HB 170-REPORTING VIOLENT CRIMES  4:11:33 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 170, "An Act relating to a failure to report a violent crime." 4:12:08 PM REPRESENTATIVE ROBYN NIAYUK BURKE, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, reintroduced HB 170. She explained that HB 170 would seek to increase the penalties for failing to report violent crimes committed against adults. The proposed legislation would ensure accountability and justice for those silent in the face of violence. She remarked that the bill is part of an ongoing commitment to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP). She asked for bill support not only to honor Kathleen Joe Henry but for all those who demand justice and accountability. 4:13:11 PM The committee took an at-ease from 4:13 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. 4:15:06 PM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE moved to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 170, labeled 34-LS0638\N.3, C. Radford, 5/5/25, which read as follows: Page 1, following line 2: Insert a new bill section to read:  "* Section 1. AS 11.56.767(a) is amended to read:  (a) A person, other than the victim, commits the offense of failure to report a violent crime committed against an adult if the person, under circumstances not requiring the person to report as required by AS 11.56.765, (1) witnesses what the person knows or reasonably should know is (A) the murder or attempted murder of a person by another; (B) the kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of a person by another; [OR] (C) the sexual penetration or attempted sexual penetration by another (i) of a person without consent of the person; (ii) of a person who is mentally incapable; (iii) of a person who is incapacitated; or (iv) of a person who is unaware that a sexual act is being committed; (D) human trafficking in the first degree  or attempted human trafficking in the first degree; or  (E) sex trafficking in the first degree or  attempted sex trafficking in the first degree; and (2) does not, as soon as reasonably practicable, report that crime to a peace officer or law enforcement agency." Page 1, line 3: Delete "Section 1" Insert "Sec. 2" Renumber the following bill section accordingly. Page 1, line 8: Following "APPLICABILITY.": Insert "AS 11.56.767(a), as amended by sec. 1 of this Act, and" Delete "sec. 1" Insert "sec. 2" Delete "applies" Insert "apply" CHAIR CARRICK objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE explained that the proposed amendment would add human and sex trafficking in the first degree to the list of violent crimes that would require mandatory reporting. She said that the bill should also include other egregious violent crimes. She said that following discussions with the bill sponsor, a first-degree classification was determined to keep the bill "tight" and avoid any "gray areas." She remarked that kidnapping was already listed in the proposed legislation and human trafficking was part of it. 4:17:47 PM CHAIR CARRICK noted that some individuals were available to help facilitate questions. 4:18:11 PM REPRESENTATIVE BURKE thanked Representative Vance for offering the amendment but stated that it was her hope that HB 170 would be passed through the committee as a clean bill. She remarked that there were many different iterations of the bill and given discussions with stakeholders, community members, and affiliates with the Senate Companion Bill, the intent is to retain the current bill structure. She discussed stipulations associated with mandatory reporting of human and sex trafficking. She opposed the amendment but was grateful for the discussion. 4:20:01 PM CHAIR CARRICK asked Nancy Meade whether she could address questions about current laws on sex and human trafficking. She inquired about the legal classification of this type of crime and whether it was classified as a violent crime. 4:20:49 PM NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Office of the Administrative Director, Alaska Court System, responded that to her knowledge, the statutes do not define "violent crime", but the committee may want to hear from Ms. Schroeder for clarification. 4:21:11 PM KACI SCHROEDER, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Central Office, Criminal Division, Department of Law (DOL), said that "violent crime" is not defined in Alaska Statute (AS), however the legislature has the ability to classify these definitions in statute. 4:21:44 PM REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked Ms. Meade whether she could speak to how many people would potentially be charged for failing to report human or sex trafficking and what would constitute witnessing a crime. She gave an example of walking through an airport and said that there needed to be something to make a compelling argument for what would constitute a non-reporting witness. MS. MEADE said that witnesses have a normal definition that one may think, "to observe or see something" but the statute also includes what a person "knows or reasonably should know". She said that this would be the standard used by DOL. She gave an example of a possible witness of human trafficking by an employer as someone getting captured by this type of statutory language. She said that it would be more appropriate for DOL to explain the timing related to these types of charges. REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT redirected her question and asked for clarification regarding what constitutes a witness in some of the cases regarding human and sex trafficking. She was unsure about the definitions. REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE commented that there should be definitions. 4:24:31 PM CHAIR CARRICK asked whether Ms. Meade could help clarify the definitions associated with human and sex trafficking. MS. MEADE responded that human trafficking in the first degree is defined under AS 11.41.360, [subsection (a)], which read as follows: Sec. 11.41.360. Human trafficking in the first degree. (a) A person commits the crime of human trafficking in the first degree if the person compels or induces another person to engage in sexual conduct, adult entertainment, or labor in the state by force or threat of force against any person, or by deception. MS. MEADE explained the stipulations of inducing and remarked that sex trafficking is confined to prostitution-type situations. She explained that human trafficking and sex trafficking are different. She said that previous attempts have been made to change legal definitions. REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT said that she wanted to know how much this amendment would expand the proposed bill and how many more people could be charged as witnesses. CHAIR CARRICK remarked that Ms. Schroeder could address this question. 