03/16/2021 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS

           HB  106-MISSING PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OLD                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:47:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS  announced that the final  order of business                                                               
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 106,  "An Act relating to missing persons                                                               
under 21 years of age."                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:47:50 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RANDI  BREAGER, Special  Assistant, Office  of the  Commissioner,                                                               
Department of  Public Safety, introduced  herself and  provided a                                                               
brief  review  of  the  supporting  documents  [included  in  the                                                               
committee packet].                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
3:49:18 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KATHY  MONFREDA,   Director,  Division  of   Statewide  Services,                                                               
Department of Public Safety,  provided a PowerPoint presentation,                                                               
titled  "House Bill  106" [hard  copy included  in the  committee                                                               
packet].   She informed the  committee that the bill  would bring                                                               
state  law as  it pertains  to the  reporting of  missing persons                                                               
between the ages of 18 and  21, into conformity with federal law.                                                               
She  reviewed  the federal  reporting  requirements  on slide  2,                                                               
highlighting Suzanne's Law (2003) and  the Adam Walsh Act (2006),                                                               
which  collectively require  law  enforcement  agencies to  enter                                                               
information pertaining  to missing  persons under  the age  of 21                                                               
into  the National  Crime Information  Center  (NCIC) within  two                                                               
hours.   She  addressed current  statutory language  on slide  3,                                                               
noting that Alaska's laws pertaining  to the reporting of missing                                                               
persons  have not  been amended  since they  were enacted  in the                                                               
mid-to-late  1980s.     Currently,  AS  18.65.620   requires  law                                                               
enforcement  to  report missing  minors  to  the state's  Missing                                                               
Person Clearinghouse if  not located within 48  hours after first                                                               
reported missing; AS 47.10.141 requires  the reporting of missing                                                               
minors into state and national  databases within 24 hours after a                                                               
missing  person report  is completed;  and  AS 47.10.390  defines                                                               
"runaway minor" as a person under 18 years of age.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
3:51:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. MONFREDA  continued to  slide 4  and summarized  the proposed                                                               
statutory changes required  for AS 47.10.141 and  AS 18.65.620 to                                                               
comply with federal  law: firstly, entry into  state and national                                                               
databases for missing  persons under age 21 instead  of the state                                                               
requirement of age 18; secondly,  entry of the records into state                                                               
and  national  databases within  2  hours  instead of  the  state                                                               
requirement of  24 hours.  She  moved to slide 5,  which reviewed                                                               
current procedures.  She relayed  that statewide training for law                                                               
enforcement is  already in place  regarding the  more restrictive                                                               
federal  requirements;   further,  most   state  and   local  law                                                               
enforcement   agencies   are   already   complying   with   those                                                               
requirements.     She  added  that  programming   for  the  state                                                               
database, Alaska  Public Safety Information Network  (APSIN), has                                                               
already  been  completed  to  accommodate  the  more  restrictive                                                               
federal requirements.   She turned to slide 6  and explained that                                                               
enacting   the  legislation   would   remove  conflicting,   less                                                               
restrictive state  statutory requirements.   Additionally, faster                                                               
state and  nationwide notification of missing  person records for                                                               
those under  the age  of 21  would be achieved.   She  noted that                                                               
once entered into  the national systems, the  National Center for                                                               
Missing  and Exploited  Children  is  automatically notified  and                                                               
proactively  offers  assistance  in   investigations.    Slide  8                                                               
provided a sectional analysis for HB 106, which read:                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     ? Section  1: Includes  conforming language  related to                                                                    
     the  duty  of  law   enforcement  agencies  to  reflect                                                                    
     changes made in section 2.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     ? Section  2: Adds  a new  subsection to  AS 18.65.620,                                                                    
     requiring  law  enforcement   agencies  to  transmit  a                                                                    
     missing person's report  for a person under  the age of                                                                    
     21 to the Alaska  Public Safety Information Network and                                                                    
     the  National  Crime  Information  Center  as  soon  as                                                                    
     practicable,  but  not  later   than  two  hours  after                                                                    
     completing the  report. If the  person is  later found,                                                                    
     the  agency shall  remove that  information from  those                                                                    
     databases as  soon as practicable,  but not  later than                                                                    
     24 hours after learning the person has been located.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     ?  Section  3:  Contains   conforming  language  to  AS                                                                    
     47.10.141,  runaway   and  missing  children,   to  the                                                                    
     changes  made in  section 2.  All reporting  procedures                                                                    
     for persons under the age of  21 are moved to AS 18.65,                                                                    
     as amended in section 2 of the bill.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MS.  MONFREDA noted  that  the bill  has  no specified  effective                                                               
date;  therefore,  it  would  become   effective  90  days  after                                                               
becoming law.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
3:53:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that HB 106 was held over.