Legislature(2003 - 2004)
05/09/2003 02:00 PM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 2-PARENT LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE BY CHILD
CHAIR SEEKINS announced SB 2 to be up for consideration.
2:40 p.m.
SENATOR DYSON, sponsor of SB 2, said his school district asked
that the legislature remove the liability limit on parents - the
present one is $10,000 - to allow them to recover more damages.
SENATOR OGAN moved to adopt version W of SB 2, as the working
document.
SENATOR FRENCH objected for purposes of discussion.
SENATOR DYSON said that SB 2 clears up the fact that legal
guardians are not held liable if they accept the responsibility
of being legal guardian for a child that is not their own.
Adoptive parents of hard-to-place children are also not held
liable. Foster parents are not held responsible currently for
acts incurred by the kids.
SENATOR OGAN said the district could sue the student of the
parent, but invariably they go after the parent because of the
perception that they have deeper pockets. They have tried to get
the child to reimburse the parents with use of his Permanent
Fund Dividend, but couldn't find a good mechanism for attaching
the present or future wealth of a child. Even good parents can
have bad kids who could do enough damage to something that the
parents could become impoverished for life. When the kid is 18,
they get their record washed clean according to Alaska law, but
the parent has possibly been ruined.
SENATOR DYSON said he thinks he is exaggerating, because no one
gets ruined for life by incurring debt. That's what bankruptcy
laws are set up for. If you don't let the parent reimburse to
the extent that they are able, then you say to the rest of the
people in the community that they get the responsibility for
paying for the damage a kid they had no control over did.
SENATOR OGAN said he understands what he is trying to do, but an
unlimited amount is too much.
SENATOR DYSON responded the version coming over from the House
has a limit of $15,000.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked if he knows if any schools carried vandalism
insurance and what deductible they have.
MR. LARRY WIGIT, Executive Director, Public Affairs, Anchorage
School District, said they are self-insured which means that it
would come out of their operating budget.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked if they have a reserve set aside for this
type of thing.
MR. WIGIT replied that they are required by law to keep a
minimum amount of money for maintenance. Depending on the issue,
several million dollars would be available.
SENATOR OGAN asked if there was a reason they don't have
insurance.
MR. WIGIT replied that even if they did have insurance, the
premiums would come from monies that could be used for other
purposes.
TAPE 03-43, SIDE B
SENATOR DYSON said he is willing to work with Senators Seekins
and Ogan on their concerns, one of which is the lack of
accountability for kids within the school system.
MR. WIGIT said that they have some insurance, but [indisc].
SENATOR FRENCH asked if there are legal steps a child can take
to become emancipated.
SENATOR DYSON replied a child could go to court and apply to be
emancipated.
CHAIR SEEKINS said he supports the concept in the bill, but at
the same time, he worries about what we're doing as a state to
support parents who want to keep kids from doing those kinds of
things.
SENATOR DYSON said he agrees with Senators Seekins and Ogan, but
he hopes they will not hold up action on this bill while they
await their solution.
CHAIR SEEKINS said he would not want to make liability
limitless. He asked if it was improper under current law to put
a dollar judgment on a minor and do they have the authority to
change that. He thought that if a minor child could be held
responsible for murder then they could be held responsible for
paying back part of a debt they incur.
SENATOR FRENCH moved a conceptual amendment to reinsert language
on page 1, line 14, and page 2, line 1 "not to exceed $25,000".
There was no objection and it was so ordered.
SENATOR OGAN moved to pass CSSB 2(JUD), version W, from
committee with the fiscal note and asked for unanimous consent.
There was no objection and it was so ordered.
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