Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
02/08/2018 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB164 | |
| SB148 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 164 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 148 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 148-BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR POLICE & TRAINING
4:14:35 PM
CHAIR MEYER called the committee back to order. He announced the
consideration of Senate Bill 148 (SB 148).
4:15:32 PM
ROBERT GRIFFITHS, Executive Director, Alaska Police Standards
Council, Alaska Department of Public Safety, Juneau, Alaska,
provided the following background information on the Alaska
Police Standards Council (APSC):
In 1972 the Legislature created the Police Standards
Council to professionalize law enforcement in Alaska.
We were given the power and authority to establish
regulations that deal with hiring, training,
certification, and in some cases decertification of
officers across the state. A few years later we had
added to our repertoire: corrections, probation,
parole, and what are known as municipal corrections
officers; so, we certify all of those. We have about
2500 different certified officers in the state of
Alaska that we track and try to train as best we can,
and we are responsible for maintaining their
certifications.
He said the intent of SB 148 is to give APSC a tool to assist
rural public safety agencies in hiring and retaining officers.
He remarked that most people assume that every police officer in
Alaska has passed a fingerprint-based background check; however,
that is not always the case. He explained that while APSC has
established regulations that mandate a police officer have their
fingerprints taken and run through the national computer system
to verify identity and past criminal history, those are only
done by regulation and in some cases rural communities do not
have the necessary infrastructure or capabilities to do that.
He disclosed that by statute, rural communities are not required
to run a fingerprint-based background check; however, they must
comply with both federal and state regulations regarding
information access, protection, and security. He added that if a
rural community was to institute any kind of electronic inquiry
system, they would have to have secure data lines, specialized
routing equipment and terminals, and physical security for the
equipment. He said an electronic inquiry system is expensive and
most of the state's rural communities cannot accommodate that.
4:18:16 PM
MR. GRIFFITHS explained that SB 148 fixes a recent problem where
federal regulation that governs fingerprints and background
checks regard the police officer's standards and training
programs across the country of which most states, like Alaska,
as "post agencies" that are regarded as a "licensing agency" as
opposed to a "criminal justice agency." He explained that for
access to be granted under federal law to the criminal justice
system data which is where the fingerprint data resides, Alaska
must have statutory authority for access. He specified that
Alaska's current authority exists only in regulation, not in
statute; as a result, SB 148 was drafted to address the
statutory requirement. He summarized that Alaska's rural
communities will be assisted by acceptance of fingerprints where
they were taken by someone in the community, state trooper, or
village public safety officer.
4:20:31 PM
He provided a sectional analysis as follows:
• Summary:
This bill adds to the power of APSC to request a
fingerprint based national criminal history records check
from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) through the
Alaska Department Public Safety (DPS) for admittance to a
basic police training program or for employment as a police
officer, if the prospective employer does not have access
to a criminal justice information system (CJIS).
• Section 1:
Amends AS 12.62.400 (National Criminal History record
checks for employment, licensing, and other noncriminal
justice purposes) to include the new subsection (a) (1)
(19) allowing for a fingerprint based records check to be
submitted to the FBI for admittance to a basic police
training program under AS 18.65.230 (APSC training
programs) or for employment as a police officer under
18.65.240 (APSC standards for appointment as a police
officer), if the prospective employer does not have access
to CJIS.
• Section 2:
Amends AS 18.65.220 (Powers of the APSC) to include the new
subsection (8) which requires a state and national criminal
history check for an applicant to a training program
established in AS 18.65.230 and for a person to be
appointed as a police officer under AS 18.65.240 if that
person's prospective employer does not have access to CJIS
to conduct their own criminal history check.
• Section 3:
Amends AS 18.65.230 (APSC training programs) by adding a
new subsection (b) which requires an applicant for
appointment as a police officer or for admittance to a
training program to submit fingerprints and a fee to the
APSC unless the applicant's employer has done this.
• Section 4:
Amends AS 18.65.240 (APSC standards) to reflect the new
subsection (d), added below in Section 5.
• Section 5:
Amends AS 18.65.240 (APSC standards) to add a new
subsection (d) which limits the issuing of an APSC
certificate unless the council determines the applicant
will undergo a national criminal history record check pre-
employment; and requiring a prospective employer to submit
an applicant's fingerprints to the council for submission
to the FBI if the prospective employer does not have CJIS
access. The criminal history records check is required to
assure applicants meet minimum standards established by the
council.
• Section 6:
Amends AS 18.65.290 (Definitions) by adding a new
subsection (9) which clarifies that the meaning of criminal
justice information system is the meaning given in AS
12.62.900(13).
• Section 7:
Specifies the applicability of the act applies to persons
that apply for admittance to a police training program
under AS 18.65.230 or to be appointed as a police officer
under AS 18.65.240 on or after the effective date of this
act.
• Section 8:
Includes a reviser's instruction to change the catch-line
of AS 18.65.230 from "Training programs" to "Training
programs; fingerprints.
4:23:20 PM
CHAIR MEYER asked who would be liable if something happens in a
smaller area that has not gone through the background check
protocol.
MR. GRIFFITHS surmised that the community where the individual
is working would assume most of the liability. He admitted that
liability would be decreased if the individuals go through
APSC's background check, training program, and certification
process.
