10/14/2015 09:30 AM House MILITARY & VETERANS' AFFAIRS

                                                                                                                                
11:04:09 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR. DOEHL turned  attention to enabling legislation  [HB 126 Code                                                               
of Military Justice; Appeals, introduced  in the First Session of                                                               
the Twenty-Ninth  Alaska State Legislature and  currently held in                                                               
the House Judiciary  Standing Committee].  Mr.  Doehl provided an                                                               
update on  behalf of  Captain Forrest  Dunbar, recalling  that HB
  passed from  the  House Special  Committee  on Military  and                                                               
Veterans'  Affairs  to  the House  Judiciary  Standing  Committee                                                               
(HJUD) in April of 2015.   The following four significant changes                                                               
are expected:  1) the  punitive article, which identifies what is                                                               
a  sanctioned offense,  would now  be  in statute  instead of  in                                                               
regulations  in  order  to provide  better  checks  and  balances                                                               
between the legislative and executive  branches of government; 2)                                                               
junior  officers   and  junior   enlisted  soldiers   demand  the                                                               
prosecution of some  offenses such as sexual  assault and driving                                                               
under the  influence (DUI) even when  civilian prosecutors choose                                                               
not  to do  so; 3)  the scope  of coverage  would be  expanded to                                                               
24/7; fix maximum punishments.   He provided the committee with a                                                               
written  summary  of  the  changes, noting  that  DMVA  has  been                                                               
actively  testing the  legal aspects  of the  proposed provisions                                                               
with positive results.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR HERRON,  speaking from  personal experience,  expressed his                                                               
appreciation  of the  change to  expand military  jurisdiction to                                                               
24/7.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
11:08:32 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  LEDOUX recognized  Captain Dunbar's  work on  the                                                               
proposed legislation.   Speaking as  chair of HJUD, she  said she                                                               
anticipates hearing  the bill during  [the Third  Special Session                                                               
of   the  First   Session  of   the  Twenty-Ninth   Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature],  although  the bill  could  not  be passed  out  of                                                               
committee.   Further, she  opined the  purpose of  HB 126  was to                                                               
give the leadership  of the National Guard  tools; however, tools                                                               
are  only   as  effective  as   the  leadership  of   the  guard.                                                               
Representative LeDoux cautioned that  although there is excellent                                                               
leadership  now, leadership  can fail,  and rules  need to  be in                                                               
place "when things go wrong."                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR. DOEHL assured  the committee that there is  a commitment from                                                               
the  leadership of  DMVA and  Governor Walker  to "full,  engaged                                                               
leadership  addressing those  things  and making  the hard  calls                                                               
...."