HB 73 - CRIMES; VICTIMS; CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT  1:34:26 PM CHAIR KELLER [announced that the first order of business would be] HOUSE BILL NO. 73, "An Act relating to the commencement of actions for felony sex trafficking and felony human trafficking; relating to the crime of sexual assault; relating to the crime of unlawful contact; relating to forfeiture for certain crimes involving prostitution; relating to the time in which to commence certain prosecutions; relating to release for violation of a condition of release in connection with a crime involving domestic violence; relating to interception of private communications for certain sex trafficking or human trafficking offenses; relating to use of evidence of sexual conduct concerning victims of certain crimes; relating to procedures for granting immunity to a witness in a criminal proceeding; relating to consideration at sentencing of the effect of a crime on the victim; relating to the time to make an application for credit for time served in detention in a treatment program or while in other custody; relating to suspending imposition of sentence for sex trafficking; relating to consecutive sentences for convictions of certain crimes involving child pornography or indecent materials to minors; relating to the referral of sexual felonies to a three-judge panel; relating to the definition of 'sexual felony' for sentencing and probation for conviction of certain crimes; relating to the definition of "sex offense" regarding sex offender registration; relating to protective orders for stalking and sexual assault and for a crime involving domestic violence; relating to the definition of 'victim counseling centers' for disclosure of certain communications concerning sexual assault or domestic violence; relating to violent crimes compensation; relating to certain information in retention election of judges concerning sentencing of persons convicted of felonies; relating to remission of sentences for certain sexual felony offenders; relating to the subpoena power of the attorney general in cases involving the use of an Internet service account; relating to reasonable efforts in child-in-need-of-aid cases involving sexual abuse or sex offender registration; relating to mandatory reporting by athletic coaches of child abuse or neglect; making conforming amendments; amending Rules 16, 32.1(b)(1), and 32.2(a), Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 404(b), Alaska Rules of Evidence, and Rule 216, Alaska Rules of Appellate Procedure; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 73, Version 28-GH1587\U, Strasbaugh, 3/20/13, which was adopted as the working document on 3/22/13, and amended on 3/25/13.] 1:35:29 PM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG made a motion to adopt Amendment 4, labeled 28-GH1587\U.7, Strasbaugh, 3/26/13, which read: Page 2, line 7, following "felonies;": Insert "relating to the rights of certain  victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor, or  incest to obtain legal and equitable remedies for  injuries arising from the conduct of a perpetrator;" Page 15, following line 27: Insert a new bill section to read:  "* Sec. 30. AS 25.23.180(i) is amended to read: (i) Proceedings for the termination of parental rights on the grounds set out in (c)(3) of this section do not affect the rights of a victim of sexual  assault, sexual abuse of a minor, or incest to obtain legal and equitable civil remedies for all injuries and damages arising out of the perpetrator's conduct." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 22, line 18: Delete "30" Insert "31" Page 22, line 29: Delete "sec. 43" Insert "sec. 44" REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT objected. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG - referring to memorandums from Legislative Legal and Research Services dated March 22, 2013, and March 26, 2013, and to information included therein - explained that currently, under the statutes addressing adoption, one could have one's parental rights terminated on the grounds that one perpetrated a crime of sexual assault or a crime of sexual abuse of a minor on the other parent of the child conceived by that illegal act. However, existing AS 25.23.180(i), the statute stipulating that proceedings for such termination of parental rights do not affect the rights of the victim to obtain legal and equitable civil remedies from the perpetrator - sometimes referred to as a "savings" [statute], he remarked - does not yet apply to victims of the crimes of sexual assault. Instead, that savings statute currently only applies to victims of sexual abuse of a minor crimes and to victims of incest crimes. Amendment 4 would address that gap by adding to that savings statute a reference to the crimes of sexual assault, so that it would then also apply to the victims of those crimes. He noted that Section 2 of HB 73 is already proposing other changes to Alaska's civil statutes, and asked that Amendment 4 be adopted. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX referred to Amendment 4 as appropriate and a good idea, and expressed concern that a court could mistakenly view the current gap in existing AS 25.23.180(i) as intentional. CHAIR KELLER - mentioning that a Department of Law (DOL) representative has called Amendment 4's proposed change a good catch, and noting that it [includes] a title change - said he supports Amendment 4. 