02/15/2022 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

           SB  92-MISSING PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OLD                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:03:25 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER  announced the consideration  of SENATE BILL  NO. 92                                                               
"An Act relating to missing persons under 21 years of age."                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:04:02 PM                                                                                                                    
KELLY  HOWELL, Special  Assistant,  Office  of the  Commissioner,                                                               
Department of  Public Safety (DPS), Anchorage,  Alaska, presented                                                               
SB 92 on  behalf of the administration. She explained  that SB 92                                                               
shortens  the timeframe  in  which law  enforcement  must file  a                                                               
missing  person's  report from  24  hours  to  two hours  and  it                                                               
expands the age  for missing children from age 18  to age 21. She                                                               
noted that  the intention is  to capture the  vulnerable college-                                                               
age population. These  changes comply with two  federal laws that                                                               
passed after  children went  missing. One  was a  college student                                                               
who was  never found and the  other was for young  Adam Walsh who                                                               
was abducted and murdered. The  latter case elicited the law that                                                               
shortened the timeframe to two hours.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
4:05:52 PM                                                                                                                    
MS. HOWELL presented the sectional analysis for SB 92.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Section 1: Includes conforming  language related to the                                                                  
     duty  of law  enforcement agencies  to reflect  changes                                                                    
     made in Section 2.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     Section  2:  Adds a  new  subsection  to AS  18.65.620,                                                                  
     requiring  law  enforcement   agencies  to  transmit  a                                                                    
     missing person's report  for a person under  the age of                                                                    
     21 to the Alaska  Public Safety Information Network and                                                                    
     the  National  Crime  Information  Center  as  soon  as                                                                    
     practicable,  but  not  later   than  two  hours  after                                                                    
     completing the  report. If the  person is  later found,                                                                    
     the  agency shall  remove that  information from  those                                                                    
     databases as  soon as practicable,  but not  later than                                                                    
     24 hours after learning the person has been located.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Section   3:  Contains   conforming   language  to   AS                                                                  
     47.10.141,  runaway   and  missing  children,   to  the                                                                    
     changes  made in  section 2.  All reporting  procedures                                                                    
     for persons under the age of  21 are moved to AS 18.65,                                                                    
     as amended in Section 2 of the bill.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     The  bill  has no  specific  effective  date and  would                                                                    
     become effective 90 days after becoming law.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
4:07:49 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER  referenced the  document in  the bill  packets that                                                               
shows  the data  for missing  persons under  21 years  old broken                                                               
down by circumstance,  race, and gender. He asked if  the bill is                                                               
talking about the "unknown" circumstance for the missing child.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS. HOWELL  said the statistics  include all the  missing persons                                                               
under age 21, regardless of  the circumstance for which they were                                                               
missing.  The unknown  circumstance reflects  the cases  that law                                                               
enforcement does not know why the child went missing.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KAWASAKI  referenced slide  5 and  asked if  she believes                                                               
that most  law enforcement agencies  are able to comply  with the                                                               
more restrictive federal requirements.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. HOWELL  answered yes; the  more restrictive  requirements are                                                               
part of  the current training  for the Public  Safety Information                                                               
Network.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  KAWASAKI  asked whether  there  is  a penalty  for  non-                                                               
compliance.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. HOWELL  deferred to  Lisa Purinton who  could talk  about the                                                               
audits  for  the  Public  Safety   Information  Network  and  the                                                               
consequences of not entering the reports timely.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
4:10:50 PM                                                                                                                    
LISA  PURINTON,   Chief,  Criminal  Records   and  Identification                                                               
Bureau,   Department  of   Public   Safety,  Anchorage,   Alaska,                                                               
explained that the FBI will review the records during its tri-                                                                  
annual  audit  to ensure  compliance  with  the two-hour  federal                                                               
requirement. The  penalty for non-compliance falls  on the public                                                               
and  the   persons  who  are   missing  because  it   delays  law                                                               
enforcement's ability to act.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked  if the state is exposed  to any liability                                                               
if an  agency does not enter  the information into the  state and                                                               
federal systems.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS. PURINTON said she was not able to answer legal questions.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SHOWER  asked Ms. Howell  to contact the Department  of Law                                                               
(DOL) and get the answer before the next hearing.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
4:12:40 PM                                                                                                                    
JAMES  COCKRELL,  Commissioner,   Department  of  Public  Safety,                                                               
Anchorage, Alaska, pointed  out that this is  already federal law                                                               
so the  liability wouldn't change  if it were also  a requirement                                                               
under state  law. He  stressed the  importance of  shortening the                                                               
reporting  timeframe  to  two   hours,  citing  the  hypothetical                                                               
example  of  an 18-year-old  who  disappears  from the  Fairbanks                                                               
campus when  it is 40  degrees below  zero. Waiting 24  hours for                                                               
that report to go out  dramatically increases likelihood of a bad                                                               
outcome. If  this change saves  just one life, it  is worthwhile,                                                               
he said.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if other  states have similar specifics in                                                               
statute and if the state could  lose federal funding if the state                                                               
law doesn't match the federal law.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MS. HOWELL deferred the question to Ms. Purinton.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MS.  PURINTON answered  that  she was  unaware  of any  penalties                                                               
attached   to   noncompliance   with   the   two-hour   reporting                                                               
requirement.   However,  the   national   missing  and   murdered                                                               
indigenous peoples movement could change in the future.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR COSTELLO repeated her first  question about the number of                                                               
states that have similar specifics in statute.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MS. PURINTON  said she didn't know  but she would follow  up with                                                               
the FBI to get the information.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:15:17 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR REINBOLD  stated that  she had  been unsuccessful  in her                                                               
efforts to  track what happened  to the millions of  dollars that                                                               
were  appropriated several  years  ago for  missing and  murdered                                                               
indigenous women. She  asked if SB 92 mirrors that  project or if                                                               
somebody could give an update on the disposition of those funds.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS.  HOWELL confirmed  that the  state  received several  million                                                               
dollars after  former Attorney General  William Barr  visited the                                                               
state and  declared a public  safety crisis in Alaska.  The state                                                               
has  also   received  funding  for   the  missing   and  murdered                                                               
indigenous  women   initiatives.  She  offered  to   provide  the                                                               
information  that  DPS  received  from  the  U.S.  Department  of                                                               
Justice  and  the  Community Oriented  Policing  Services  (COPS)                                                               
Office regarding  the federal funding the  state received related                                                               
to the public safety emergency declaration.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  REINBOLD expressed  appreciation and  clarified for  the                                                               
record that Kelly Howell was the last speaker.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
4:16:58 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  KAWASAKI commented  that vulnerable  populations include                                                               
not only missing  and murdered indigenous women  and young people                                                               
under age 21,  but also senior citizens. He  acknowledged that SB
 was not the right vehicle,  but he would follow-up with DPS to                                                               
discuss vulnerabilities in the senior population.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SHOWER agreed with Senator Kawasaki's assessment.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
4:17:46 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER held SB 92 in committee.