                                                    
the CS was  the crime of rape by fraud  reflected on page 1,                                                                    
line 13  through 14 in  the bill  and read the  language  by                                                                    
impersonating someone  known to  the person for  the purpose                                                                    
of  obtaining  consent.   She  offered  that  currently  the                                                                    
behavior was not criminalized.  She described a circumstance                                                                    
that characterized the behavior.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
4:05:07 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Tarr  continued to speak about  the bill. She                                                                    
indicated that the  there were many cases in  the state that                                                                    
fit the description. If the  state adopted the provision, it                                                                    
would be the thirteenth state  to do so. The fraud provision                                                                    
was reflected  in the crime  of sexual assault in  the first                                                                    
degree  for penetration  and sexual  assault  in the  second                                                                    
degree for sexual  contact. She elaborated that  the rape by                                                                    
fraud for  sexual penetration was  a Class A felony  and for                                                                    
contact a Class  B felony. The use of force  was added as an                                                                    
element  of sexual  assault in  the first  degree and  was a                                                                    
gradient that  made the assault  rise to a certain  level or                                                                    
degree of crime. She concluded her summary of the CS.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
4:07:01 PM                                                                                                                    
AT EASE                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
4:08:17 PM                                                                                                                    
RECONVENED                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Vice-Chair  Ortiz  MOVED  to ADOPT  the  proposed  committee                                                                    
substitute  for  HB  5,  Work  Draft  32-LS0065\U  (Radford,                                                                    
5/10/22).                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
4:08:42 PM                                                                                                                    
AT EASE                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
4:08:59 PM                                                                                                                    
RECONVENED                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Vice-Chair Ortiz restated the motion for version U.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
HB  5   was  HEARD  and   HELD  in  committee   for  further                                                                    
consideration.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Merrick reviewed the schedule for the following                                                                        
morning.