Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
04/25/2022 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB196 | |
| HB246 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 196 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 246 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 246-ACCESS TO MARIJUANA CONVICTION RECORDS
[Contains discussion of SB 207.]
2:30:55 PM
CHAIR HOLLAND reconvened the meeting and announced the
consideration of CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 246(FIN) "An Act
restricting the release of certain records of convictions;
relating to misconduct involving marijuana by persons 18, 19, or
20 years of age; amending Rule 17(h), Alaska Rules of Minor
Offense Procedure; and providing for an effective date."
2:31:29 PM
CHAIR HOLLAND noted that HB 246 was the companion bill to SB
207, which the committee heard on 4/6/2022 and 4/11/2022.
2:31:30 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of HB 246, introduced
himself.
CHAIR HOLLAND asked the sponsor to highlight the differences
between SB 207 and HB 246.
2:32:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS explained the main difference
between the two bills was an amendment the House Finance
Committee added that related to underage possession of marijuana
for persons 18, 19, or 20 years of age. He noted that the legal
age for possession of marijuana is 21 years of age. Currently,
those persons 18, 19, or 20 years of age possessing marijuana
are subject to class A misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to
90 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. The amendment the
House Finance Committee adopted, changed underage possession of
marijuana for persons 18, 19, or 20 years of age to a violation,
effectively mirroring the charges for a minor charged with
possessing alcohol. He noted that SB 207 also contained
legislative intent, which was not in the House version. He
expressed his willingness to accept the language in either bill.
2:33:46 PM
SENATOR MYERS referred to subsection (b) on page 3, lines 27-30.
He asked for the rationale to charge violations as a separate
case. He read:
(b) A violation of this section must be charged and
filed with the court as a separate case and may not be
combined or joined with any other minor offense or
criminal charge in one action at the time of filing.
2:34:17 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that it was due to the
joinder limit, mirroring underage alcohol violations. He stated
that the CourtView system must keep cases separate so the
conviction would not appear on CourtView. The joinder limit
makes that possible. Suppose a 19-year-old was charged with
possessing marijuana, but the person was also charged for
reckless driving or vandalism. The Alaska Court System could
remove all of the charges or none of the charges due to its
database limitations. Thus, it was important to separate the
violation for underage possession of marijuana from other crimes
so that the court system can treat the marijuana conviction on
its own in CourtView. The same would be true for underage
possession of alcohol.
2:36:01 PM
CLAIRE GROSS, Staff, Representative Kreiss-Tomkins, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, added that both bills primarily
addressed protecting records of marijuana crimes for those 21
years of age and older. However, one stipulation in Sections 4
and 7 was that the person must not have been convicted of any
other criminal charges in that case. She noted that these same
CourtView database limitations apply to adults charged with
possessing marijuana under one ounce.
MS. GROSS clarified that those cases were being reviewed
retroactively. The bill sets up the crime of misconduct in the
second degree. Again, the case must be set up separately so it
can be removed from CourtView. She explained that an officer
from the Department of Law would issue the citation, but
prosecutors would be involved in rare instances. It was similar
to how the department handles minor consuming cases by setting
them up as a separate cases even if the person had other charges
in the case. DOL advised the sponsor that it should not be a
disincentive for officers to separate the charges filed in these
cases; in fact, it could be helpful to combine cases that
require prosecutor involvement stemming from other charges.
2:38:41 PM
SENATOR MYERS asked the sponsor if the goal was to direct the
Alaska Court System at some future point to pull the minor
convictions from CourtView. He said it appeared as though that
would be the point of the joinder prohibition.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered no, and apologized if he
had added some confusion to the conversation.
2:39:35 PM
SENATOR MYERS referred to page 3, lines 27-29 of HB 246, which
read:
(b) A violation of this section must be charged and
filed with the court as a separate case and may not be
combined or joined with any other minor offense or
criminal charge in one action at the time of filing.
SENATOR MYERS stated that during discussions on SB 207, Ms.
Meade explained that the court system could only remove the
posting from CourtView if the marijuana possession charge were
the sole charge in the case. He wondered if the sponsor wanted
to make it easy to remove the charges for a minor use of
marijuana at a later date since that charge would be separated
from other charges.
2:40:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS stated that was not the intent.
2:41:13 PM
NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Administrative Offices, Alaska
Court System, Anchorage, Alaska, responded that she was unsure
of Senator Myer's question. She stated that per Version I, cases
for misconduct involving marijuana for those 18, 19, and 20
years of age would not appear on CourtView. She referred to page
4, lines 20-22 of HB 246, which addresses the new offense
created by Section 5 for those individuals not under 18 or over
21 years of age. She clarified that the misconduct involving
marijuana must not include charges for other crimes since the
court system must remove all or none of the case. For example,
if a person were charged with possession of marijuana and had
committed another crime, such as theft or murder, the court
would need to remove all of the charges, which was not the
legislature's intent.
SENATOR MYERS related his understanding that the point of
subsection (b) was for the court system to shield the marijuana
charges by not posting them to CourtView.
2:42:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS cautioned members about using the
term, minor, because the definition of a minor was an individual
[under] 18 years of age; however, this provision applied to
possession of marijuana charges for individuals 18, 19, and 20
years of age. He indicated that there was not any intent for the
bill to apply to minors.
