Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 120
04/09/2014 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB282 | |
| HB60 | |
| SB64 | |
| SB116 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 108 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 116 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 170 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SJR 22 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 64 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 282 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 108 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 60 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 116-SERVICE OF CITATIONS
3:12:17 PM
CHAIR KELLER announced that the final order of business would be
SENATE BILL NO. 116, "An Act relating to service of citations;
amending Rule 3(f), Alaska Rules of Minor Offense Procedure;
repealing Rule 3(g), Alaska Rules of Minor Offense Procedure;
and providing for an effective date."
3:12:27 PM
SENATOR DENNIS EGAN, Alaska State Legislature, speaking as the
sponsor, informed the committee SB 116 is a housekeeping measure
that fixes an unintended problem with Alaska law that made law
enforcement less effective and less fair when related to minor
offenses. For decades, parking tickets have been left under
automobile windshield wipers; however, in 2010, legislation
inadvertently ended this practice by requiring that all
citations are to be personally served. This is a problem for
Alaska cities that need to enforce parking and other rules.
Additionally, taxpayers should not have to pay for parking
enforcement officers and animal control officers to stake out
cars and front yards when the law is broken in a minor way.
Since the law was implemented by the Alaska Court System in
2013, some Alaska cities have used methods - called workarounds
- that deny those who wish to fight a ticket their day in court,
and which are more expensive to administer. Senate Bill 116
allows law enforcement to leave a ticket on the real or personal
property that is the subject of an infraction or a violation,
and also allows service by the same methods as civil processing,
including by certified mail or by a process server. The bill
still requires personal service by an officer for moving
violations, minor consuming, or other more serious crimes.
Senator Egan said SB 116 provides more efficient government for
Alaskans and gives access to the courts when needed. In
response to Representative LeDoux, he restated that the
aforementioned legislation was implemented in 2013.
3:15:33 PM
JESSE KIEHL, Staff, Senator Dennis Egan, Alaska State
Legislature, in response to Representative Pruitt, explained
that [by measures] adopted in March, and effective in April of
2013, the Alaska Court System changed its court rules to comply
with the legislation that was enacted in 2010. Many
municipalities, in order to enforce their parking laws, used a
"workaround," which made parking violations civil violations,
and as such they were not processed through the court system or
subject to court rules for service. However, this method
prevented someone who feels they were ticketed unjustly from
appealing to a judge or magistrate. Civil violations are also
more expensive for municipalities to enforce, especially against
a scofflaw. As an aside, he noted that municipalities that
choose to have parking violations held as civil violations will
retain the option to do so.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether getting a parking ticket
creates a criminal record.
MR. KIEHL expressed his belief that parking ticket violations
are handled through the court system's minor offense rules.
Although citations can be written for any misdemeanor infraction
or violation, they would not appear on CourtView.
3:18:11 PM
CHAIR KELLER clarified that CSSB 116(STA), Version 28-LS0826\O
was before the committee.
[Although not formally stated, public testimony was opened.]
3:18:39 PM
SCOTT BLOOM, City Attorney, City of Kenai, expressed his support
for the bill. The issues addressed by the bill are important to
the City of Kenai for three main reasons. Firstly, in the
summer Kenai may have up to 15,000 visitors in one day; the
local streets and residential areas are very crowded, and if the
city cannot issue parking citations there are many blatant
violations. Secondly, the personal service of parking citations
is a strain on the city's resources, and he provided an example.
As a smaller municipality, unlike Anchorage or Fairbanks, the
City of Kenai is unable to establish an alternative
administrative parking authority. Thirdly, he opined SB 116
would reduce the administrative cost to the city and to the
public related to parking citations, and would also reduce the
amount of the city's resources that are now diverted to booting
and towing vehicles.
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT surmised that at this time the City of
Kenai must utilize a police officer to personally hand citations
to those who have violated parking regulations. He asked
whether the proposed legislation would allow the city to place
citations under the windshield wiper, as a separate parking
authority is allowed to do.
MR. BLOOM said correct.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether in cities that do not have a
parking authority, parking citations are criminal offenses.
MR. KIEHL responded that there are a variety of systems. For
example, in the City of Kenai, parking citations are criminal
and must be personally served by the officer writing the
citation to the person charged. In the City and Borough of
Juneau (CBJ), there is no parking authority, but parking
violations are a civil offense and thus CBJ must provide an
alternative process to hear a grievance.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX further inquired as to why the cities that
have problems with the system do not adopt civil penalties as do
Anchorage and Juneau.
3:24:42 PM
NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Administrative Staff, Office of
the Administrative Director, Alaska Court System, clarified that
citations filed with the court system are not criminal but are
in the separate category of minor offenses. A minor offense is
usually handled by a magistrate and the consequence is a fine.
She further advised that the court can handle citations for
cities if that is desired; for example, in Kenai the court
addresses parking tickets, speeding tickets, and fish and game
citations, and handles trials if requested. However, in
Anchorage, a person pays his/her parking ticket at city hall.
The problem with personal service is compounded by those who do
not respond, and are then referred to the Collections and
Support Section of the Department of Law, or back to the city,
for executing an attachment to his/her Permanent Fund Dividend.
Ms. Meade opined the purpose of the bill is to no longer require
the personal service of a parking ticket. She said the Alaska
Court System is neutral on the bill.
3:27:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT observed that the parking authority in
Anchorage only issues tickets in the downtown area. He asked
whether a police officer would issue the same civil violation in
a residential area, by leaving it under the windshield wiper.
MS. MEADE said correct. In Anchorage, all parking citations
issued by the police department are handled through city hall,
unless there is a default which means after 30 days the city
issues a warning notice, and then the citation is turned over to
the court to enter default automatically.
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT expressed his understanding that minor
offenses, such as a downtown Anchorage parking ticket, are not
listed on CourtView.
MS. MEADE affirmed that parking tickets are not on CourtView
until and unless they are turned over to the court for default.
Other citations that go directly to the court - for example,
speeding tickets - are posted on CourtView. In further response
to Representative Pruitt, she said there is a distinction
between parking offenses and every other minor offense, such as
fish and game citations, moving violations, and those with a
fine of up to $500.
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT gleaned that an Anchorage parking citation
is handled by the authority until it is necessary to go to the
courts, and then the citation is posted on CourtView; in Kenai,
the ticket is personally delivered and posted on CourtView.
3:30:24 PM
MS. MEADE stated that any matter handled by the court is posted
on CourtView, unless it is confidential, thus if a city has
chosen for the court system to handle parking tickets, the
information is posted on CourtView unless it is confidential.
Ms. Meade, in response to Representative LeDoux, explained that
parking tickets are a subcategory of minor offenses and minor
offenses do not have the right to a trial by jury, the right to
preempt a judge, or the right to an attorney.
CHAIR KELLER, after ascertaining that no one else wished to
testify, closed public testimony.
3:31:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN made a motion to report CSSB 116(STA) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSSB 116(STA) was
reported out of the House Judiciary Standing Committee.