Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 106
01/21/2016 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB231 | |
| HB175 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 175 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 231 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 231-EXTEND BOARD OF PAROLE
8:06:32 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 231, "An Act extending the termination date of the
Board of Parole; and providing for an effective date."
[CHAIR LYNN handed the gavel to Vice Chair Keller.]
8:08:05 AM
CHAIR LYNN, as chair of the House State Affairs Standing
Committee, sponsor, announced his staff member would present HB
231.
8:08:47 AM
ESTHER MIELKE, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HB 231 on behalf of the House State
Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor, on which Representative
Lynn serves as the chair. She stated that the Board of Parole
currently serves in Alaska as the authority over determination
of paroles. Under current statute, the board will be terminated
on June 30, 2016. The proposed legislation would extend the
date to June 30, 2022.
MS. MIELKE stated that the Division of Audit conducted an audit
on the Parole Board last year. The audit included an
examination of the board's performance in light of the eleven
sunset criteria points provided within Alaska Statute. The
division found the board to be in good standing, but recommended
four improvements to the board's operations, which address:
Accuracy and consistency of information contained in parole
files; documentation of victim and offender notifications;
deficiencies in proposed regulation changes methods; and the
security of the Department of Corrections' information system.
Ms. Mielke concluded by stating that HB 231 would fulfill the
constitutional requirement that the State of Alaska establish a
parole system and accordingly assist in keeping Alaskans safe.
She noted the following people were available to answer
questions: Sherrie Daigle of the Department of Corrections,
Kris Curtis from Legislative Audit, and Jeff Edwards from the
Parole Board.
8:10:41 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER remarked that the work by the Criminal Justice
Commission has increased the importance of the function of [Mr.
Edwards on the Parole Board].
8:11:21 AM
JEFF EDWARDS, Executive Director, Parole Board, Division of
Probation and Parole, Department of Corrections (DOC), in
response to Vice Chair Keller, stated that the Parole Board has
been working with the commission on a regular basis, and the
commission has been keeping the board apprised of the
recommendations made. He characterized the Parole Board as a
quasi-part-time board whose members are appointed by the
governor and work from their homes around the state and convene
monthly to conduct hearings. He indicated that future
legislation would create change wherein the board may be
incorporated and have its work schedule increased. Further, he
said he anticipated the board would be asked to dramatically
increase the number of people who apply for parole, which is a
goal already supported by the board. He said the board feels
that its process is solid, in the fact that the board can
conduct a good evaluation of candidates and, instead of
warehousing inmates "in hard bed," which is very expensive, the
board can conduct a thorough evaluation of the applicants and
potentially offer early release. He said the board has found
the process to be cumbersome; the applicants sometimes do not
want to apply. New legislation could be introduced to demand
that all eligible inmates apply for early parole, which would
increase the Parole Board's docket significantly. He indicated
there is other legislation that will affect the board, and the
overall global scope is to reduce recidivism, free up hard beds,
allow people to transition and reenter into the communities as
returning Alaska citizens, and ensure there is fair and
impartial review process of any parolees who commit parole
violations on the street.
8:13:40 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that the Alaska Criminal Justice
Commission had been meeting for a little over a year, and he
indicated that there had been ensuing legislation presented as a
result. He related that both House and Senate leadership, as
well as other various legislators, have asked the commission to
figure out how the state is going to be able to afford to keep
its prisoners in the future. He continued:
Because of the projected increase in prisoners in the
future, we were looking at another Goose Creek
construction project, and it gave us the opportunity
to do some reform considerations, and I was really
impressed with the work that was done, and it puts a
lot of focus on the Parole Board, because obviously
when people get out they need those transition
procedures and processes and programs there to help.
8:15:05 AM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit Division,
Legislative Affairs Agency, offered to answer questions.
8:15:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ directed attention to page 16 of the
audit, which she observed shows "rate of replication decision"
by the Parole Board. The decisions are broken up from 2004-2007
and show high rates, but she said the rates shown from 2011-2014
are higher. For example, she noted that the rate for 2011 was
74 percent "revoke and re-parole"; the rate for 2012 was 66
percent; and the rate in 2017 was 77 percent. She opined there
is a problem - not in the Parole Board itself, but having to do
with a lack of success in paroling people. She read a note
below those statistics, as follows: "The board stated that past
decisions 2004-2007 were heavily influenced by the elimination
of various treatment programs during difficult budget years."
She asked Ms. Curtis if it is her conclusion that it is the lack
of treatment programs that is the cause [of the high rates].
8:16:48 AM
MS. CURTIS said the point to make is reflected in the column to
the right: "revoke and deny." In terms of revoking and re-
paroling an individual and allowing him/her to remain in the
community as opposed to having the person return to prison,
"from 2011-2014, compared to 2004-2007, they were re-paroling
them at a much higher rate than in previous years. And the
reason why we were being told they were being re-incarcerated at
a higher rate in 2004-2007 was the lack of treatment programs in
the community, as a result of budgetary restrictions during that
time." She stated that the audit makes the point that "from our
review, they were - during the audit period - being re-paroled
at a higher rate." She offered her belief that that is what the
communities wanted.
VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that the handout to which Representative
Vazquez had previously referred was "easily available."
8:18:37 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony on HB 231.
8:18:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ asked what had been done to address the
audit recommendations made in 2015.
VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that "the justice commissioner" had done
a lot of work, but said the issue was whether or not the
deadline would be extended. He asked Representative Vazquez if
she was recommending that the committee not act on the bill
today.
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ answered no. She opined that the work of
the board is critical to both the criminal justice system and
the community. She clarified that she was interested to know if
the "good audit recommendations" were being addressed.
VICE CHAIR KELLER suggested that the committee could, at a later
date, invite the Parole Board to talk to the committee about
what it had done in response to the audit.
CHAIR LYNN noted that there would be an upcoming overview from
the Department of Corrections, at which time the committee might
be able to hear from the Parole Board.
8:21:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted that under HB 231, the board
would be extended by only six years. He said he knows other
boards that are extended for eight, and he questioned why the
same was not proposed for the Parole Board.
CHAIR LYNN said he did not have an answer to that question.
8:21:56 AM
MS. CURTIS explained that the Legislative Audit Division
recommended a 6-year extension because of the dynamic nature of
"the corrections policy arena right now and ... how the board
will change dramatically in upcoming years." She indicated that
those changes, as well as the full recommendations of the
division, could warrant oversight and monitoring at a more
frequent rate than the maximum eight years. In response to
Representative Gruenberg, she clarified that currently there are
a lot of pending policy changes to the role of the Parole Board,
in both its workload and procedures. Additionally, a new risk
assessment tool was implemented recently and, because of the
timing of the audit, the impact of that tool was not yet
evident. She said the division settled on six years as a time
when it would be able to see the implications of the policy
changes and come back to review "the current status of the
recommendations."
MS. CURTIS, in response to a follow-up question, explained that
the aforementioned new risk assessment tool was being used by
the board to evaluate the suitability of parole for those who
apply for parole.
VICE CHAIR KELLER suggested Representative Gruenberg would have
another opportunity to asked more in-depth questions but said
that for now, he would like to move on with the bill discussion.
8:25:26 AM
CHAIR LYNN pointed out that the overview from the Department of
Corrections was scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2016.
8:25:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES moved to report HB 231 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal
note. There being no objection, HB 231 was reported out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 1 HB231 ver A.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 2 HB231 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 3 HB231 Supporting Documents-Audit of Board of Parole.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 4 HB231 Fiscal Note.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 1 HB0175A.PDF |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 175 |
| 2 Sponsor Statement HB175 v.A.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 175 |
| 3 HB175 Fiscal Note-HB175-LEG-SESS-1-18-2016.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 175 |