04/10/2012 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS

           SCR 19-PROCLAIMING UNITED STATES MARSHALS DAY                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
8:21:28 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR LYNN  announced  that the next  order of  business was  SENATE                                                            
CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION NO.  19, Proclaiming  September 24, 2012,  to                                                            
be United States Marshals Day.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
8:21:33 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHUCK KOPP,  Staff, Senator  Fred Dyson,  Alaska State Legislature,                                                             
presented  SCR 19  on behalf  of Senator  Dyson, sponsor.   He  said                                                            
the U.S.  Marshals Service was  formed by U.S. Congress  through the                                                            
Judiciary  Act of 1789.    Shortly after the  U.S. purchased  Alaska                                                            
from Russia  in 1867, Alaska  was designated a military  district of                                                            
the  U.S.  and placed  under  the  control  of the  War  Department.                                                            
Following that,  Alaska was  briefly governed  in succession  by the                                                            
Treasury Department and the Naval  Department, and the U.S. Marshals                                                            
Service took  over in the  late 1880s, when  the Wild West  and gold                                                            
rush were in full  force.  In 1897, Deputy  Marshals William C. Watt                                                            
and James  Mark Rowan  were the first  to be killed  in the  line of                                                            
duty.   Shortly after that, Clyde  Calhoun - a former  U.S. Marshall                                                            
from Dodge City, Kansas - died in Alaska in the line of duty.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR. KOPP said the U.S. Marshals Service played a prominent role in                                                              
Alaska's history up until 1955.  In 1949, he noted, the Alaska                                                                  
Territorial Legislature formed the Alaska Territorial Police, but                                                               
were not given criminal enforcement powers until they were made                                                                 
deputy U.S. Marshals in 1954.  In 1955, the Territorial Police                                                                  
assumed full police powers, and in 1959, the State Territorial                                                                  
Police was formed, a large portion of which was comprised of former                                                             
U.S. Marshals.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
8:24:03 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. KOPP  said SCR 19 would  proclaim September  24 as U.S.  Marshal                                                            
Day in  Alaska.   He pointed  to  recommendations  in the  committee                                                            
packet from:   Joseph Masters,  the commissioner  of the  Department                                                            
of Public  Safety; the Alaska  Peace Officers  Association;  and the                                                            
Alaska  Association of  Chiefs of  Police.   He stated  that of  the                                                            
first 14  police officers  that were killed  in the line of  duty in                                                            
Alaska  from 1897  to  1955,  eight were  U.S.  Marshals.   He  said                                                            
today  U.S.   Marshals  work  with   the  Village  Crime   Reduction                                                            
Program,  the  Sex  Offender   Registry  Identification   Compliance                                                            
Project,  and with the  Badges and  Books Program  - a literacy  and                                                            
community  relationship   building  project  along   the  Yukon  and                                                            
Kuskokwim Rivers.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
8:25:04 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  KOPP, in  response to  Chair  Lynn, described  the differences                                                             
between  a municipal  policeman,  an  Alaska  State Trooper,  and  a                                                            
U.S. Marshal.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
8:26:12 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. KOPP,  in response  to Representative  P.  Wilson, he  indicated                                                            
that  [the  U.S.  Marshals]  requested  a  one-time  recognition  of                                                            
their service  to Alaska,  rather than a  recognition that  would be                                                            
repeated  annually.    In  response  to  a  follow-up  question,  he                                                            
confirmed  that the sponsor  does not  intend for  this issue  to be                                                            
brought up every year.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
8:27:19 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG   offered  his understanding   that  there                                                            
was no U.S.  Marshall available  to testify.   He related that  last                                                            
year in  his district,  the U.S.  Marshals manned  a booth during  a                                                            
community  event.  He said  he thought that  was a good interaction                                                             
with  the children  in  his district,  so  he suggested  the  school                                                            
principal  invite the U.S.  Marshals to visit  the school.   He said                                                            
he would  like to see more  interaction happen,  and suggested  that                                                            
perhaps  9/24 would  be an  appropriate  day for  the U.S.  Marshals                                                            
to outreach to the schools.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MR. KOPP  said he thinks  that is  a great suggestion,  and  he said                                                            
he would follow up on it.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
8:29:54 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON noted that 9/24 falls on a Monday.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:30:11 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  LYNN, after  ascertaining  that  there was  no  one else  who                                                            
wished to testify, closed public testimony.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:30:21 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KELLER  moved  to report  SCR  19 out  of  committee                                                            
with  individual   recommendations   and  the  accompanying   fiscal                                                            
notes.   There being no objection,  SCR 19  was reported out  of the                                                            
House State Affairs Standing Committee.