03/13/2014 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

                  SB 116-SERVICE OF CITATIONS                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
9:14:43 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DYSON called the committee  back to order. He announced the                                                               
consideration of SB  116. He said the committee will  accept as a                                                               
working document,  committee substitute (CS) for  SB 116, labeled                                                               
28-LS0826\C.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
9:15:14 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  EGAN,  sponsor  of SB  116,  Alaska  State  Legislature,                                                               
Juneau, Alaska,  explained that the  bill corrects  an unintended                                                               
consequence of a  good bill passed in 2010. He  specified that in                                                               
March 2013,  the courts implemented  the law and it  stopped, for                                                               
example,  law  enforcement  from   leaving  a  ticket  under  the                                                               
windshield wiper  of a  car. To keep  enforcing local  laws, many                                                               
municipalities  went  to  simple  violations  for  just  a  minor                                                               
offense and that has its own  problems and it wasn't available to                                                               
state  law  enforcement   at  all.  He  said  SB   116  lets  law                                                               
enforcement go back  to where it was this time  last year where a                                                               
parking ticket can go under a car's windshield wiper.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
9:16:46 AM                                                                                                                    
JESSE  KIEHL,  Staff,  Senator Egan,  Alaska  State  Legislature,                                                               
Juneau,  Alaska, said  the 2013  court rule  that was  adopted in                                                               
April  had  the   effect  of  stopping  the   court  system  from                                                               
processing  any  citation  that an  officer  did  not  personally                                                               
serve. He explained  that "personally serve" was  defined to mean                                                               
face-to-face on  the person  charged with  the offence.  He noted                                                               
that the  bill that passed  in 2010  was meant to  address moving                                                               
violations, minor  consuming, and  more serious  law infractions.                                                               
He said  municipalities that had  chosen not to make  things like                                                               
parking  tickets civil  violations, ultimately  had to  do so  in                                                               
order to keep enforcing their  local laws for minor incidents and                                                               
infractions.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  KIEHL   explained  that   civil  citations   meant  fighting                                                               
citations through  the municipality rather than  the Alaska Court                                                               
System. He  added that a  second significant disadvantage  with a                                                               
civil  citation is  the added  cost  for a  municipality and  law                                                               
enforcement in order to execute  a judgment. He clarified that SB
 does  not force  any municipality to  change their  choice to                                                               
make their violations civil.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
9:19:44 AM                                                                                                                    
He addressed the new changes in the CS as follows:                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     On page  2, line 7,  it simply corrects what  I believe                                                                    
     is a typographical error in  existing law that required                                                                    
     both  a peace  officer and  someone else  authorized by                                                                    
     law,  code  enforcement  officer,  animal  officer,  to                                                                    
     issue the  citations; this would say  either or whoever                                                                    
     wrote  the  citation must  follow  the  rules. Page  2,                                                                    
     lines 7-8, this new subsection  defines the limits on a                                                                    
     citation that  can be either left  on personal property                                                                    
     or served according  to the civil rules.  The change in                                                                    
     the  CS   would  limit  that   to  offenses   that  are                                                                    
     punishable by a fine of $500 or less.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR.  KIEHL said  the bill's  sponsor felt  that infractions  with                                                               
higher penalties required  more due process than  a normal ticket                                                               
where the citation could be  mailed or left on personal property.                                                               
He added that  in the CS on  page 2, line 10,  the citation would                                                               
have  to  be left  in  a  conspicuous  place. He  specified  that                                                               
infractions that  might carry imprisonment  must be  served face-                                                               
to-face.  He added  that minor  consuming  and moving  violations                                                               
also require citations to be served face-to-face.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
9:23:02 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR COGHILL  asked to  clarify that the  court rule  was made                                                               
after the statute was passed under personally-served.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MR. KIEHL  answered yes.  He specified that  the 2010  bill dealt                                                               
with  a uniform  statewide  process for  citations that  required                                                               
citations  be personally  served.  He explained  that the  Alaska                                                               
Court  System in  implementing the  law in  2013 made  clear that                                                               
personally-served meant serving citations face-to-face.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
9:24:12 AM                                                                                                                    
SCOTT BLOOM, City Attorney, City  of Kenai, Kenai, Alaska, stated                                                               
that Kenai supported  SB 116 as amended and  explained the issues                                                               
for the  city by  not being  able to  leave parking  citations as                                                               
follows:                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
        1. Public   Safety:     people    ignored    parking                                                                    
          restrictions.                                                                                                         
        2. Strain on Municipal Resources: police officers                                                                       
          were forced to track down drivers, boot vehicles,                                                                     
          or have vehicles towed.                                                                                               
        3. Higher Parking Costs: Kenai would have to add                                                                        
          personnel to administrate parking.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR DYSON noted  his appreciation for Senator  Egan in bringing                                                               
the bill forward to solve the unintended problem.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
9:27:19 AM                                                                                                                    
MATT MUSSLEWHITE, Director, Animal  Control and Protection (ACP),                                                               
Juneau, Alaska, stated his support for  SB 116. He said since the                                                               
implementation  of  the  personal service  requirement  in  April                                                               
2013, ACP has experienced a  48 percent reduction in the issuance                                                               
of minor  offense citations; this requirement  has also generated                                                               
a considerable increase in man-hours  required per case. He noted                                                               
that an officer  may need to visit a residence  five or six times                                                               
in order to personally serve a $25 citation.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
He said the implementation of  the personal service rule has also                                                               
had  a much  larger consequence  than just  increased effort  and                                                               
loss of  citation revenue.  Mandatory court  appearance citations                                                               
that ACP issues  for dangerous dog owners may  go unissued simply                                                               
because the owner refuses to  answer their door. He remarked that                                                               
it is  hard to tell  a dog attack  victim that he  cannot enforce                                                               
the laws without the violator's cooperation.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
He summarized  that the ability to  leave a citation on  the door                                                               
of a  residence or by certified  mail for a minor  offense allows                                                               
his officers  to devote  more time  and resources  to investigate                                                               
more serious  issues of  animal cruelty,  abuse, and  neglect. He                                                               
set  forth that  SB 116  will  provide law  enforcement with  the                                                               
tools  to do  their job  efficiently  and urged  support for  the                                                               
legislation.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
9:28:59 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR GIESSEL moved  from committee CS for SB  116, labeled 28-                                                               
LS0826\C, with zero fiscal note and individual recommendations.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
9:29:15 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DYSON  announced that without objection,  CSSB 116(STA) has                                                               
moved from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.