SENATOR HALFORD introduced SB 24 (EXTEND MAXIMUM PERIOD OF PROBATION) and invited the sponsor, SENATOR DAVE DONLEY, to testify on his bill. SENATOR DONLEY explained SB 24 would change the maximum period of probation a court may order for a criminal offense from five years to ten years, is part of the Governor's anti-crime package, and supported by the Departments of Law, Public Safety, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. He said it was also a recommendation of the Sentencing Commission and further explained it would increase the protection to the public from the type of offenders who need supervision to prevent their recidivism. SENATOR JACKO asked why there was no fiscal note to keep these people on probation for a longer time. SENATOR DONLEY answered the fiscal notes only extend for five years, so it wouldn't make an impact until the sixth year. SENATOR JACKO pressed for an actually fiscal implication, but SENATOR DONLEY said it was difficult to project at this time, since it was hard to determine how often it would be utilized by judges. He said it was an option. SENATOR JACKO asked if the cost of probation for five years could be extrapolated to 10 years. SENATOR DONLEY answered the legislature sets the budget for the probation officers, but unfortunately, it is not broken out per case. He suggested it would vary at different times. SENATOR DONLEY suggested there might be some cases where there would be a saving if a judge, in fashioning other than mandatory sentences may want to fashion a flexible sentence - using more probation rather than actual jail time. He referred to the Position Paper to describe the difficulty in estimating the cost. SENATOR JACKO noted the bill next would be going to the Finance Committee, and an answer might be found in committee, which he thought was important. SENATOR HALFORD asked MARGO KNUTH, from the Department of Law, to testify on the bill. She said the department does support the bill, and she addressed the cost question by asked how much would be saved by the system if one sex offender was prevented from re- offending, which results usually in substantial incarceration time. MS. KNUTH noted two types of cases where the judges want the flexibility of longer probation time, the first being the sex offender cases, because there is a high rate of recidivism. She explained the extra probation time could keep the sex offenders in treatment programs. The second area of crime for added probation is when a lot of restitution is owed to the victim, and MS. KNUTH explained how restitution could be made part of probation. Number 069 SENATOR JACKO contended extra probation would put more people under the watchful eyes of the government and incur costs. MS. KNUTH believed it might save money by preventing recidivism. SENATOR HALFORD invited further debate on SB 24 and asked for the will of the committee. SENATOR JACKO asked if the legislation would provide less than five years of probation, and SENATOR DONLEY explained it was up to the judges for the award for probation, with a current maximum of five years. He said it would have no effect on any minimum decided by the judge, and they had a general discussion on the use of may rather than shall in the drafting. Number 090 SENATOR LITTLE moved to pass SENATE BILL NO. 24 (EXTEND MAXIMUM PERIOD OF PROBATION) from committee with individual recommendations. Without objections, so ordered.