SB 116-SERVICE OF CITATIONS  9:14:43 AM CHAIR DYSON called the committee back to order. He announced the consideration of SB 116. He said the committee will accept as a working document, committee substitute (CS) for SB 116, labeled 28-LS0826\C. 9:15:14 AM SENATOR EGAN, sponsor of SB 116, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, explained that the bill corrects an unintended consequence of a good bill passed in 2010. He specified that in March 2013, the courts implemented the law and it stopped, for example, law enforcement from leaving a ticket under the windshield wiper of a car. To keep enforcing local laws, many municipalities went to simple violations for just a minor offense and that has its own problems and it wasn't available to state law enforcement at all. He said SB 116 lets law enforcement go back to where it was this time last year where a parking ticket can go under a car's windshield wiper. 9:16:46 AM JESSE KIEHL, Staff, Senator Egan, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, said the 2013 court rule that was adopted in April had the effect of stopping the court system from processing any citation that an officer did not personally serve. He explained that "personally serve" was defined to mean face-to-face on the person charged with the offence. He noted that the bill that passed in 2010 was meant to address moving violations, minor consuming, and more serious law infractions. He said municipalities that had chosen not to make things like parking tickets civil violations, ultimately had to do so in order to keep enforcing their local laws for minor incidents and infractions. MR. KIEHL explained that civil citations meant fighting citations through the municipality rather than the Alaska Court System. He added that a second significant disadvantage with a civil citation is the added cost for a municipality and law enforcement in order to execute a judgment. He clarified that SB 116 does not force any municipality to change their choice to make their violations civil. 9:19:44 AM He addressed the new changes in the CS as follows: On page 2, line 7, it simply corrects what I believe is a typographical error in existing law that required both a peace officer and someone else authorized by law, code enforcement officer, animal officer, to issue the citations; this would say either or whoever wrote the citation must follow the rules. Page 2, lines 7-8, this new subsection defines the limits on a citation that can be either left on personal property or served according to the civil rules. The change in the CS would limit that to offenses that are punishable by a fine of $500 or less. MR. KIEHL said the bill's sponsor felt that infractions with higher penalties required more due process than a normal ticket where the citation could be mailed or left on personal property. He added that in the CS on page 2, line 10, the citation would have to be left in a conspicuous place. He specified that infractions that might carry imprisonment must be served face- to-face. He added that minor consuming and moving violations also require citations to be served face-to-face. 9:23:02 AM SENATOR COGHILL asked to clarify that the court rule was made after the statute was passed under personally-served. MR. KIEHL answered yes. He specified that the 2010 bill dealt with a uniform statewide process for citations that required citations be personally served. He explained that the Alaska Court System in implementing the law in 2013 made clear that personally-served meant serving citations face-to-face. 9:24:12 AM SCOTT BLOOM, City Attorney, City of Kenai, Kenai, Alaska, stated that Kenai supported SB 116 as amended and explained the issues for the city by not being able to leave parking citations as follows: 1. Public Safety: people ignored parking restrictions. 2. Strain on Municipal Resources: police officers were forced to track down drivers, boot vehicles, or have vehicles towed. 3. Higher Parking Costs: Kenai would have to add personnel to administrate parking. CHAIR DYSON noted his appreciation for Senator Egan in bringing the bill forward to solve the unintended problem. 9:27:19 AM MATT MUSSLEWHITE, Director, Animal Control and Protection (ACP), Juneau, Alaska, stated his support for SB 116. He said since the implementation of the personal service requirement in April 2013, ACP has experienced a 48 percent reduction in the issuance of minor offense citations; this requirement has also generated a considerable increase in man-hours required per case. He noted that an officer may need to visit a residence five or six times in order to personally serve a $25 citation. He said the implementation of the personal service rule has also had a much larger consequence than just increased effort and loss of citation revenue. Mandatory court appearance citations that ACP issues for dangerous dog owners may go unissued simply because the owner refuses to answer their door. He remarked that it is hard to tell a dog attack victim that he cannot enforce the laws without the violator's cooperation. He summarized that the ability to leave a citation on the door of a residence or by certified mail for a minor offense allows his officers to devote more time and resources to investigate more serious issues of animal cruelty, abuse, and neglect. He set forth that SB 116 will provide law enforcement with the tools to do their job efficiently and urged support for the legislation. 9:28:59 AM SENATOR GIESSEL moved from committee CS for SB 116, labeled 28- LS0826\C, with zero fiscal note and individual recommendations. 9:29:15 AM CHAIR DYSON announced that without objection, CSSB 116(STA) has moved from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.