CHAIR HOLLAND asked if the Alaska Court System had anything to
add.
2:43:23 PM
MS. MEADE said the Alaska Court System was neutral on the bill.
She indicated that the court system would be able to identify
those cases for misconduct involving marijuana for those 18, 19,
and 20 years of age. She stated that the court system would not
post the charges to CourtView if the legislature directs the
agency not to do so. She related that the court system already
handles minor consuming of alcohol cases in the same manner. She
appreciated that the bill had an extended effective date because
it would allow the court system to create a new case number, so
the process would happen automatically.
2:44:10 PM
SENATOR KIEHL stated that the drafters may have created an
unintended glitch related to the offense of using or displaying
more than an ounce of marijuana.
CHAIR HOLLAND referred to page 3, line 26 of Version I, which
read "less than one ounce of marijuana.
SENATOR KIEHL responded that he might need to review it further.
He stated that it was a class B misdemeanor if a juvenile
knowingly used or displayed more than an ounce, which did not
change under the bill. It was also a class B misdemeanor for
anyone 21 years of age or older to possess more than an ounce.
However, he believed that possession of more than an ounce for
those ages 18, 19, and 20 would be a violation. He asked whether
the intent was to lower that penalty.
2:45:42 PM
MS. GROSS agreed it appeared to be a drafting mistake. She
referred to page 3, lines 24-26, which read:
(a) A person 18, 19, or 20 years of age commits the
offense of minor misconduct involving marijuana
if the person knowingly uses or displays any
amount of marijuana or possesses less than one
ounce of marijuana.
MS. GROSS agreed that was not the sponsor's intention. That
provision would allow someone to be charged with possessing
three ounces of marijuana and have their record shielded. The
sponsor intended it to shield records on CourtView for those
possessing less than one ounce of marijuana, as specified in the
other sections of the bill related to AS 11.71.060. She noted
that would also match the scope of convictions for those 21
years and older.
2:47:00 PM
SENATOR MYERS related his understanding that other criminal
offenses were blocked from CourtView. He asked which offenses
were shielded.
MS. MEADE responded that the other violations not posted on
CourtView were minor in possession of alcohol or control of
alcohol, commonly called minor consuming or minor on unlicensed
premises. In addition, three statutes cited in court rules in AS
28 would also be shielded from view in CourtView, including
minor driving after receiving a minor consuming citation. She
clarified that this offense was not for driving while under the
influence (DUI) of alcohol. Further, two traffic-related
violations would not be posted to CourtView.
2:48:26 PM
SENATOR SHOWER stated that the committee discussed removing
possession of marijuana charges prior to legalizing marijuana
through the initiative process. He asked whether anything
changed in the House version that would affect posting on
CourtView any current and future charges for possession of
marijuana rather than clearing up prior charges.
2:49:29 PM
MS. MEADE responded that the intent of HB 246 was to remove
possession of marijuana charges of less than an ounce for those
over the age of 21 on CourtView and shield them from certain
criminal history records checks by the Department of Public
Safety. Theoretically, no one over the age of 21 would be
charged going forward. This bill does not touch anyone charged
with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana who is under
18 years of age. It will still be a misdemeanor. Currently, the
penalty for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for
those ages 18, 19, and 20 is a class B misdemeanor, which would
be reduced to a violation under the bill. The person would
receive a citation and not need to appear in court. She stated
that going forward the court system would not post the citation
on CourtView. She summarized the effect of the changes. She
stated that possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for
adults was permissible; those ages 18-20 would receive a
violation that would not appear on CourtView; and those [under]
18 years of age would be subject to a class B misdemeanor and
not be posted to CourtView because the Division of Criminal
Justice handles juvenile crimes.
2:50:47 PM
MS. GROSS added that removing the misdemeanor conviction from
CourtView would not happen retroactively for those ages 18, 19,
and 20. She stated that reducing the crime from a misdemeanor to
a violation or the removal from CourtView would only happen
going forward for those ages 18, 19, and 20.
CHAIR HOLLAND invited Ms. Howell to comment on behalf of the
Department of Public Safety.
2:51:34 PM
KELLY HOWELL, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Public Safety, Anchorage, Alaska, stated that DPS
supports the changes in HB 246. The bill would help ensure that
those encountering housing or employment difficulties due to
convictions for possession of marijuana don't incur those
challenges in the future.
2:52:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS stated that House Finance amended
the bill after seeing how alcohol and marijuana were treated
differently. He offered his view that the Finance Committee
wanted to treat alcohol and marijuana offenses similarly in a
regulatory and legal manner.
2:53:27 PM
CHAIR HOLLAND held HB 246 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 196 Sponsor Statement 2.21.22.pdf |
SEDC 3/25/2022 9:00:00 AM SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 196 |
| SB 196 Sectional 2.25.22.pdf |
SEDC 3/25/2022 9:00:00 AM SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 196 |
| SB 196 Legal Memo.pdf |
SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 196 |
| Comparison of HB 246 and SB 207.pdf |
SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
HB 246 |
| HB 246 Sectional Analysis ver I.pdf |
SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
HB 246 |
| HB 246 Sponsor Statement Version I.pdf |
SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
HB 246 |
| HB 246 Explanation of Changes ver B to I.pdf |
SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
HB 246 |
| Testimony for SB196 25 march 2022.docx |
SJUD 4/25/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 196 |