03/21/2018 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

          SB 148-BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR POLICE/TRAINING                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:40:37 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the  final order of business would be                                                               
SENATE BILL  NO. 148, "An  Act relating  to powers of  the Alaska                                                               
Police Standards  Council; and relating to  background checks for                                                               
admission  to police  training programs  and  certification as  a                                                               
police officer."                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:41:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
BOB  GRIFFITHS,  Executive   Director,  Alaska  Police  Standards                                                               
Council  (APSC), Department  of Public  Safety, advised  that the                                                               
Police  Standards  Council (APSC)  was  established  by the  1972                                                               
legislature to  establish standards  for the training  and hiring                                                               
of police officers.  Subsequent  to the enactment of the original                                                               
bill,  corrections officers,  probation  officers, and  municipal                                                               
corrections  officers  were  added.    Since  first  establishing                                                               
regulations  in the  1970s,  fingerprint-based background  checks                                                               
are required  for police  officers in  the State  of Alaska.   He                                                               
explained that two types of  police officers are certified in the                                                               
state,  as  follows:  urban officers,  normally  referred  to  as                                                               
police officers; and  with a slightly lower set  of standards the                                                               
council certifies  village police officers for  populations under                                                               
1,000 residents and communities that  are off of the road system.                                                               
Oftentimes, he explained,  these communities have quite  a bit of                                                               
limitation as  far as their  resources are concerned.   This bill                                                               
specifically  targets  a  problem that  arose  approximately  two                                                               
years ago, and the Alaska  Police Standards Council first learned                                                               
of  the problem  one  year  ago.   He  related  that the  federal                                                               
government changed  the definition of Police  Standards Councils,                                                               
and rather than calling these  councils part of the public safety                                                               
system,  "they  called  us  a   licensing  agency,"  meaning  the                                                               
nationwide  councils  are  occupational  licensing  boards.    He                                                               
explained that that change moved the  council out of the realm of                                                               
being  able to  run fingerprint-based  background checks  itself.                                                               
The  Alaska Police  Standards Council  had  always performed  the                                                               
fingerprint-based  background check  for  small communities,  and                                                               
two  years ago  it  lost that  ability.   He  explained that  the                                                               
council would receive the criminal  histories to make certain the                                                               
people were  not disqualified  by the  standards, they  were then                                                               
enrolled in training  and then certified as officers.   This bill                                                               
is  specifically  targeted, he  explained,  to  allow the  Alaska                                                               
Police Standards Council  the ability to continue  to perform the                                                               
fingerprint-based background checks.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
1:43:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  GRIFFITHS advised  that SB  148, Section  1 adds  the Alaska                                                               
Police Standards Council  (APSC) to the list of all  of the other                                                               
agencies in  the state that perform  fingerprint-based background                                                               
checks  for occupational  licenses, such  as real  estate agents,                                                               
lawyers, and so forth.  Section 1 amends AS 12.62.400(a).                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MR. GRIFFITHS advised  that Section 2 (indisc.) to  give them the                                                               
(indisc.), which he said is fairly  simple.  Section 3 amends the                                                               
training  section   to  include  the  requirement   of  obtaining                                                               
fingerprint-based background  checks before  being admitted  to a                                                               
police  occupational basic  training program.   Section  4 amends                                                               
the APSC standards  to reflect the subsequent  section in Section                                                               
5.   Section  5  amends the  standards to  add  a new  subsection                                                               
limiting the  issuance of a  certificate to only people  who have                                                               
had their fingerprint-based background  check performed.  Section                                                               
6  amends the  definitions  of  "our section"  to  bring it  into                                                               
compliance with  the rest  of the statute.   Section  7 specifies                                                               
the applicability of the Act  specifically to people applying for                                                               
admittance to a  police training program or who  are appointed as                                                               
a  police officer  on or  after the  effective date  of the  Act.                                                               
Section 8 is a notice to  the statutory revisors of the change in                                                               
the APSC's classification language.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
1:45:51 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP  surmised that  that this  legislation simply                                                               
gives the  Alaska Police Standards Council  the authority, again,                                                               
to do what  it was previously performing in order  to ensure that                                                               
a  person  applying  to  a  police  training  program  meets  the                                                               
statutory background check standards in Title 18.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MR. GRIFFITHS agreed, and he  clarified that the standards are in                                                               
regulation,  which was  part  of the  issue  wherein the  federal                                                               
government requires that  the standards are in  statute before it                                                               
will recognize it as a legitimate exemption to the federal laws.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:46:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  CLAMAN  opened   public  testimony  on  SB   148.    After                                                               
ascertaining  no   one  wished  to  testify,   he  closed  public                                                               
testimony on SB 148.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
[SB 148 was held over.] #