1:40:29 PM KATHLEEN STRASBAUGH, Attorney, Legislative Legal Counsel, Legislative Legal and Research Services, Legislative Affairs Agency (LAA), in response to comments and questions, offered her belief that there is no fatal legal flaw with Amendment 4, particularly given the court's tendency to be lenient when interpreting Alaska's single-subject requirement for legislation. She, too, noted that HB 73 is already proposing other changes to [Alaska's civil statutes]. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT removed his objection. CHAIR KELLER ascertained that there were no further objections, and announced that Amendment 4 was adopted. 1:41:52 PM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG [made a motion to adopt] Amendment 5, labeled 28-GH1587\U.9, Strasbaugh, 3/26/13, which read: Page 2, line 7, following "felonies;": Insert "relating to the definition of sexual  assault for the purpose of adoption and the  termination of parental rights in certain  proceedings;" Page 15, following line 27: Insert a new bill section to read:  "* Sec. 30. AS 25.23.240(10) is amended to read: (10) "sexual assault" means a sexual offense defined in AS 11.41.410 - 11.41.427 [AS 11.41.410 OR 11.41.420];" Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 22, line 18: Delete "30" Insert "31" Page 22, line 29: Delete "sec. 43" Insert "sec. 44" REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG explained that Amendment 5 would address a gap in the provision defining what constitutes the crime of sexual assault for purposes of AS 25.23 - Alaska's adoption statutes. Currently, only the crimes of sexual assault in the first degree and sexual assault in second degree are included in that definition, whereas Amendment 5 would add to it the crimes of sexual assault in the third degree and sexual assault in the fourth degree, neither of which was in existence when [the definition of the term, "sexual assault" was added to AS 25.23]. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT objected. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG - after paraphrasing AS 11.41.425 and AS 11.41.427, outlining the crime of sexual assault in the third degree and the crime of sexual assault in the fourth degree, respectively - opined that all of the manifestations of the crime of sexual assault in the third degree are serious offenses and should therefore be grounds for the termination of one's parental rights under AS 25.23.180 regarding a child thereby conceived, and proffered that adding the crime of sexual assault in the fourth degree, in addition to addressing instances wherein pregnancy occurs through sexual contact, would also address instances wherein the perpetrator has pled down to that lesser degree of sexual assault crime, which involves serious illegal conduct nonetheless. MS. STRASBAUGH added that Amendment 5 includes a title change, and that it would inform all of the provisions of AS 25.23 regarding what constitutes a sexual assault. 1:50:42 PM ANNE CARPENETI, Assistant Attorney General, Legal Services Section, Criminal Division, Department of Law (DOL), indicated that the DOL favors Amendment 5's proposal to rectify the aforementioned omission. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT removed his objection. CHAIR KELLER ascertained that there were no further objections, and announced that Amendment 5 was adopted. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, referring to the discussion that occurred during HB 73's last hearing regarding Alaska's jurisdiction over matters related to the crime of human trafficking in the first degree, expressed interest in researching the issue of criminal jurisdiction as a whole during the interim. REPRESENTATIVES PRUITT and LEDOUX also expressed interest. REPRESENTATIVE LYNN called HB 73 a good bill. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT - referring to HB 73's proposal, via Version U's Sections 12 and 13, to provide the court with the discretionary authority to order a person charged with a stalking crime or charged with or convicted of a domestic violence crime to participate in a monitoring program with a global positioning device or similar technological means that meet the guidelines for a monitoring program adopted by the Department of Corrections (DOC) in consultation with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) - asked what guidelines were currently in place and which vendors currently meet those guidelines. 1:56:22 PM RON TAYLOR, Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner - Anchorage, Department of Corrections (DOC), explained that the DOC has not yet developed those guidelines but would be working with the DPS to do so [when those provisions of HB 73 become law], and mentioned the name of the company that currently provides monitoring services for the DOC. In response to other questions, he offered his understanding that other companies could also provide such services to the DOC; explained that the current provider went through the state's request for proposals (RFP) process; and surmised that those provisions of the bill won't apply to ignition interlock devices. CHAIR KELLER said he is not yet comfortable with all of the provisions of HB 73. REPRESENTATIVE LYNN said he thinks HB 73 is a very good bill overall. MS. CARPENETI, in response to a question, indicated that [the DOL] is comfortable with the changes made thus far to HB 73. 2:02:20 PM REPRESENTATIVE LYNN moved to report the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 73, Version 28-GH1587\U, Strasbaugh, 3/20/13, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 73(JUD) was reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee.