SB 270 JUVENILE OFFENDER PROCEEDINGS & RECORDS  SENATOR TAYLOR announced the committee heard SB 270 at a previous hearing and a committee substitute has been drafted. SENATOR MILLER moved adoption of the committee substitute (Luckhaupt, 3/13/96). SENATOR ADAMS objected and asked for a review of the changes made in the proposed committee substitute. SENATOR TAYLOR stated the sections pertaining to the disclosure of juvenile records have been removed in the proposed committee substitute in response to testimony from DFYS indicating it will lose $8 million in federal funding if juvenile records are opened. The proposed committee substitute allows municipalities to enact ordinances which would provide for a violation penalty of a fine of up to $300. SENATOR ADAMS requested DFYS' position on the proposed committee substitute. ANNE CARPENETI, Department of Law, stated the committee substitute removes the amendment to AS 47.10.060(e) which references in disclosed records under AS 47.10.090(f), and removes the amendment to AS 47.10.090 which would have allowed for public disclosure of records for juveniles aged 13 and over. Section 7 of SB 270 was removed which determined when a court could allow records to be sealed or opened. All of the provisions in the original bill amending AS 47.10.090 and AS 47.10.093, which deals with agency records, have been removed. SENATOR TAYLOR noted AS 47.10.092(b) - (g) and (k) have also been removed. MS. CARPENETI stated that is correct. SENATOR TAYLOR asked Ms. Carpeneti if any provisions remained in the proposed committee substitute that would jeopardize federal funds. MS. CARPENETI replied they did not. DIANE WORLEY, Director of DFYS, verified the proposed committee substitute does not jeopardize federal funding. SENATOR TAYLOR asked if there was continued objection to the adoption of the committee substitute. SENATOR ELLIS asked if a representative of the Court System could testify on the impact of the committee substitute. Number 143 SENATOR ADAMS asked for DFYS' position on the committee substitute. MS. WORLEY stated DFYS still opposes the bill, because of the automatic waiver to district court. DFYS would prefer cases be heard by hearing officers in the civil section of court, as opposed to waiving young children into adult courts. SENATOR TAYLOR commented that making hearing officers available in every community statewide would require a significant increase in cost. MS. WORLEY noted DFYS has been working with Representative Toohey on HB 474, and in discussions with the Municipality of Anchorage staff, they revealed they had intended to use hearing officers rather than district courts. She agreed that approach could incur additional costs for other communities who decide to use it but felt it is a more palatable option. Number 193 SENATOR TAYLOR advised that several communities already do this. He questioned whether DFYS has attempted to work with those particular communities. MS. WORLEY replied DFYS has not at this point. MS. CARPENETI discussed further departmental concerns about the measure. The Department of Law remains opposed to the waiver of juveniles for municipal offenses to district court, and opposes the imposition of bail for a delinquent who is detained. The bail provision would be new to law. According to the Juneau district attorney, the imposition of a large bail could increase the number of children incarcerated. This provision also conflicts with Delinquency Rule 12, and raises a question as to how it will work in relation to AS 47.10.140, which pertains to probable cause in terms of detention of a minor. AS 47.10.082 does not currently require probable cause, if a minor has committed an offense, before bail is imposed. DOL's last concern is with Section 4, which adds a chain of criteria to be used by the court system for sentencing, or disposing of, a juvenile case. The chain of criteria includes the consideration of community condemnation of the minor's conduct as a reaffirmation of societal norms, which is not relevant to delinquency cases. If the purpose is to rehabilitate the child, according to the Juvenile Code, this requirement would be a major departure from that goal. SENATOR TAYLOR believed Section 1 takes children out of that provision and questioned whether this bill will require all minors to go before a district court judge. MS. CARPENETI replied AS 47.10.082 applies to all delinquency cases, not just those that would be automatically waived if this measure passes. CHRIS CHRISTENSEN, general counsel to the Alaska Court System, responded to Senator Ellis' question. Most of the court system's concerns, reflected in the fiscal note for SB 270, pertained to the problem of trying to determine what would be public information in each record. By removing the records issues from SB 270, those concerns and related costs no longer exist, however giving municipalities the authority to create non-criminal offenses will have some impact on the court system and a new fiscal note will need to be submitted. Also, the imposition of bail for juveniles will double the hearing time, and because children's court is not set up to accept money of any kind, computer adjustments will have to be made. Number 265 SENATOR ELLIS questioned whether bail for juveniles will be comparable to the amount of bail ordered for adults. SENATOR TAYLOR remarked that if the maximum penalty for municipal violations is $300, the amount of bail for those offenses should not be very high. The release of minors provision also takes into account the release of class A felony offenders, and it is difficult to guess whether there will be a difference in the amount of bail ordered. SENATOR TAYLOR asked if there were further objections to the adoption of CSSB 270. There being none, the motion carried. SENATOR MILLER moved CSSB 270 out of committee with individual recommendations. SENATOR ADAMS objected due to the concerns raised by the Department of Law. SENATOR TAYLOR stated it is his hope the sponsor will work with the Department of Law to clarify those matters. The motion carried with Senators Taylor, Green and Miller voting "yea," and Senators Adams and Ellis voting "nay."