02/24/2006 02:00 PM House JUDICIARY

HB 441 - THERAPEUTIC COURT FOR DUI/SENTENCING                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:43:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR McGUIRE announced that the  next order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 441, "An Act  relating to operating or  driving a                                                               
motor   vehicle,  aircraft,   or  watercraft   while  under   the                                                               
influence;   relating  to   mitigating  factors   in  sentencing;                                                               
amending  Rule  35,  Alaska  Rules  of  Criminal  Procedure;  and                                                               
providing for an effective date."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
2:43:41 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
HEATHER NOBREGA, Staff to  Representative Norman Rokeberg, Alaska                                                               
State Legislature,  sponsor, relayed on behalf  of Representative                                                               
Rokeberg  that  therapeutic  courts   have  undergone  a  lot  of                                                               
improvements  and are  important to  the state,  and that  HB 441                                                               
simply takes all of the  therapeutic court tools created over the                                                               
last several years - including the  DUI pilot program that is due                                                               
to expire  on June  30, 2006  - and melds  them into  one uniform                                                               
statutory structure for therapeutic courts.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR McGUIRE  noted that committee  packets contain  a sectional                                                               
analysis.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:45:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DOUG  WOOLIVER,  Administrative Attorney,  Administrative  Staff,                                                               
Office  of  the  Administrative  Director,  Alaska  Court  System                                                               
(ACS),  indicated  that   [the  ACS]  would  like   to  have  the                                                               
provisions of the aforementioned  pilot program - established via                                                               
House Bill  172 in 2001  - placed in  statute, and would  like to                                                               
keep therapeutic  courts going.   He  said that  as HB  441 moves                                                               
through  the   process,  the  ACS   will  be  working   with  the                                                               
therapeutic  court  judges,  the  Department of  Law  (DOL),  the                                                               
Department  of  Corrections  (DOC), the  Public  Defender  Agency                                                               
(PDA),  the  Alcohol  Safety Action  Program  (ASAP),  and  other                                                               
interested  parties  to [improve]  the  bill.   He  concluded  by                                                               
relaying that the ACS supports HB 441.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  McGUIRE, after  ascertaining that  no one  else wished  to                                                               
testify, closed public testimony on HB 441.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  ANDERSON  characterized   the  therapeutic  court                                                               
model  as innovative  and as  an improvement  over incarceration,                                                               
and  offered  his  belief  that   therapeutic  courts  should  be                                                               
adequately funded and supported.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR McGUIRE asked  that the committee's thanks for  his work on                                                               
this issue be relayed back to the sponsor.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
2:48:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON moved  to report HB 441  out of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.   There being no objection,  HB 441 was reported  from the                                                               
House Judiciary Standing Committee.