HB 106-MISSING PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OLD  3:47:05 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 106, "An Act relating to missing persons under 21 years of age." 3:47:50 PM RANDI BREAGER, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, introduced herself and provided a brief review of the supporting documents [included in the committee packet]. 3:49:18 PM KATHY MONFREDA, Director, Division of Statewide Services, Department of Public Safety, provided a PowerPoint presentation, titled "House Bill 106" [hard copy included in the committee packet]. She informed the committee that the bill would bring state law as it pertains to the reporting of missing persons between the ages of 18 and 21, into conformity with federal law. She reviewed the federal reporting requirements on slide 2, highlighting Suzanne's Law (2003) and the Adam Walsh Act (2006), which collectively require law enforcement agencies to enter information pertaining to missing persons under the age of 21 into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) within two hours. She addressed current statutory language on slide 3, noting that Alaska's laws pertaining to the reporting of missing persons have not been amended since they were enacted in the mid-to-late 1980s. Currently, AS 18.65.620 requires law enforcement to report missing minors to the state's Missing Person Clearinghouse if not located within 48 hours after first reported missing; AS 47.10.141 requires the reporting of missing minors into state and national databases within 24 hours after a missing person report is completed; and AS 47.10.390 defines "runaway minor" as a person under 18 years of age. 3:51:15 PM MS. MONFREDA continued to slide 4 and summarized the proposed statutory changes required for AS 47.10.141 and AS 18.65.620 to comply with federal law: firstly, entry into state and national databases for missing persons under age 21 instead of the state requirement of age 18; secondly, entry of the records into state and national databases within 2 hours instead of the state requirement of 24 hours. She moved to slide 5, which reviewed current procedures. She relayed that statewide training for law enforcement is already in place regarding the more restrictive federal requirements; further, most state and local law enforcement agencies are already complying with those requirements. She added that programming for the state database, Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN), has already been completed to accommodate the more restrictive federal requirements. She turned to slide 6 and explained that enacting the legislation would remove conflicting, less restrictive state statutory requirements. Additionally, faster state and nationwide notification of missing person records for those under the age of 21 would be achieved. She noted that once entered into the national systems, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is automatically notified and proactively offers assistance in investigations. Slide 8 provided a sectional analysis for HB 106, which read: ? 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. MS. MONFREDA noted that the bill has no specified effective date; therefore, it would become effective 90 days after becoming law. 3:53:49 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that HB 106 was held over.