04/27/2021 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

            SB 92-MISSING PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OLD                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:28:31 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER  announced the consideration  of SENATE BILL  NO. 92                                                               
"An Act relating to missing persons under 21 years of age."                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
He  listed the  individuals who  would testify  on behalf  of the                                                               
administration and those available to answer questions.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
4:29:05 PM                                                                                                                    
KATHRYN  MONFREDA, Director,  Division  of  Statewide Services  -                                                               
CGIS Programs,  Department of  Public Safety,  Anchorage, Alaska,                                                               
explained  that  SB  92  aligns  state law  to  the  federal  law                                                               
regarding reporting  missing persons between  the ages of  18 and                                                               
21.                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
4:29:35 PM                                                                                                                    
MS.  MONFREDA began  a PowerPoint  presentation on  slide 2.  She                                                               
related that  the 2003 Suzanne's  Law and  part of the  2006 Adam                                                               
Walsh Act collectively require law  enforcement agencies to enter                                                               
information  related to  persons under  the  age of  21 into  the                                                               
National  Crime Information  Center (NCIC)  data base  within two                                                               
hours  of being  reported missing.  She advised  that these  laws                                                               
were named  after a university  student who went missing  in 1981                                                               
and was never found and a  five-year-old boy who was abducted and                                                               
murdered in 1981.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MS. MONFREDA  reviewed the  current statutes  that have  not been                                                               
updated   since  they   were  enacted   in  the   mid-1980s.  She                                                               
paraphrased the following:                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
        • AS 18.65.620 requires reporting missing minors to                                                                     
          the state's Missing Persons Clearinghouse if not                                                                      
          located within 48 hours after first reported                                                                          
          missing                                                                                                               
        • AS 47.10.141 requires reporting missing minors                                                                        
          into state and national databases no later than                                                                       
          24 hours after completing the missing person                                                                          
          report                                                                                                                
        • AS 47.10.390 defines 'runaway minor' as a person                                                                      
          under 18 years of age                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:32:24 PM                                                                                                                    
MS. MONFREDA  reviewed the summary of  statutory changes proposed                                                               
in  SB 92  to  conform  with federal  law  pertaining to  missing                                                               
persons under age 21. She paraphrased the following:                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
        • Changes required for AS 47.10.141 and AS                                                                              
          18.65.620 to comply with the two federal laws                                                                         
          regarding                                                                                                             
             • Entry into state and national databases for                                                                      
               missing persons under age 21 instead of the                                                                      
               state requirement of age 18                                                                                      
             • Entry of the records into state and national                                                                     
               databases within 2 hours instead of the                                                                          
               state requirement of 24 hours                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS.  MONFREDA  paraphrased  the current  procedures  bulleted  on                                                               
slide 5. The slide read as follows:                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
        • Statewide training for law enforcement is already                                                                     
          in place regarding the more restrictive federal                                                                       
          requirements                                                                                                          
        • Most state and local law enforcement agencies are                                                                     
          already complying with the more restrictive                                                                           
          federal requirements                                                                                                  
        • Programming for the state database, Alaska Public                                                                     
          Safety  Information Network  (APSIN), has  already                                                                    
          been completed  to allow law enforcement  to enter                                                                    
          reports  to  comply   with  the  more  restrictive                                                                    
          federal requirements                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MS. MONFREDA  paraphrased the benefits of  the proposed statutory                                                               
changes bulleted on slide 6. The slide read as follows:                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
        • Remove conflicting,   less   restrictive   state                                                                      
          statutory requirements                                                                                                
        • Faster state and nationwide notification of                                                                           
         missing person records for those under age 21                                                                          
             • The National   Center   for   Missing   and                                                                      
               Exploited    Children    monitors    national                                                                    
               databases and proactively offers assistance                                                                      
        • Improved response for the vulnerable, college-age                                                                     
          population of missing persons                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  KAWASAKI said  he appreciates  that college  age persons                                                               
are particularly  vulnerable, but  he wonders  why the  bill does                                                               
not ensure  that missing persons  who are  older than age  21 and                                                               
have a mental illness or dementia are placed on the database.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS.  MONFREDA  replied that  the  practice  is to  enter  missing                                                               
persons  into  the system  regardless  of  age, but  federal  law                                                               
requires missing persons age 21 and younger to be entered.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SHOWER asked Ms. Monfreda  if she agreed that the committee                                                               
could amend the bill to include  other missing persons as a state                                                               
requirement.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. MONFREDA replied that is correct.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SHOWER suggested  Senator  Kawasaki look  at amending  the                                                               
bill to expand the coverage under state law.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
4:35:25 PM                                                                                                                    
MS. MONFREDA paraphrased the following  sectional analysis for SB
:                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     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.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     The  bill  has no  specific  effective  date and  would                                                                    
     become effective 90 days after becoming law.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SHOWER again  asked for confirmation that  if the committee                                                               
were  to amend  the bill  to require  all missing  persons to  be                                                               
entered into the database, the  state would still be perceived as                                                               
following federal law.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS.  MONFREDA  confirmed  that  state  law  can  always  be  more                                                               
restrictive than federal law, but not less restrictive.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KAWASAKI  asked to  hear from  law enforcement  about the                                                               
feasibility  of small  municipalities being  able to  comply with                                                               
the  two-hour  federal reporting  requirement  if  the bill  were                                                               
expanded to include all missing persons.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:38:08 PM                                                                                                                    
PAUL  FUSSEY, Lieutenant,  Alaska State  Troopers, Department  of                                                               
Public Safety,  Anchorage, Alaska, stated  that it does  not take                                                               
very  long to  enter information  into either  the NCIC  or APSIN                                                               
databases and a  dispatcher could be entering  the information as                                                               
an officer is out looking for the missing person.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR COSTELLO asked  what happens to the  information that was                                                               
entered into the system after the missing person is found safe.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS. MONFREDA  replied that  the information  is deleted  from the                                                               
system after the person is located, but it remains in the log.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
4:39:50 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER opened  public testimony on SB 92;  finding none, he                                                               
closed public testimony.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:40:21 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER held SB 92 in committee for future consideration.