HB 246-ACCESS TO MARIJUANA CONVICTION RECORDS  [Contains discussion of SB 207.] 2:30:55 PM CHAIR HOLLAND reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 246(FIN) "An Act restricting the release of certain records of convictions; relating to misconduct involving marijuana by persons 18, 19, or 20 years of age; amending Rule 17(h), Alaska Rules of Minor Offense Procedure; and providing for an effective date." 2:31:29 PM CHAIR HOLLAND noted that HB 246 was the companion bill to SB 207, which the committee heard on 4/6/2022 and 4/11/2022. 2:31:30 PM REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of HB 246, introduced himself. CHAIR HOLLAND asked the sponsor to highlight the differences between SB 207 and HB 246. 2:32:07 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS explained the main difference between the two bills was an amendment the House Finance Committee added that related to underage possession of marijuana for persons 18, 19, or 20 years of age. He noted that the legal age for possession of marijuana is 21 years of age. Currently, those persons 18, 19, or 20 years of age possessing marijuana are subject to class A misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. The amendment the House Finance Committee adopted, changed underage possession of marijuana for persons 18, 19, or 20 years of age to a violation, effectively mirroring the charges for a minor charged with possessing alcohol. He noted that SB 207 also contained legislative intent, which was not in the House version. He expressed his willingness to accept the language in either bill. 2:33:46 PM SENATOR MYERS referred to subsection (b) on page 3, lines 27-30. He asked for the rationale to charge violations as a separate case. He read: (b) A violation of this section must be charged and filed with the court as a separate case and may not be combined or joined with any other minor offense or criminal charge in one action at the time of filing. 2:34:17 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that it was due to the joinder limit, mirroring underage alcohol violations. He stated that the CourtView system must keep cases separate so the conviction would not appear on CourtView. The joinder limit makes that possible. Suppose a 19-year-old was charged with possessing marijuana, but the person was also charged for reckless driving or vandalism. The Alaska Court System could remove all of the charges or none of the charges due to its database limitations. Thus, it was important to separate the violation for underage possession of marijuana from other crimes so that the court system can treat the marijuana conviction on its own in CourtView. The same would be true for underage possession of alcohol. 2:36:01 PM CLAIRE GROSS, Staff, Representative Kreiss-Tomkins, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, added that both bills primarily addressed protecting records of marijuana crimes for those 21 years of age and older. However, one stipulation in Sections 4 and 7 was that the person must not have been convicted of any other criminal charges in that case. She noted that these same CourtView database limitations apply to adults charged with possessing marijuana under one ounce. MS. GROSS clarified that those cases were being reviewed retroactively. The bill sets up the crime of misconduct in the second degree. Again, the case must be set up separately so it can be removed from CourtView. She explained that an officer from the Department of Law would issue the citation, but prosecutors would be involved in rare instances. It was similar to how the department handles minor consuming cases by setting them up as a separate cases even if the person had other charges in the case. DOL advised the sponsor that it should not be a disincentive for officers to separate the charges filed in these cases; in fact, it could be helpful to combine cases that require prosecutor involvement stemming from other charges. 2:38:41 PM SENATOR MYERS asked the sponsor if the goal was to direct the Alaska Court System at some future point to pull the minor convictions from CourtView. He said it appeared as though that would be the point of the joinder prohibition. REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered no, and apologized if he had added some confusion to the conversation. 2:39:35 PM SENATOR MYERS referred to page 3, lines 27-29 of HB 246, which read: (b) A violation of this section must be charged and filed with the court as a separate case and may not be combined or joined with any other minor offense or criminal charge in one action at the time of filing. SENATOR MYERS stated that during discussions on SB 207, Ms. Meade explained that the court system could only remove the posting from CourtView if the marijuana possession charge were the sole charge in the case. He wondered if the sponsor wanted to make it easy to remove the charges for a minor use of marijuana at a later date since that charge would be separated from other charges. 2:40:35 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS stated that was not the intent. 2:41:13 PM NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Administrative Offices, Alaska Court System, Anchorage, Alaska, responded that she was unsure of Senator Myer's question. She stated that per Version I, cases for misconduct involving marijuana for those 18, 19, and 20 years of age would not appear on CourtView. She referred to page 4, lines 20-22 of HB 246, which addresses the new offense created by Section 5 for those individuals not under 18 or over 21 years of age. She clarified that the misconduct involving marijuana must not include charges for other crimes since the court system must remove all or none of the case. For example, if a person were charged with possession of marijuana and had committed another crime, such as theft or murder, the court would need to remove all of the charges, which was not the legislature's intent. SENATOR MYERS related his understanding that the point of subsection (b) was for the court system to shield the marijuana charges by not posting them to CourtView. 