Legislature(1995 - 1996)
04/10/1996 01:30 PM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 104 DISCLOSURE OF JUVENILE RECORDS REPRESENTATIVE PETE KOTT, sponsor of HB 104, explained the proposed committee substitute eliminates material added by the Senate HESS committee because it interfered with federal funding. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR clarified the proposed committee substitute is labelled 276-J Chenoweth, 4/10/96. SENATOR MILLER moved the adoption of the proposed committee substitute in lieu of the original bill. SENATOR ADAMS objected and asked for verification of the federal funding issue from the Department of Health and Social Services. REPRESENTATIVE KOTT explained the bill addresses some of the juvenile crime problems by allowing for the release of information on juveniles, on request, if the crime committed is classified as a felony if committed by an adult. In addition, the committee substitute also allows release of the parents' names to ensure proper identification of the juvenile, and to place some responsibility on the parents for controlling the behavior of their children. Number 581 DIANE WORLEY, Director of the Division of Family and Youth Services in DHSS, testified she is pleased with the proposed committee substitute as the previous version of the bill did interfere with $7 million in federal funding. She expressed concern about disclosure of juvenile records in general, and the broadness of the disclosure provision in HB 104. DFYS believes, at this time, some information should be disclosed, but this legislation allows disclosure at the time of arrest, and does not include any specific ages. If a minor was found to be innocent at a later date, there is no recourse for publishing that information. Adolescents make mistakes, but often shape up if they have strong support in their home environment. This bill could lead to stereotyping, or identifying adolescents as criminals, when the situation could have been self-correcting. SENATOR ADAMS asked Ms. Worley if a statutory age limit exists. MS. WORLEY was unsure, and added many of the bills circulating contain different age limits. Number 549 LAURIE OTTO, Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Law, explained different statutes contain different age limits, for example juveniles can be finger printed at age 14. There is no existing statutory provision for disclosure. The Department of Law also opposes the disclosure of an arrest because no information can be released about the case afterward, according to statute. SENATOR ELLIS asked whether the names of parents who have voluntarily emancipated their children would be released. MS. OTTO replied they would. Number 505 LYNN STIMLER questioned whether Title 4E funds would be lost if arrests are reported, under the current configuration of DFYS. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR responded that is correct. MS. STIMLER stated the ACLU would be very concerned about reporting an arrest rather than a conviction. She asked Representative Kott what the rate of false arrests, or arrests that do not result in convictions, of juveniles are. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR intervened, and explained version J is Section 3 of the previous bill. ROGER POPPE, legislative aide to Representative Kott, estimated the number of arrests without convictions is about one percent. He explained the bill allows the Department of Public Safety to release the names of juvenile arrests. Although the sponsor agreed it was unfair to release the arrest information without follow up, DFYS received a determination from the federal government that prohibits information from being released by DFYS or the courts. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR stated that although there may be a lot of contact between police and juveniles, in the majority of cases, a report is made to DFYS who handles the case from that point. MS. STIMLER emphasized ACLU is concerned about the piecemeal approach toward the release of juvenile records by the legislature. Many bills are circulating that do not reconcile with each other. If release of material short of a conviction is allowed, there will be a due process problem. She cautioned that this bill is premature without the Governor's Task Force recommendations. She repeated that this bill will give power to an agency that has only been given to the courts in the past. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR commented that many other states can release information, without a threat of loss of federal funds, about a juvenile's arrest and conviction, or non-conviction, because they have separate departments for juveniles with civil concerns and juveniles with criminal concerns. He stated that approach may be used in the future, and agreed that the state is currently using a piecemeal approach. SENATOR ADAMS removed his objection to the adoption of the committee substitute, therefore it was so ordered. SENATOR GREEN moved SCSHB 104(JUD) out of committee with individual recommendations. SENATOR ADAMS objected. The motion carried with Senators Taylor, Green and Miller voting "yea," and Senator Adams voting "nay."
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