Legislature(2001 - 2002)
03/25/2002 01:40 PM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 297-CRIMES: RESTITUTION & AGGRAVATING FACTORS
REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MEYER, sponsor of HB 297, said this bill has
been a learning experience for him, as it has become a "Christmas
tree" bill. He said that is acceptable to him as the original
intent of his legislation is still intact and the additions
improve the juvenile restitution program. He explained that
Section 2 of the committee substitute contains the contents of HB
297. It adds an aggravating factor when drugs or excessive
alcohol are used to incapacitate a person to the point where they
become the victim of a sexual assault. He believes the
seriousness of such conduct should be elevated in the eyes of the
court. He noted that sexual assault is devastating Alaska
communities. He began working on this bill because the "date-
rape" pill is being used to commit more sexual assaults. Sex
offenders who use those pills often do so to prevent the victim
from resisting. CSHB 297(JUD) does not require the courts to
impose stricter penalties, it simply gives the court the ability
to do so.
REPRESENTATIVE MEYER explained the other sections of the bill
amend the juvenile restitution statutes and were included at the
request of Senator Halford.
Section 1 creates a new section declaring that if a conviction is
set aside, the restitution will remain enforceable. He explained
that sometimes a conviction is set aside when part of the
sentence was served. Section 1 ensures that restitution is paid
even if the conviction is set aside.
Section 3 relates to delinquency disposition orders. Under
current law, juveniles and parents are required to submit full
financial statements when restitution is being decided. Section 3
requires full financial statements only when one party requests
them. He noted that in most cases, full financial statements are
not necessary because the amount of restitution is less than a
permanent fund dividend. However, if damages run into thousands
of dollars, full financial statements would be required.
Section 4 makes sure that restitution orders are not terminated
just because the offender has "aged-out" of the authority of the
juvenile system. Restitution must be paid even though the
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offender has reached his or her 19 or 20 birthday.
Section 5 relates to the paperwork process for restitution
payments. The current process has the paperwork going from the
Department of Health and Social Services to the court system to
the Department of Law for collection. Section 5 will allow the
paperwork to go directly from the Department of Health and Social
Services to the Department of Law to make the process more
efficient.
REPRESENTATIVE MEYER asked the committee to support SCS CSHB
297(HUD) and noted he had several people available to answer
questions.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked what is repealed in Section 6.
REPRESENTATIVE MEYER said it applies to mandatory financial
disclosure.
SENATOR DONLEY moved to adopt the proposed Senate Judiciary CS
(Luckhaupt 3/22/02, Version S) as the working document of the
committee.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR announced that without objection, SCS CSHB
297(JUD) was before the committee.
REPRESENTATIVE MEYER asked if the committee needed to take action
on the concurrent resolution.
SENATOR DONLEY suggested that Chairman Taylor introduce the
concurrent resolution on the Senate floor.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR maintained that it is "ready to go."
SENATOR THERRIAULT noted that, in general, a bill contains a
repeal section when new statutory sections are added but he did
not see any.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR clarified that the new material was added to
.120.
MS. ANNE CARPENETI, representing the Criminal Division of the
Department of Law, explained that repealing the section requiring
mandatory financial disclosure will make disclosure optional at
the request of various parties. For example, if the victim
advocate requested financial disclosure, the court would be
required to order it. She noted in most cases, financial
disclosure is not necessary because the restitution amounts to
less than the permanent fund dividend.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if the language is being repositioned on
the bottom of page 2, line 29.
MS. CARPENETI said that is correct.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked if the requirement that orders for
restitution remain past the age of minority applies to other
orders for restitution in district and superior courts.
MS. CARPENETI said she believes so. She noted this requirement
has been passed by the legislature in all forms of restitution
and Section 1 actually clarifies in statute that in a suspended
imposition of sentence, the restitution order survives.
There being no further testimony, SENATOR DONLEY moved SCS CSHB
297(JUD) from committee with individual recommendations and any
accompanying fiscal notes.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR announced that without objection, SCS CSHB
297(JUD) moved from committee. He also announced that the
committee would introduce a Senate concurrent resolution to
provide for the title changes necessitated by the changes made in
the committee substitute. There being no further business to come
before the committee, he adjourned the meeting at 3:15 p.m.
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