02/26/2018 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

         HB 316-RESTRICT ACCESS MARIJUANA CRIME RECORDS                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:43:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced  that the next order of  business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 316, "An Act  relating to the sealing  of certain                                                               
court records; restricting the publication  of certain records of                                                               
convictions on  a publicly available website;  relating to public                                                               
records;   and    amending   Rule    37.6,   Alaska    Rules   of                                                               
Administration."                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:43:34 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PATRICK  FITZGERALD,  Staff,   Representative  Harriet  Drummond,                                                               
Alaska State  Legislature, in  response to  Representative Kress-                                                               
Tomkins's question asked in the  previous hearing, with regard to                                                               
whether any  sort of expungement  or dealings took place  for the                                                               
people punished  or imprisoned due to  prohibition, answered that                                                               
it was  more of a  federal law.  He  explained that there  was an                                                               
amendment  in the  Constitution of  the United  States, and  once                                                               
prohibition  ended, the  federal  government left  it  up to  the                                                               
states to  decide how to  address the remainder of  the sentences                                                               
imposed  during  prohibition.    In  contrast,  he  pointed  out,                                                               
currently  the states  have been  ending prohibition  on cannabis                                                               
and marijuana rather than the federal government.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:45:04 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.   FITZGERALD,   in   response   to  a   question   asked   by                                                               
Representative Eastman in  a previous hearing with  regard to job                                                               
applications and  how someone would answer  the [felony] question                                                               
if  they  fit   the  criteria  in  the  bill,   he  advised  that                                                               
essentially,  the  person would  write  on  the job  application,                                                               
"Yes, I have been convicted; however,  as an employer you may not                                                               
have access  to it because it  is a crime that  was addressed and                                                               
is now legal."                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:45:48 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  CLAMAN   advised  that  Legislative  Legal   and  Research                                                               
Services  has permission  to make  any  technical and  conforming                                                               
amendments to the bill.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:46:01 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN  moved to adopt Amendment  1, Version 30-LS1017\O.1,                                                               
Radford/Martin, 2/21/18, which read as follows:                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, line 10:                                                                                                           
          Delete "and"                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, following line 10:                                                                                                 
     Insert a new paragraph to read:                                                                                            
               "(2)  was 21 years of age or older at the                                                                        
     time of commission of the offense; and"                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Renumber the following paragraph accordingly.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, line 4:                                                                                                            
          Delete "and"                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, following line 4:                                                                                                  
     Insert a new paragraph to read:                                                                                            
               "(2)  was 21 years of age or older at the                                                                        
     time of commission of the offense; and"                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Renumber the following paragraph accordingly.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Page 4, line 17, following "was":                                                                                      
          Insert "21 years of age or older at the time of                                                                   
     commission of the offense and was"                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN objected for purposes of discussion.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:46:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FITZGERALD explained  that  Amendment 1  clarifies that  for                                                               
this to  apply, the individual would  have had to be  21-years of                                                               
age or older  during the issuing of the citation,  and he advised                                                               
that this  amendment was  worked out with  the Department  of Law                                                               
(DOL) and the  Alaska Court System (ACS).  He  remarked that when                                                               
the bill  was originally  drafted, it  was believed  that because                                                               
the  citation  to  be  given  would have  included  a  "minor  in                                                               
possession of"  or a  "minor using  whatever it  may be"  that it                                                               
would  not override  it.   However,  he  advised, this  amendment                                                               
clarifies that  the individual  would have had  to have  been 21-                                                               
years of age at the time, which is what is currently legal.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:47:11 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  EASTMAN asked  whether  there  are any  potential                                                               
convictions out  there for something  that occurred  when someone                                                               
was 18-20 years of age.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FITZGERALD  advised  that  the  sponsor's  office  had  been                                                               
notified of  some convictions; however,  if the person  was below                                                               
the  age of  21  when  the citation  was  given,  this would  not                                                               
pertain to those individuals.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
1:47:48 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   EASTMAN   commented   that   that   creates   an                                                               
interesting situation  where, it  was confidential if  the person                                                               
was 21-years of age and did  something, but if they were younger,                                                               
it was not confidential.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITZGERALD  explained that the  idea behind the bill  is that                                                               
if a person  would have been legally possessing  marijuana at the                                                               
time, before  the state legalized marijuana,  the person's record                                                               
will be made confidential.  In the event the person was under-                                                                  
age, then "even  if you had it now, and  you were under-age, then                                                               
it would still be minor in possession."                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:48:40 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN  withdrew his  objection.  There  being no                                                               
objections, Amendment 1 was adopted.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
1:49:02 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN  noted that an issue  discussed during the                                                               
previous hearing  related to charges,  and he asked  whether this                                                               
confidentiality should  deal with  the single charge,  or whether                                                               
the charges are broader.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FITZGERALD answered  that this  bill applies  to the  "stand                                                               
alone charges," and this is solely the conviction of possession.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:49:56 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN  asked which of the  following two options                                                               
the  sponsor   prefers,  narrowly   tailoring  it  to   the  sole                                                               
conviction  of possession,  or broadly  relating to  one of  many                                                               
different charges.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN said, "You mean, what does the bill do?"                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN commented that  between those two options,                                                               
he would  like to know  where the  sponsor stands because  it was                                                               
the topic of conversation during the last hearing.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:50:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KOPP declared  a point  of order.   He  commented                                                               
that it does not really matter  what the sponsor wants to do, the                                                               
question is "what does the bill do."                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN  remarked that if  this is the bill  sponsor's bill,                                                               
isn't  the   sponsor's  position  reflected  by   the  bill  they                                                               
submitted.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   EASTMAN  said   he  is   asking  the   sponsor's                                                               
representative to confirm that ...                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN  advised Mr. Fitzgerald  that he could  confirm that                                                               
the bill represents the sponsor's intent.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITZGERALD  stated that the  bill does reflect  the sponsor's                                                               
intent.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:51:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KREISS-TOMKINS moved  to report  HB 316,  Version                                                               
30-LS1017\O, Martin,  2/8/18, as  amended, out of  committee with                                                               
individual  recommendations and  the  accompanying fiscal  notes.                                                               
There  being no  objection, CSHB  316(JUD) moved  from the  House                                                               
Judiciary Standing Committee.