Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
03/04/2008 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB265 | |
| SB276 | |
| HB259 | |
| SB296 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 276 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 265 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 296 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 259 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 265-SEX OFFENDERS & CHILD KIDNAPPERS
CHAIR McGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 265.
9:06:54 AM
TREVOR FULTON, Staff to Senator McGuire, Alaska State
Legislature, said the state sex offender registry is popular and
effective in identifying convicted sex offenders in communities.
The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) has the most complete data
base in Alaska. SB 265 combines the resources of the PFD
division and the Department of Public Safety's sex offender
registry. By withholding PFDs from sex offenders that are out of
compliance with the registry, SB 265 aims to bring in the one
out of ten sex offenders who have not registered. It provides an
incentive to register, so it will reduce the burden on law
enforcement of tracking down non-compliers. Most importantly, SB
265 gives Alaskans an improved means to identify convicted sex
offenders who may be living in their community.
MR. FULTON said CSSB 265(TRA), Version M, is before the
committee.
The committee took a brief at-ease at 9:09:46 AM.
9:11:39 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said a cursory look at those out of compliance
revealed that about two thirds would have applied for and
qualified for the PFD.
SENATOR BUNDE said a memo from Tam Cook [Director, Legislative
Legal Services] notes that a convicted felon is not eligible for
a PFD, and he asked if that prohibition ends after serving time.
DEBBIE RICHTER, Director, Permanent Fund Dividend Division,
Department of Revenue, said the sex offender would only be
denied a dividend while incarcerated.
KATHY MONFREDA, Chief, Criminal Records Bureau, Department of
Public Safety, said the department supports SB 265. It is an
opportunity to improve compliance. Two thirds of non-compliant
sex offenders applied for a dividend check last year.
9:15:15 AM
SENATOR BUNDE asked if the PFD division will withhold the
dividend and notify law enforcement if SB 265 passes.
MS. RICHTER said her division does not address the sex offender
registry at all. A match is made with the Department of
Corrections for people incarcerated with misdemeanors or
felonies. The division will not deny the dividend under SB 265,
but would withhold payment for one year until the offender
becomes compliant.
SENATOR BUNDE asked if she will notify the department.
MS. RICHTER said information will be coming from the Department
of Public Safety. Eligibility work will need to be done because
the sex offender would need to prove compliance.
9:17:38 AM
SENATOR BUNDE said he doesn't understand the process.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said the process will be established. The point is
to bring sex offenders into compliance when applying for a
dividend. Currently a similar process works for those who are
convicted criminals. She has been working with Ms. Monfreda and
Ms. Richter to come up with a process and doesn't want to
dictate every minute detail in statute. This will just tell them
to do it, and they will come up with a system.
9:19:04 AM
SENATOR FRENCH said, "I would assume that should the dividend be
delayed and should the sex offender who isn't registered with
the right address [indecipherable] convicted during that year,
during the period of delay, then the dividend will be denied."
MS. RICHTER said that is correct.
SENATOR FRENCH said he is no friend of sex offenders, but many
of the failures to register are highly technical, and sometimes
it is a matter of being one day behind. It can be a paperwork
problem, and so it seems fair to hold back on the dividend for
the time and see if the prosecutor has a strong case. If the
person is convicted of failure to register, then the dividend is
withheld. If it turns out the case is dropped and the sex
offender is registered at the right address - which is really
the idea - then "all is well."
9:20:22 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said if the dividend was denied, it opens up the
appeals process and the question of rights. If there was a
legitimate attempt to register or a paperwork problem, then
there would be an administrative nightmare.
SENATOR GREEN asked about the fiscal note.
MS. RICHTER said the fiscal note does not address just the
impact of the bill on the PFD division. SB 265 will affect every
functional area of the division minimally. The situation now is
that the division is backlogged in appeals. There are 4,000
appeals and the division is about 8 months behind. The
eligibility staff also handles public response, "so we're not
able now to deal with the volume of contact that we get during
application season and during payment season." She is asking for
two positions including an eligibility specialist, which takes a
year to fully train. The contractual portion of the fiscal note
for $96,000 is the cost of hiring the contractor to write the
agency interface that the division lost when it switched to the
new database system. The new system will be very efficient over
time, but pieces are not written. This $96,000 writes that
interface and makes this match with DPS possible.
9:23:15 AM
SENATOR GREEN asked if those costs will be incurred with or
without SB 265.
MS. RICHTER said the division received the bid but does not have
the funding to implement it.
SENATOR BUNDE said that should have been a budget request.
MS. RICHTER said she was not aware that this would be an
unintended consequence of rolling the system over until after
the budget passed.
SENATOR BUNDE asked if the division is funded out of the
permanent fund.
MS. RICHTER said her division is funded out of money that is
transferred to pay the dividends.
MS. MONFREDA said her office will work out the details with the
PFD division. The division fears a spate of calls from sex
offenders, and she will try to minimize that.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked the percentage of people out of compliance.
9:25:18 AM
MS. MONFREDA said about 90 percent of sex offenders are
compliant, and the state is trying to improve that. Not all are
in Alaska, and it takes an investigation to track people.
CHRIS ASHENBRENNER, Executive Director, Council on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault, Juneau, said SB 265 is a great tool
for tracking sex offenders for safety and accountability.
SENATOR FRENCH moved to report CSSB 265(TRA) from committee with
individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes.
Hearing no objections, CSSB 265(TRA) passed out of committee.
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