Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
03/05/2024 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB234 | |
| HB267 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 234 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 267 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 234-MISSING/MURDERED INDIGENOUS PEOPLE;REPORT
8:09:46 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that the first order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 234, "An Act relating to police officer
training; establishing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Persons Review Commission; relating to missing and murdered
indigenous persons; relating to the duties of the Department of
Public Safety; and providing for an effective date."
8:10:02 AM
CALLAN CHYTHLOOK-SIFSOF, Staff, Representative CJ McCormick,
Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative McCormick,
prime sponsor, gave an overview of HB 234. She said the bill
would do four things: mandate cultural training under the Police
Standards Council; codify two missing and murdered indigenous
persons (MMIP) full-time investigator positions within DPS;
establish the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Review
Commission in statute; and require the Department of Public
Safety (DPS) submit an annual needs assessment report to the
legislature. She described three forthcoming amendments.
Amendment 1 would incorporate HB 235 in the bill by requiring
that all missing person reports be submitted to the National
Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) within 30 days.
Amendment 2 would increase the number of MMIP investigators from
two to four. Amendment 3 would ensure that sensitive materials
reviewed by the commission are allowed in a court of law to
prosecute cases.
8:15:49 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK closed public testimony on HB 234, [which was
left open from 2/27/24].
8:17:20 AM
JAMES COCKRELL, Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Public Safety (DPS), gave invited testimony in
support of HB 234. He said DPS has been involved in the MMIP
mission for several years and recognized the importance of
focusing on this issue. He discussed the need for MMIP
investigators and shared his belief that four positions would
suffice. He maintained that the department is already meeting
the bill's requirements, explaining that all missing persons had
been put into the NamUs database, which is similar to Alaska's
missing person clearinghouse. Currently, he said, DPS submits
names within 60 days, not 30. He discussed a partnership with
the Anchorage Police Department (APD) and the Fairbanks Police
Department to publish a quarterly report with an updated list of
all missing persons in the state. He addressed DPS's budget
request, which included $450,000 for the four investigators and
$250,000 for outreach and education.
8:24:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked about the retire/re-hire process
for the investigators who were brought back into service.
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL explained that the positions are long-term
non-permanent salary positions. In response to a follow up
question, he confirmed that the FY 25 budget request included
$450,000 for four MMIP investigators.
CHAIR MCCORMICK said it spoke volumes to him that the
commissioner had apologized for the lack of services in rural
Alaska. He thanked the commissioner for his work and
accountability on this issue.
8:26:59 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK invited Ms. Schroeder to speak to the proposed
amendments.
8:27:33 AM
KACI SCHROEDER, Assistant Attorney General, Legal Services
Section, Criminal Division, Department of Law (DOL), explained
that [Amendment 3] would delete "admissible in" and insert
"subject to discovery or subpoena in connection with" because
DOL does not want the commission to become a source of
information for criminal or civil cases. She shared her belief
that the amendment would ensure that the commission is not
spending a lot of time responding to discovery requests and
subpoenas. In addition, the language in the second part [of
Amendment 3] would clarify that prosecutors and peace officers
serving on the commission could also work on the cases that the
commission reviews.
8:30:12 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK moved to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 234, labeled
33-LS1044\B.1, C. Radford, 2/28/24, which read:
Page 1, line 1, following "training;":
Insert "relating to the duty of law enforcement
agencies to report missing persons;"
Page 2, following line 3:
Insert new bill sections to read:
"* Sec. 2. AS 18.65.620 is amended by adding a new
subsection to read:
(c) Within 30 days after the first report
concerning a missing person was filed with a local or
state law enforcement agency, the agency shall submit
a missing person report to the National Missing and
Unidentified Persons System for a missing person whose
location has not been determined.