CHAIR MEYER asked how large the communities are and if they have
taxing capabilities for hiring.
MR. GRIFFITHS answered that the communities must be
incorporated. He added that the legislation targets communities
under 1,000 in population that are off the road system. The
targeted communities are primarily in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
and Northwest Arctic Borough areas.
CHAIR MEYER asked if APSC would be able to get to the smaller
communities to do fingerprint checks.
MR. GRIFFITHS replied that APSC would be able to preform the
fingerprint checks through its partnership with DPS.
4:25:15 PM
CHAIR MEYER asked if the officers in the smaller communities
carry weapons.
MR. GRIFFITHS answered that some of the officers do carry
weapons. He assumed that the officers that carry weapons have
been through the APSC/DPS training programs and met the
requirements; however, their officers are not prohibited from
carrying a firearm. The option is up to the community and their
community standards.
CHAIR MEYER said the concern is that some of the smaller
communities are hiring individuals that may or may not be
qualified to be law enforcement and may or may not be enforcing
the state's laws. He asked if the officers in the smaller
communities are on the Alaska Public Employees' Retirement
System (PERS).
MR. GRIFFITHS answered that he did not know but would follow up
with the information.
CHAIR MEYER remarked that there should be some way to make sure
that the individuals are qualified.
4:26:36 PM
CHAIR MEYER opened public testimony.
4:26:55 PM
KATHIE WASSERMAN, Executive Director, Alaska Municipal League,
Juneau, Alaska, testified in support of SB 148. She detailed the
public safety challenges faced by smaller municipalities. She
remarked that SB 148 is a bill that makes it easier to get the
smaller municipalities that do have a Village Police Officer
(VPO) to do what they need to do for community safety and avoid
costly lawsuits. She noted that the background check is
typically something that the smaller municipalities cannot do on
their own. She noted that enrollment into PERS is inconsistent
within each community.
CHAIR MEYER asked how smaller municipalities pay for their VPOs.
MS. WASSERMAN replied that she did not know. She surmised that
communities with tribal presence may use tribal grants.
CHAIR MEYER asked Mr. Griffiths how VPOs differ from the Village
Public Safety Officers (VPSO).
4:30:57 PM
MR. GRIFFITHS explained that the communities benefiting from SB
148 are the communities with VPOs. He detailed that APSC adopted
regulations describing the different standards that are applied
to police officers, both for training and for hiring. He said
APSC has recognized that there is a vast disparity between rural
law enforcement and urban law enforcement. He described the two
police officer classifications as follows:
APSC created two classifications of police officer,
they are still police officers under the state statute
and under the law, but the requirements are slightly
different to accommodate the needs and the limited
resources of rural Alaska; we call those folks in
rural Alaska "Village Police Officers," not to be
confused with "Village Public Safety Officers" which
are officers that are not employed by the state of
Alaska or by the local community but instead by
grantees through the Department of Public Safety.
CHAIR MEYER asked who pays for VPOs and VPSOs.
MR. GRIFFITHS replied that VPOs are paid by the local
communities and VPSOs are paid through the VPSO program through
DPS. The VPSO program is grant-funded by the state to regional
corporations or in one case the grantee is a borough. He
detailed that VPSOs are trained, certified and managed by DPS.
CHAIR MEYER asked him to confirm that the VPSOs are state
employees.
MR. GRIFFITHS clarified that VPSOs are funded by state money,
but the individuals are not state employees.
CHAIR MEYER asked him to confirm that VPSOs are different from
VPOs.
MR. GRIFFITHS answered yes.
4:33:27 PM
SENATOR WILSON asked if the bill is retroactive for VPOs to get
their fingerprints and police training.
MR. GRIFFITHS replied as follows:
I'm not sure "retroactive" would be the right
terminology because our regulations currently require
this. If they are currently serving in a community and
haven't complied with those regulations or if this
statute were to be adopted with a statute, we would
still assist them in coming into compliance with both.
SENATOR WILSON assumed that the financial burden for fingerprint
submission would be up to the communities and asked what the
cost is.
MR. GRIFFITHS replied that the cost for a licensing, fingerprint
background check is $47.
CHAIR MEYER asked if VPO turnover is high.
MR. GRIFFITHS answered that turnover for VPOs is exceptionally
high. He opined that part of the issue is that VPOs do not have
an opportunity to enroll in PERS.
CHAIR MEYER pointed out that SB 148 has a fiscal note for DPS
with corrections forthcoming.
4:36:05 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL moved to report SB 148, version: 30-GS2594\A
from committee with individual recommendations and forthcoming
updated fiscal notes.
4:36:18 PM
CHAIR MEYER announced that there being no objection, the motion
carried.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB164 Transmittal Letter.pdf |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 164 |
| SB164 Ver A.PDF |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 164 |
| SB164 DEC Fiscal Note.PDF |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 164 |
| SB 148 Hearing Request-signed.pdf |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 148 |
| SB0148A.PDF |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 148 |
| SB 148 Sectional Analysis version A.pdf |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 148 |
| SB148-DPS-APSC-01-18-18.pdf |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 148 |
| SB148 Additional Information Letter 2.6.2018.pdf |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 148 |
| SB164 and OSV Overview 02.08.2018.pdf |
SSTA 2/8/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 164 |