HB 81-ACCESS TO MARIJUANA CONVICTION RECORDS  3:59:22 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 81, "An Act restricting the release of certain records of convictions; and providing for an effective date." 4:02:27 PM REPRESENTATIVE DAVID NELSON, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, presented HB 81. He said the proposed bill is an important step in providing an opportunity for people with low- level misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions on their record to make more significant economic impact to their state. He remarked that hardworking Alaskans face barriers to employment, housing, license acquisition, and even volunteering opportunities, leaving them to be unable to make full contributions to the communities. According to a National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) report, as of 2023, 28 states have produced legislation that applies specifically to the confidentiality of records pertaining to certain marijuana- related offenses. He said that at a time when Alaska is struggling to find qualified workers to fill job openings, the state should not be excluding individuals based on these criteria. He said that HB 81 would make certain marijuana possession convictions confidential on basic background checks while keeping those convictions available. He noted that qualified individuals who are 21 or older at the time of the crime, possess one ounce of cannabis or less, and have not been convicted of another crime would be able to contact the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to make those crimes on their record confidential. He clarified that this would not expunge or remove the crimes from their record. He said that the proposed bill would give DPS until January 1, 2028, to edit its database and amend its records in accordance with the proposed bill. He noted that this would require hiring a contractor to make programming changes as well as a criminal justice technician to investigate and amend the records. 4:04:57 PM BOGDAN GILMUTDINOV, Staff, Representative David Nelson, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of the prime sponsor, Representative Nelson, offered the sectional analysis for HB 81 [copy available in committee file], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Section 1: Amends AS 12.62.160(b)(8) to include reference to the added subsection (f) in paragraph (8) to read "or criminal justice information as described in (f) of this section." Subsection (b) describes conditions around which an individuals (sic) criminal record may be released. Section 2: Amends AS 12.62.160 by adding a new subsection (f). Subsection (f) describes the conditions under which information on an individuals (sic) record cannot be released. Paragraph (4) requires the individual to submit a request to the agency not to release portions of their record. Section 3: Repeals AS 12.62.160(f)(4) on January 1, 2028. Section 4: Establishes an effective date of January 1, 2026. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON added that David Morgan with the Reason Foundation and Lisa Purinton with the Department of Public Safety were available to answer any questions. 4:06:39 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE said that he was curious about the fiscal note associated with the bill. He asked Ms. Purinton if a contractor was going to be used, he noted that the fiscal note mentioned 400 hours of work associated with a contractor. He said that contractors often work at their own places. He said that looking close at the fiscal notes, he was wondering why the state would need to buy contractor office materials such as a desk and computer. 4:07:52 PM LISA PURINTON, Director, Division of Statewide Services, Department of Public Safety, clarified that there are two parts to the fiscal note associated with HB 81. One part is for the contractor, paid at $140 an hour for 400 hours to reprogram the mainframe criminal history repository to prevent the records from being displayed, as proposed under HB 81. The second piece is for a temporary staff position for two years. The new staff would work with DPS to research records pertaining to individuals that request that their records not be displayed as outlined in the bill. The bill would require this work be completed by 2028. REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE noted that 8,500 people would potentially be impacted and it's going to take two years to pull them from the system. He asked whether this was an accurate assessment. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON confirmed that's correct. 4:09:58 PM REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked whether a minor marijuana conviction still would show up on a federal court record despite being pulled from the Alaska record. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON asked whether she was referring to a background check or something like court view. REPRESENTATIVE MOORE responded on court view additionally, so both. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that the court view system maintains its own website and the Alaska Court System amended its website to amend records from public view. REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked whether they would be hidden on just court view. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON said that currently, the bill would not touch the court view system. REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked whether the information would still show up on federal systems. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that yes, HB 81 would cover only low-level background checks, high-level security clearances and such would not be excluded. 4:11:28 PM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked Representative Nelson why the age of 21 was selected as opposed to 18. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that this question may be best answered by Ms. Purinton. MS. PURINTON answered that she would need to look at the statute and may need to "phone a friend" but 21 is the legal age to purchase and use marijuana. 4:12:45 PM REPRESENTATIVE STORY commented that the current employment vacancies were high at the department. She then remarked that given the 8,500 people that would be affected, the proposed legislation could be beneficial. 4:13:31 PM CHAIR CARRICK asked whether it would be warranted to take it a step further and expunge the records for these types of low- level marijuana convictions. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that the intent of the bill is to facilitate access to low-level volunteering positions or even housing with a change to background check information. He said that expungement of records is a completely different issue, and he did not want to work on it at the moment. He also said that there is no expungement in the State of Alaska. CHAIR CARRICK noted that Representative Nelson included a really interesting article about expungement to the committee [copy available in committee file]. MR. GILMUTDINOV noted that expungement is a nebulous term. He said that the blanket term is "record clearance," which includes annulment, erasure, expungement, destruction, dismissal, sealing, and setting aside. He said the definitions for these terms vary depending on jurisdiction and state. He said that in Alaska, there is technically no expungement, but there are certain things that can be done with regard to sealing certain documents. He said that the article which Chair Carrick was referring to draws a correlation between record clearing/record amending procedure and the outcomes associated with it. He said the article suggests that by following these procedures, individuals have greater employment prospects and wage earnings. 4:16:49 PM REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked about court view and federal searches. He asked whether the impact of the bill would be significant enough to withhold information from background checks. He asked whether backgrounds checks would utilize court view and federal databases, and he inquired whether not changing accessibility to these other databases would affect the goal of the bill. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON asked Representative Holland to clarify "other databases." REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked whether this bill would remove records from court view or any federal searches. He said that he understood the answer as no, it would not, and the information would still be available in other databases. He raised concerns whether this would serve Alaskans. REPRESENTATIVE NELSON responded that right now, court view systems have been covered; the proposed bill would cover only records on the state level. He reiterated that higher-level background checks could access information. He said that for a low-level, quick search of DPS, the information would not show up. 4:19:47 PM CHAIR CARRICK, after ascertaining that there were no additional questions, announced that the committee would hear invited testimony. 4:20:05 PM DAVID MORGAN, Legislative Affairs, Reason Foundation, began his invited testimony in support of HB 81. He said that too often, low-level offenses come with lifelong punishment. He said that penalties should be proportional to the severity of an offense, especially considering that recreational use of marijuana has been legal since 2014. He remarked that individuals with criminal records face difficulty in engaging in productive activities; this includes finding a job, securing housing, obtaining occupational licenses, and accessing financial services. He said that HB 81 is a necessary step towards fairness in Alaska. This legislation would prohibit agencies from releasing criminal records related to cases where a defendant was convicted of possessing less than one ounce of marijuana. Before January 2028, people must request to have the conviction records withheld; after January 2028, all conviction records would be withheld. He said that without an automatic process, data from other states showed, less than 10 percent of eligible individuals take action to have their records sealed. He said that HB 81 would provide much needed relief for many Alaskans. 4:21:59 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced that HB 81 was held over.