* Sec. 3. AS 18.65.630(a) is amended to read:
(a) When a person files a report of a missing
person with a law enforcement agency or with the
clearinghouse, a form authorizing the release of
medical and dental records to the law enforcement
agency, [AND] to the clearinghouse, and to the
National Missing and Unidentified Persons System shall
be supplied to the family, next of kin, or legal
guardian of the missing person. The family, next of
kin, or legal guardian of the missing person may
complete the release form and deliver the release form
to the physician or dentist of the missing person. The
physician or dentist who receives a release form
signed by the family, next of kin, or legal guardian
of the missing person shall release to the law
enforcement agency, [AND] the clearinghouse, and the
National Missing and Unidentified Persons System only
that information that is necessary to identify the
missing person.
* Sec. 4. AS 18.65.630(c) is amended to read:
(c) Medical and dental records obtained under
this section shall be provided to the clearinghouse
and to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons
System.
* Sec. 5. AS 18.65.630 is amended by adding new
subsections to read:
(e) If available, a law enforcement agency shall
submit fingerprints, photographs, and voluntary DNA
samples from family members of the missing person to
the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
(f) In this section, "DNA" has the meaning given
in AS 18.13.100."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 5, line 1:
Delete "Section 4"
Insert "Section 8"
Page 5, line 2:
Delete "Section 3"
Insert "Section 7"
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that there being no objection,
Amendment 1 was adopted.
8:30:33 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK moved to adopt Amendment 2 to HB 234, labeled
33-LS1044\B.2, C. Radford, 2/28/24, which read:
Page 2, line 6:
Delete "two"
Insert "four"
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that there being no objection,
Amendment 2 was adopted.
8:30:41 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK moved to adopt Amendment 3 to HB 234, labeled
33-LS1044\B.3, C. Radford, 3/1/24, which read:
Page 3, line 25:
Delete "admissible in"
Insert "subject to discovery or subpoena in
connection with"
Page 3, line 27, following "proceeding.":
Insert "Nothing in this subsection prohibits a
member of the commission from prosecuting a criminal
case or otherwise participating in a civil or criminal
proceeding as part of, or relating to, the member's
normal course of employment if the criminal case or
civil or criminal proceeding involves a case reviewed
by the commission."
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE objected.
8:30:57 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked whether the committee was trying to
do too much to protect the database from legal discovery or use
by criminal prosecutors or defense attorneys.
MS. SCHROEDER opined that the language is not too much. She
explained that the language is consistent with language used in
other areas of law with other commissions that review this type
of information. The normal discovery procedures driven by court
rule indicate that it's the prosecutor not the commission's
role to turn over discovery. She reiterated that the commission
should not be the source of this information, which the proposed
amendment makes clear.
8:32:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE shared his understanding that [Amendment
3] would "immunize" the database.
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE removed his objection. There being no
further objection, Amendment 3 was adopted.
8:33:53 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK thanked everyone for their work on the bill. He
said small communities have been fighting this issue for a long
time and referenced the disappearance of Stella Evon. He
reiterated that MMIP is a continent-wide issue.
8:35:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE moved to report HB 234, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 234(CRA) was
reported from the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing
Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 267 Sponsor Staterment.pdf |
HCRA 3/5/2024 8:00:00 AM |
HB 267 |
| HB 267 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
HCRA 3/5/2024 8:00:00 AM |
HB 267 |
| HB 267 Supporting Document - Legal Memo.pdf |
HCRA 3/5/2024 8:00:00 AM |
HB 267 |
| HB 267 Version A.pdf |
HCRA 3/5/2024 8:00:00 AM |
HB 267 |
| HB 234 Amendment B.1 - 2.28.24.pdf |
HCRA 3/5/2024 8:00:00 AM |
HB 234 |
| HB 234 Amendment B.2 - 2.28.24.pdf |
HCRA 3/5/2024 8:00:00 AM |
HB 234 |
| HB 234 Amendment B.3 - 3.1.24.pdf |
HCRA 3/5/2024 8:00:00 AM |
HB 234 |