2:42:41 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS cautioned members about using the term, minor, because the definition of a minor was an individual [under] 18 years of age; however, this provision applied to possession of marijuana charges for individuals 18, 19, and 20 years of age. He indicated that there was not any intent for the bill to apply to minors. CHAIR HOLLAND asked if the Alaska Court System had anything to add. 2:43:23 PM MS. MEADE said the Alaska Court System was neutral on the bill. She indicated that the court system would be able to identify those cases for misconduct involving marijuana for those 18, 19, and 20 years of age. She stated that the court system would not post the charges to CourtView if the legislature directs the agency not to do so. She related that the court system already handles minor consuming of alcohol cases in the same manner. She appreciated that the bill had an extended effective date because it would allow the court system to create a new case number, so the process would happen automatically. 2:44:10 PM SENATOR KIEHL stated that the drafters may have created an unintended glitch related to the offense of using or displaying more than an ounce of marijuana. CHAIR HOLLAND referred to page 3, line 26 of Version I, which read "less than one ounce of marijuana. SENATOR KIEHL responded that he might need to review it further. He stated that it was a class B misdemeanor if a juvenile knowingly used or displayed more than an ounce, which did not change under the bill. It was also a class B misdemeanor for anyone 21 years of age or older to possess more than an ounce. However, he believed that possession of more than an ounce for those ages 18, 19, and 20 would be a violation. He asked whether the intent was to lower that penalty. 2:45:42 PM MS. GROSS agreed it appeared to be a drafting mistake. She referred to page 3, lines 24-26, which read: (a) A person 18, 19, or 20 years of age commits the offense of minor misconduct involving marijuana if the person knowingly uses or displays any amount of marijuana or possesses less than one ounce of marijuana. MS. GROSS agreed that was not the sponsor's intention. That provision would allow someone to be charged with possessing three ounces of marijuana and have their record shielded. The sponsor intended it to shield records on CourtView for those possessing less than one ounce of marijuana, as specified in the other sections of the bill related to AS 11.71.060. She noted that would also match the scope of convictions for those 21 years and older. 2:47:00 PM SENATOR MYERS related his understanding that other criminal offenses were blocked from CourtView. He asked which offenses were shielded. MS. MEADE responded that the other violations not posted on CourtView were minor in possession of alcohol or control of alcohol, commonly called minor consuming or minor on unlicensed premises. In addition, three statutes cited in court rules in AS 28 would also be shielded from view in CourtView, including minor driving after receiving a minor consuming citation. She clarified that this offense was not for driving while under the influence (DUI) of alcohol. Further, two traffic-related violations would not be posted to CourtView. 2:48:26 PM SENATOR SHOWER stated that the committee discussed removing possession of marijuana charges prior to legalizing marijuana through the initiative process. He asked whether anything changed in the House version that would affect posting on CourtView any current and future charges for possession of marijuana rather than clearing up prior charges. 2:49:29 PM MS. MEADE responded that the intent of HB 246 was to remove possession of marijuana charges of less than an ounce for those over the age of 21 on CourtView and shield them from certain criminal history records checks by the Department of Public Safety. Theoretically, no one over the age of 21 would be charged going forward. This bill does not touch anyone charged with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana who is under 18 years of age. It will still be a misdemeanor. Currently, the penalty for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for those ages 18, 19, and 20 is a class B misdemeanor, which would be reduced to a violation under the bill. The person would receive a citation and not need to appear in court. She stated that going forward the court system would not post the citation on CourtView. She summarized the effect of the changes. She stated that possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for adults was permissible; those ages 18-20 would receive a violation that would not appear on CourtView; and those [under] 18 years of age would be subject to a class B misdemeanor and not be posted to CourtView because the Division of Criminal Justice handles juvenile crimes. 2:50:47 PM MS. GROSS added that removing the misdemeanor conviction from CourtView would not happen retroactively for those ages 18, 19, and 20. She stated that reducing the crime from a misdemeanor to a violation or the removal from CourtView would only happen going forward for those ages 18, 19, and 20. CHAIR HOLLAND invited Ms. Howell to comment on behalf of the Department of Public Safety. 2:51:34 PM KELLY HOWELL, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, Anchorage, Alaska, stated that DPS supports the changes in HB 246. The bill would help ensure that those encountering housing or employment difficulties due to convictions for possession of marijuana don't incur those challenges in the future. 2:52:22 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS stated that House Finance amended the bill after seeing how alcohol and marijuana were treated differently. He offered his view that the Finance Committee wanted to treat alcohol and marijuana offenses similarly in a regulatory and legal manner. 2:53:27 PM CHAIR HOLLAND held HB 246 in committee.