01/27/2010 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

           HB 307 - SEXUAL ASSAULT PROTECTIVE ORDERS                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
2:41:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR RAMRAS  [announced that the  final order of  business would                                                               
be]  HOUSE BILL  NO.  307,  "An Act  relating  to sexual  assault                                                               
protective orders."                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
2:41:34 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
BILL EDWARDS, Staff, Representative  Lindsey Holmes, Alaska State                                                               
Legislature, explained  on behalf of the  sponsor, Representative                                                               
Holmes,  that HB  307 repairs  a gap  in magistrate  and district                                                               
court  judge  jurisdiction  with  regard  to  issuing  protective                                                               
orders in  cases of  sexual assault.   Currently there  are three                                                               
types  of  protective  orders  -  those  pertaining  to  domestic                                                               
violence  (DV), those  pertaining  to sexual  assault, and  those                                                               
pertaining to  stalking.  Prior  to 2001, protective  orders were                                                               
issued only  in cases of  DV, but House  Bill 1 in  2001 extended                                                               
this  protection  to  cases  involving   stalking  outside  of  a                                                               
domestic  relationship,  and  Senate  Bill  54  in  2006  further                                                               
extended  this  protection  to  cases  involving  sexual  assault                                                               
outside of a domestic relationship.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR.  EDWARDS  explained that  the  current  problem is  that  the                                                               
statute  giving   magistrates  and  district  court   judges  the                                                               
authority  to   issue  protective  orders  was   not  amended  to                                                               
specifically state  that a protective  order could be  issued for                                                               
cases  involving  sexual  assault,   as  was  intended  with  the                                                               
aforementioned  Senate Bill  54.   As a  result, magistrates  and                                                               
district court  judges in some  parts of the  state, particularly                                                               
rural  parts of  the state,  have been  saying, quite  correctly,                                                               
that they don't have the  authority to issue protective orders in                                                               
cases  involving sexual  assault.   This  means  that victims  of                                                               
these crimes  have to go to  a superior court judge,  and this is                                                               
particularly burdensome  on victims who live  in communities that                                                               
are far  away from  a superior  court.   House Bill  307 remedies                                                               
this  by amending  AS 22.15.100(9)(B)  such that  magistrates and                                                               
district  court  judges  would  have the  authority  to  issue  a                                                               
protective order in cases involving sexual assault.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. EDWARDS,  in conclusion, noted that  members' packets contain                                                               
minutes pertaining  to the aforementioned Senate  Bill 54; e-mail                                                               
correspondence   between   himself   and  that   bill's   sponsor                                                               
confirming that the  intent of that bill was  for magistrates and                                                               
district  court  judges  to  issue  protective  orders  in  cases                                                               
involving  sexual assault;  and a  letter of  support for  HB 307                                                               
from the  Alaska Network  on Domestic  Violence &  Sexual Assault                                                               
(ANDVSA).                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:44:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PEGGY  BROWN,  Executive  Director, Alaska  Network  on  Domestic                                                               
Violence  & Sexual  Assault (ANDVSA),  said  the ANDVSA  supports                                                               
HB 307,  and  had  noticed the  aforementioned  oversight  that's                                                               
resulted  in   some  magistrates   and  district   court  judges,                                                               
particularly  in  rural  areas  of  Alaska,  [refusing  to  issue                                                               
protective orders  in cases involving  sexual assault].   Closing                                                               
such loopholes  might seem  inconsequential, but  doing so  has a                                                               
huge impact out  in the field, and provides the  tools with which                                                               
perpetrators  can  be  brought  to justice  and  victims  can  be                                                               
protected.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  RAMRAS, after  ascertaining  that no  one  else wished  to                                                               
testify, closed public testimony on HB 307.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:45:50 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report  HB 307 out of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.   There being no objection,  HB 307 was reported  from the                                                               
House Judiciary Standing Committee.