HB 108 - SURCHARGE ON FINES/ELEC. CITATION FUND  2:07:30 PM CHAIR KELLER announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 108, "An Act relating to electronic citations; creating the electronic citation fund; and providing for an effective date." [Included in members' packets was a proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 108, Version 28-LS0383\O, Wayne, 2/21/13.] The committee took an at-ease from 2:08 p.m. to 2:12 p.m. CHAIR KELLER [although no motion was recorded] announced that the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 108, Version 28- LS0383\O, Wayne, 2/21/13, was before the committee as the working document. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected. 2:12:23 PM REPRESENTATIVE PEGGY WILSON, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, said that HB 108 would allow [Alaska's law enforcement agencies] to add a surcharge of $10 on what she referred to as, "all minor-offense tickets," as a means of funding the purchase and maintenance of electronic-citation equipment used to issue electronic citations. She offered her understanding that over 75 percent of Alaska's law enforcement officers are currently using or becoming familiar with such equipment, and that its use dramatically reduces the time it takes to issue and process citations, thereby reducing associated costs. Such equipment is currently being paid for by federal grants, but such grants are being eliminated. Without passage of HB 108, she predicted, the costs associated with such equipment would have to be paid for by the State. Under HB 108, those costs would instead be passed on to offenders; the bill would amend current statute authorizing the assessment of a $10-surcharge on [certain offenses/violations/infractions in certain situations] for purposes of police training, such that it would instead authorize the assessment of a $20-surcharge. REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON offered her understanding that the Alaska Court System (ACS) would be able to make any resulting necessary conforming changes to its operations and to citation forms with its existing budget and staff. Legislation similar to HB 108 was adopted six years ago in Illinois and has been very successful. Members' packets contain letters of support from two Illinois counties, [as well as a letter of support from the Fairbanks Police Department]. She offered her understanding that many others - including the Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Division of Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, Inc. (AACOP), the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA), the [City of Fairbanks,] the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ), and the [City of Ketchikan] - also support HB 108, believing it will greatly help Alaska. In conclusion, she urged the committee to pass HB 108, offering her belief that doing so would improve safety - for both the public and law enforcement officers - and would eliminate certain tasks performed by the ACS. REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER questioned whether [law enforcement agencies in] Alaska's rural-hub communities such as Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue, and Barrow would be making use of electronic- citation equipment and have access to the funds generated by HB 108. 2:18:46 PM ELIJAH VERHAGEN, Intern, Representative Peggy Wilson, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of the sponsor, Representative P. Wilson, said yes, and indicated that Nome is currently using some form of electronic-citation equipment and that many rural law enforcement agencies are being outfitted with electronic- citation equipment through what he referred to as an Anchorage- based "track steering committee." He offered to provide the committee with a list of participating law enforcement agencies. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT asked who would determine how the collected surcharge funds shall be spent. MR. VERHAGEN pointed out that language on page 2, lines 28-31, of Version O read in part, "The legislature may make appropriations from the fund to the Department of Public Safety for the purchase and maintenance of equipment and supplies that are used by the state or by municipalities to issue electronic citations". Should the bill pass, he surmised, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) would be promulgating regulations to address that issue, and someone within the DPS would be responsible for distributing the collected surcharge funds. Furthermore, language on page 2, lines 18-21, read in part, "The  department and the administrative director of the Alaska Court  System may enter into agreements with each other and with other  state agencies and municipalities to provide a statewide system  to administer electronic citations". He indicated a belief, therefore, that under that language, any law enforcement agencies interested in [obtaining electronic-citation equipment and receiving electronic-citation surcharge funds] could simply enter into such an agreement with the DPS. Most rural law enforcement agencies would never be able to afford such equipment on their own, he ventured. REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON, in response to a question, reiterated that the electronic-citation equipment currently being used in Alaska is being paid for by federal [grants, but such grants are being eliminated;] that therefore without passage of HB 108, the costs associated with the continued use of such equipment are going to have to be paid for by the State, whereas under HB 108, such costs would instead simply be passed on to offenders; and that [the ACS] would be able to make any resulting necessary conforming changes to its operations and to citation forms with its existing budget and staff. 2:24:30 PM MR. VERHAGEN, in response to a question regarding paying for a citation at the time of receipt via credit card, offered his understanding, based on a demonstration he'd seen of the electronic-citation equipment currently being used by the Juneau Police Department (JPD), that such isn't possible yet because the information necessary to complete such a transaction isn't entered into the system until the law enforcement officer uploads it from his electronic-citation equipment upon returning to the police station. In response to a question about paying for a citation via the Internet, he surmised that it probably varies by municipality, and offered to research that issue further. CHAIR KELLER - referring to [the language on page 1, lines 5-8, of Version O that read in part, "A citation ... may be created, executed, transmitted, or stored electronically"] - sought confirmation that that language is not intended to allow for the [future] use of "a radar camera that can send tickets in the mail," for example. REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON offered her belief that the language on page 2, lines 28-31, through page 3, line 1, of Version O would preclude such, but, if it doesn't, she would be amenable to [adding] language that would; that existing bill language read in part: The legislature may make appropriations from the fund to the Department of Public Safety for the purchase and maintenance of equipment and supplies that are used by the state or by municipalities to issue electronic citations. Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund. CHAIR KELLER opined that [that language] doesn't yet sufficiently describe what the collected surcharge funds would be used for. For example, perhaps a definition of what constitutes an "electronic citation" could be added to HB 108. He also noted that the bill would [nonetheless] establish a separate fund within the general fund (GF) from which appropriations may be made. REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON indicated that she would be amenable to adding such a definition. MR. VERHAGEN, in response to a question, offered his understanding that an electronic citation may be signed electronically. 2:32:10 PM REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON - in response to a question regarding the meaning of that aforementioned language, specifically that which read, "The legislature may make appropriations" - reiterated that the goal is to provide [Alaska's law enforcement agencies] with a means of funding the purchase and maintenance of electronic-citation equipment and supplies used to issue electronic citations, without requiring those agencies to come before the legislature for that funding. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG suggested, then, that further review of that language was therefore warranted. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT cautioned against allowing policy decisions to be made by the department via language addressing funding. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG removed his objection to adopting Version O as the working document. CHAIR KELLER [again] announced that Version O was before the committee. 2:34:22 PM RODNEY DIAL, Lieutenant, Deputy Commander, A Detachment, Division of Alaska State Troopers, Department of Public Safety (DPS), in response to the question posed earlier regarding providing for citations to be paid for at the time of receipt, relayed that that raises a concern about the appearance of law enforcement officers soliciting funds; [also, providing for such early payment] might result in citation recipients then being discouraged from contesting their citations in court as allowed by law. Of the electronic-citation software currently being used by the DPS - Traffic and Criminal Software - he said, "It's an application that combines a laptop computer in our patrol vehicles, ... computers in the central office, and data communications that allow us to prepare and issue electronic citations." The use of electronic-citation equipment, in reducing the amount of time spent "on the side of the road," increases productivity and the safety of both officers and citation recipients, he relayed. The majority of Alaska State Troopers in close connection with the road system are currently using electronic-citation equipment, and [the DPS] is expanding usage whenever it's able to. Maintenance and software licensure currently cost approximately $62,000 per year, and hardware - including computer terminal, mount, scanner, and printer - currently costs approximately $7,500 per vehicle; federal funds received through the Alaska Highway Safety Office (AHSO) are currently being used to pay [those costs]. In closing, he said [the DPS] supports HB 108 as a means of maintaining its electronic citation program and expanding its usage throughout the state. 2:36:50 PM KEITH BRIN, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Lake County, Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Second Judicial District, Circuit Court, Illinois Courts, concurred that HB 108 is very similar to [legislation] adopted years ago in Illinois. [In Illinois,] he relayed, electronic citations are very popular with law enforcement and the courts; electronic citations are typed rather than handwritten, they can be sent electronically to the court by the issuing officer, and they can be automatically incorporated into the court's record-management system. The use of electronic-citation equipment greatly reduces the time it takes to issue and process citations, thereby reducing associated costs. The surcharge currently imposed on offenders in Illinois for purposes of financing electronic-citation projects is $5, and government systems have been improved via the use of such funds. Government officials in Illinois therefore support the law authorizing the surcharge, and it's been used as model legislation in 17 other states. CHAIR KELLER ascertained that no one else wished to testify on HB 108. 2:43:24 PM NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Administrative Staff, Office of the Administrative Director, Alaska Court System (ACS), in response to questions, indicated that the ACS did work with the sponsor's staff and did speak with the DPS in order to ensure that the ACS would be able to implement any changes required under Version O of HB 108, though the ACS is neutral with regard to the policy issue raised by the bill, that being whether to create an electronic citation fund. The ACS already collects surcharges on some electronically-filed [citations] and distributes those funds to the Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC) for purposes of law enforcement training, and the Alaska Supreme Court has already adopted rules addressing electronic citations, and so may not necessarily need to adopt additional rules or issue any orders as a result of the bill's passage. In response to the question posed earlier regarding paying for a citation via the Internet, she relayed that such is already possible. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG referred to the language on page 2, lines 30-31, that read in part, "for the purchase and maintenance of equipment and supplies that are used by the state or by municipalities to issue electronic citations." He asked Lieutenant Dial whether that language ought to be broadened in order to provide for the funding of other types of equipment as well. LIEUTENANT DIAL indicated that that issue would be researched. Ideally, should the changes proposed by HB 108 become law, the DPS would encourage those municipal law enforcement agencies wishing to participate in a statewide electronic-citation program, to adopt a statewide standard; adopting such a standard would reduce software-licensing costs. He said he envisions that a working group would be formed to address such issues. [HB 108, Version O, was held over.]