SB 287 - WAIVER OF PAROLE CONSIDERATION CHAIRMAN GREEN brought SB 287 before the committee as the final order of business. Number 314 ANNETTE KREITZER, staff to Senator Loren Leman who is the prime sponsor of SB 287, read the following sponsor statement into the record: "In 1994, the Legislature passed, and the voters approved a constitutional amendment that strengthened the rights of victims of crime. Among the rights enumerated is the right of a victim to be present at parole hearings. "Senate Bill 287 addresses the emotional trauma for victims when an inmate, eligible for parole, waives that parole hearing and essentially ends up on an automatic schedule of reappearances before the Parole Board. "This situation is not a common one, but it is still traumatic for the victim of the victim's family to gird themselves up for a planned parole hearing and to have that hearing canceled within 24 hours at the direction of the inmate, only then to be rescheduled and canceled every 30 days. "This bill puts the inmate on a schedule set by the Board, while meeting the ex post facto requirements of Alaska's Constitution in Article I, Sections 1 and 7 and the U.S. Constitution in Article I, Section 15. "The bill is supported by Victims for Justice." Ms. Kreitzer said the sponsor acknowledges, along with representatives from the Parole Board, that this is not a common situation, but the bill tightens a loophole and puts the inmate on the schedule of the Parole Board. If an inmate waives their right to a hearing, it puts the inmate on a six-month schedule to come back before the board. Ms. Kreitzer directed attention to a proposed committee substitute, which was drafted after discussions with the Parole Board. Number 284 SENATOR MACKIE moved the adoption of CSSB 287(STA) as a working document. Hearing no objection, the motion carried. MS. KREITZER explained that in subsection (d) on page 1, the committee substitute seeks to make plain that rather than before the issuance of the board's decision, it is actually talking about the hearing. This subsection would apply to a hearing on a prisoner's application for discretionary parole. Also, a sentence was added on line 14 providing that if a prisoner who has applied for a discretionary parole fails to appear for a scheduled hearing when requested to appear, the board shall consider the prisoner's application as being withdrawn under this subsection. That was contained in the regulation that is being annulled in Section 2. She added that nothing in the legislation prohibits the department from coming back in the future and writing a new regulation that's clearer. Number 251 SENATOR MACKIE questioned the need for the bill if the problem is with a Department of Corrections' regulation. MS. KREITZER responded that it is a small problem and it's not something the department may want to take up in regulation. SENATOR MACKIE said he has a problem with trying to legislate regulations. Number 190 MICHAEL STARK, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law, who serves as counsel to the Department of Corrections and to the Parole Board, said both the Department of Correction and the Parole Board are sensitive to the needs of victims and try to accommodate those whenever possible; however, they do not believe that SB 287 is necessary, that it addresses a problem that doesn't exist. He said the incident that occurred, which was the catalyst for this bill, was one individual who had applied for parole and shortly before the scheduled hearing withdrew his application because he wanted to get an independent psychiatric examination, hoping that such an examination would improve his chances for parole. So the individual had a legitimate basis for asking the Board to postpone his hearing. The scheduled hearing was canceled, the victim was notified, and the victim was unhappy about that incident. Mr. Stark said the legislation will not fix the problem it is attempting to fix. What it will do is make that prisoner ineligible to apply for parole for another six-month period. However, when the prisoner applies again and if something comes up and the prisoner decides to withdraw his application again at the last minute, the victim will have to be notified again at the last minute. Number 150 CHAIRMAN GREEN asked how soon, under current regulation, a hearing can be rescheduled if a prisoner cancels a scheduled hearing. MR. STARK replied that the Parole Board meets quarterly on discretionary parole applications, and the regulations require that a prisoner submit an application at least seven weeks before the next scheduled hearing in order to be considered. He added that he does not believe the Board, without statutory authority, can say that a person won't be heard for six more months. He thinks under existing statute they probably have a right to be considered if they meet the requirement in submitting their application at least seven weeks in advance. He reiterated that this type of incident has not been a problem. Number 125 SENATOR WARD said this bill is reacting to a victim, and he asked Mr. Stark what harm he sees with the legislation. MR. STARK responded that he doesn't see any egregious harm with the adoption of the bill. SENATOR WARD said if there is no harm to it, and if it makes the victims more comfortable to know that there is a procedure in place, would that be in the Parole Board's opinion a good policy, or do they not consider the victim into the scenario. MR. STARK answered that the Board is very concerned about victims and any inconvenience that might be imposed on them, but they don't believe this bill addresses that. If the prisoner resubmits his application in six more months, the very same thing could occur. Number 070 SENATOR DUNCAN moved that CSSB 287(STA) be passed out of committee. CHAIRMAN GREEN objected and stated that the committee needs to take more testimony on the bill before moving it out. A roll call vote was taken with the following result: Senator Duncan voted "Yea" and Senators Ward, Mackie and Green voted "Nay." CHAIRMAN GREEN stated the motion failed.