4:26:18 PM MS. SCHROEDER explained that the elements of the offense are that someone witnesses, knows, or reasonably should know that human or sex trafficking, or an attempt thereof, is occurring. She said that the witness must "see" it and "know", and she related the concept to the proposed amendment. She said there is a definition in statute of knowing so the person would have to be aware of the conduct and the circumstance. Knowledge is established if the person is aware of a substantial probability unless the person believes is did not. In this case, the state would be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person knew in the event charges were made. She could not say how many people might get captured under the proposed amendment. She said that based on the testimonies that have been given with previous bills, there are attempts to change definitions for this "insidious conduct." She said that often great efforts are made to hide what is going on, and both investigations and prosecutions are complex. She said that it is possible that someone could witness this and not actually know what was being witnessed. She said that a participant in prostitution could be a technical witness and could be charged in conjunction with other crimes. 4:28:08 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE said that this Amendment 1 would give a prosecutor some extra tools to suggest that someone was a witness to this type of crime. He gave a theoretical example of trafficking people in a parking lot at gunpoint. He said that prosecution could say that they thought someone was a witness and if they withheld information there would be a penalty. He asked Ms. Schroeder whether she thought this was an appropriate characterization. MS. SCHROEDER responded that it would be another tool, but she suggested that cases would probably be egregious in nature where prosecutors thought there may be a non-reporting witness, and they knew what they were witnessing before any charges followed. REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked whether Ms. Schoeder thought the sideboards on this were sufficient to protect somebody from being falsely accused. MS. SCHROEDER responded that she could not speak to whether someone would be accused of witnessing something. However, she said that the "knowing" standard is a relatively high standard and it should protect somebody from witnessing something without knowing what it was. She discussed the mechanics of "knowing" and proving it. She said that knowing would be a standard above a simple suspicion. REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE speculated that this would be a much higher standard than "see something/say something." MS. SCHROEDER responded that that was a correct assessment. She added that someone would also need to "know" that they have a duty to report, which adds an extra layer of complication to investigations. 4:30:44 PM CHAIR CARRICK removed her objection to the motion to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 170. 4:31:02 PM REPRESENTATIVE STORY objected and asked Representative Burke for clarification as to why she did not want to add Amendment 1 at this time and what she had learned from previous discussions about this issue. REPRESENTATIVE BURKE responded that with various iterations of the proposed bill, different levels of crime were considered. She remarked that this was not an amendment she had previously considered. She noted that this was the bill's first committee and said that she wants to continue conversations with stakeholders, constituents, community members, and the sponsor of the companion bill in the Senate. She noted that the proposed legislation still had referral to the House Judiciary Standing Committee where it could have additional scrutiny and amendments. She said it was her intent to move the bill without amendments and conversations could take place in the next committee of referral. REPRESENTATIVE STORY maintained her objection. 4:32:34 PM A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Vance and McCabe voted in favor of Amendment 1 to HB 170. Representatives Holland, Story, Moore, Himschoot, and Carrick voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 1 failed to be adopted by a vote of 2-5. 4:33:25 PM CHAIR CARRICK said that she hoped that this amendment would get added in the future committee of referral following additional research and outreach. She appreciated the arguments regarding the topic. 4:34:04 PM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE thanked Representative Burke for bringing the bill forward. She said that when first looking at the proposed legislation, it did not sit well with her. However, after looking at existing statutory references, the [necessity for adding] these egregious trafficking crimes was clear. She commented that there are a lot of organizations that have been fighting human trafficking in Alaska. She expressed intent to work with Representative Burke to add mechanisms to address this type of crime. She emphasized the desire to bring awareness to Alaska's communities and make appropriate laws for the people. 4:36:04 PM REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked Ms. Schroeder for clarification regarding how Alaska defines violent crime. 4:36:25 PM MS. SCHROEDER responded that there is no statutory definition for violent crime in Alaska. REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT explained that she was trying to digest what the words mean and how they apply to the proposed bill. 4:36:50 PM REPRESENTATIVE BURKE cited AS 11.56.767 [subsection (a), paragraph (1)], which read as follows: Sec. 11.56.767. Failure to report a violent crime committed against an adult. (a) A person, other than the victim, commits the offense of failure to report a violent crime committed against an adult if the person, under circumstances not requiring the person to report as required by AS 11.56.765, (1) witnesses what the person knows or reasonably should know is (A) the murder or attempted murder of a person by another; (B) the kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of a person by another; or (C) the sexual penetration or attempted sexual penetration by another (i) of a person without consent of the person; (ii) of a person who is mentally incapable; (iii) of a person who is incapacitated; or (iv) of a person who is unaware that a sexual act is being committed; and REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked for additional clarification regarding how these definitions would be interpreted. CHAIR CARRICK commented that these were the interpretations addressed by both Ms. Meade and Ms. Schroeder. REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT said that she was "blown away" that a crime could be considered violent in one statute but not violent in another statute. CHAIR CARRICK asked Ms. Schroeder if she could clarify how violent crime is utilized under AS. 4:38:43 PM MS. SCHROEDER responded that it was not utilized often and when used it appears in contexts like this. She said the offense goes on to describe what is meant by the word "violent". CHAIR CARRICK echoed Representative Himschoot's line of inquiry concerning these nuances regarding violent crime classification. 4:39:52 PM REPRESENTATIVE STORY moved to report HB 170 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 170 was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.