Legislature(2025 - 2026)GRUENBERG 120
03/06/2025 03:15 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB43 | |
| HB91 | |
| HB81 | |
| HB119 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 43 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 81 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 91 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 119 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 30 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 81-ACCESS TO MARIJUANA CONVICTION RECORDS
3:59:22 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 81, "An Act restricting the release of certain
records of convictions; and providing for an effective date."
4:02:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DAVID NELSON, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, presented HB 81. He said the proposed bill is an
important step in providing an opportunity for people with low-
level misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions on their
record to make more significant economic impact to their state.
He remarked that hardworking Alaskans face barriers to
employment, housing, license acquisition, and even volunteering
opportunities, leaving them to be unable to make full
contributions to the communities. According to a National
Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) report, as of 2023, 28
states have produced legislation that applies specifically to
the confidentiality of records pertaining to certain marijuana-
related offenses. He said that at a time when Alaska is
struggling to find qualified workers to fill job openings, the
state should not be excluding individuals based on these
criteria. He said that HB 81 would make certain marijuana
possession convictions confidential on basic background checks
while keeping those convictions available. He noted that
qualified individuals who are 21 or older at the time of the
crime, possess one ounce of cannabis or less, and have not been
convicted of another crime would be able to contact the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) to make those crimes on their
record confidential. He clarified that this would not expunge
or remove the crimes from their record. He said that the
proposed bill would give DPS until January 1, 2028, to edit its
database and amend its records in accordance with the proposed
bill. He noted that this would require hiring a contractor to
make programming changes as well as a criminal justice
technician to investigate and amend the records.
4:04:57 PM
BOGDAN GILMUTDINOV, Staff, Representative David Nelson, Alaska
State Legislature, on behalf of the prime sponsor,
Representative Nelson, offered the sectional analysis for HB 81
[copy available in committee file], which read as follows
[original punctuation provided]:
Section 1: Amends AS 12.62.160(b)(8) to include
reference to the added subsection (f) in paragraph (8)
to read "or criminal justice information as described
in (f) of this section." Subsection (b) describes
conditions around which an individuals (sic) criminal
record may be released.
Section 2: Amends AS 12.62.160 by adding a new
subsection (f). Subsection (f) describes the
conditions under which information on an individuals
(sic) record cannot be released. Paragraph (4)
requires the individual to submit a request to the
agency not to release portions of their record.
Section 3: Repeals AS 12.62.160(f)(4) on January 1,
2028.
Section 4: Establishes an effective date of January 1,
2026.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON added that David Morgan with the Reason
Foundation and Lisa Purinton with the Department of Public
Safety were available to answer any questions.
4:06:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE said that he was curious about the fiscal
note associated with the bill. He asked Ms. Purinton if a
contractor was going to be used, he noted that the fiscal note
mentioned 400 hours of work associated with a contractor. He
said that contractors often work at their own places. He said
that looking close at the fiscal notes, he was wondering why the
state would need to buy contractor office materials such as a
desk and computer.
4:07:52 PM
LISA PURINTON, Director, Division of Statewide Services,
Department of Public Safety, clarified that there are two parts
to the fiscal note associated with HB 81. One part is for the
contractor, paid at $140 an hour for 400 hours to reprogram the
mainframe criminal history repository to prevent the records
from being displayed, as proposed under HB 81. The second piece
is for a temporary staff position for two years. The new staff
would work with DPS to research records pertaining to
individuals that request that their records not be displayed as
outlined in the bill. The bill would require this work be
completed by 2028.
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE noted that 8,500 people would potentially
be impacted and it's going to take two years to pull them from
the system. He asked whether this was an accurate assessment.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON confirmed that's correct.
4:09:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked whether a minor marijuana conviction
still would show up on a federal court record despite being
pulled from the Alaska record.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON asked whether she was referring to a
background check or something like court view.
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE responded on court view additionally, so
both.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that the court view system
maintains its own website and the Alaska Court System amended
its website to amend records from public view.
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked whether they would be hidden on just
court view.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON said that currently, the bill would not
touch the court view system.
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked whether the information would still
show up on federal systems.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that yes, HB 81 would cover only
low-level background checks, high-level security clearances and
such would not be excluded.
4:11:28 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked Representative Nelson why the age of
21 was selected as opposed to 18.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that this question may be best
answered by Ms. Purinton.
MS. PURINTON answered that she would need to look at the statute
and may need to "phone a friend" but 21 is the legal age to
purchase and use marijuana.
4:12:45 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY commented that the current employment
vacancies were high at the department. She then remarked that
given the 8,500 people that would be affected, the proposed
legislation could be beneficial.
4:13:31 PM
CHAIR CARRICK asked whether it would be warranted to take it a
step further and expunge the records for these types of low-
level marijuana convictions.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that the intent of the bill is
to facilitate access to low-level volunteering positions or even
housing with a change to background check information. He said
that expungement of records is a completely different issue, and
he did not want to work on it at the moment. He also said that
there is no expungement in the State of Alaska.
CHAIR CARRICK noted that Representative Nelson included a really
interesting article about expungement to the committee [copy
available in committee file].
MR. GILMUTDINOV noted that expungement is a nebulous term. He
said that the blanket term is "record clearance," which includes
annulment, erasure, expungement, destruction, dismissal,
sealing, and setting aside. He said the definitions for these
terms vary depending on jurisdiction and state. He said that in
Alaska, there is technically no expungement, but there are
certain things that can be done with regard to sealing certain
documents. He said that the article which Chair Carrick was
referring to draws a correlation between record clearing/record
amending procedure and the outcomes associated with it. He said
the article suggests that by following these procedures,
individuals have greater employment prospects and wage earnings.
4:16:49 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked about court view and federal
searches. He asked whether the impact of the bill would be
significant enough to withhold information from background
checks. He asked whether backgrounds checks would utilize court
view and federal databases, and he inquired whether not changing
accessibility to these other databases would affect the goal of
the bill.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON asked Representative Holland to clarify
"other databases."
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked whether this bill would remove
records from court view or any federal searches. He said that
he understood the answer as no, it would not, and the
information would still be available in other databases. He
raised concerns whether this would serve Alaskans.
REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that right now, court view
systems have been covered; the proposed bill would cover only
records on the state level. He reiterated that higher-level
background checks could access information. He said that for a
low-level, quick search of DPS, the information would not show
up.
4:19:47 PM
CHAIR CARRICK, after ascertaining that there were no additional
questions, announced that the committee would hear invited
testimony.
4:20:05 PM
DAVID MORGAN, Legislative Affairs, Reason Foundation, began his
invited testimony in support of HB 81. He said that too often,
low-level offenses come with lifelong punishment. He said that
penalties should be proportional to the severity of an offense,
especially considering that recreational use of marijuana has
been legal since 2014. He remarked that individuals with
criminal records face difficulty in engaging in productive
activities; this includes finding a job, securing housing,
obtaining occupational licenses, and accessing financial
services. He said that HB 81 is a necessary step towards
fairness in Alaska. This legislation would prohibit agencies
from releasing criminal records related to cases where a
defendant was convicted of possessing less than one ounce of
marijuana. Before January 2028, people must request to have the
conviction records withheld; after January 2028, all conviction
records would be withheld. He said that without an automatic
process, data from other states showed, less than 10 percent of
eligible individuals take action to have their records sealed.
He said that HB 81 would provide much needed relief for many
Alaskans.
4:21:59 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that HB 81 was held over.