Bill eyed to limit access to arrest reports

  • Monday, April 28, 2014 11:11pm
  • News

FAIRBANKS (AP) — Gov. Sean Parnell is considering a bill that would limit public access to arrest records after people were acquitted or charges were dropped.

The measures contained in the bill were a reaction to easily accessible online arrest records that employers and landlords have used to do background checks on applicants, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Sunday.

Bill Rafferty, an analyst who specializes in court technology for the Williamsburg, Va.-based think tank National Center for State Courts, said the issue of expunging arrest records has been around a long time but was not as prominent when a records check meant a trip to the courthouse.

Court record websites such as CourtView, which is used in Alaska, now make it far easier to look up arrest records.

“People are being denied jobs, they’re being denied housing, they’re being denied all sorts of things simply because they were arrested and they were found not guilty,” Rafferty said. “The effort has been towards either pulling that information completely out of the public domain or at least out of the online version.”

Wisconsin, Georgia and Maryland have recently considered or approved restrictions, he said. North Dakota removes arrest records from online records searches but allows access at courthouses, Rafferty said.

The Alaska measure was sponsored by state Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, who said the bill strengthens the idea of presumed innocence. It was approved by both chambers in the Legislature.

The measure would seal court files in cases where a judge or prosecutor dismissed charges or when a verdict of not guilty was issued by a judge or jury.

Records would remain open if the defendant makes a plea agreement to dismiss a charge in exchange for a guilty plea in a different case. Legal guardians, attorneys and certain other state employees would continue to have access to sealed files.

A “legislative intent” section of the bill asks the court system to seal older files as much as practical.

Assistant Attorney General Anne Carpenetti argued against the measure and suggested a more limited bill written by the Department of Law.

The Alaska Press Club, a professional organization of media workers, opposed the bill being considered by Parnell. Anchorage media lawyer John McKay said the bill threatens First Amendment right-of-access protections of criminal court proceedings.

More in News

Syverine Bentz, coastal training program coordinator for the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, displays a board of ideas during a Local Solutions meeting focused on salmon at the Cook Inletkeeper Community Action Studio in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
In search of salmon solutions

Cook Inletkeeper hosts meeting to develop community project to help salmon.

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
CFEC to consider seines for east side setnet fishery

The change is contingent on the State Board of Fisheries approving the gear during their March meeting.

A map of 2025 construction projects scheduled for the Kenai Peninsula. (Provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Department of Transportation announces construction plans

Most of the projects include work to various major highways.

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward adds full-time staffer for recently restarted teen rec room

Seward’s Parks and Recreation Department reclaimed responsibility for teen programming at the start of this year.

Gavin Ley stands with the “Go-Shopping Kart” he designed and built in his career and technical education courses at Nikiski Middle/High School in Nikiski, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski students learn professional skills through technical education

Career and technical education gives students opportunity to learn skills, express themselves creatively, work cooperatively and make decisions.

Nikiski teachers, students and parents applaud Nikiski Middle/High Principal Mike Crain as he’s recognized as the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals 2025 Region III Principal of the Year by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education during their meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski principal named Region III principal of the year

Crain has served as Nikiski’s principal for three years.

An 86 pound Kenai River king salmon is measured in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 29, 1995. (M. Scott Moon/Peninsula Clarion File)
Kenai River king salmon fishing closed entirely for 3rd year

Kenai River king salmon were designated a stock of management concern in 2023.

The Kenai Peninsula College Main Entrance on Aug. 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
University of Alaska Board of Regents to meet in Soldotna

The last time the board met on the Kenai Peninsula was April 2012.

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education member Penny Vadla and student representative Emerson Kapp speak to the joint Alaska House and Senate education committees in Juneau, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Screenshot courtesy Gavel Alaska/KTOO)
KPBSD among dozens of districts to deliver in-person testimony to Alaska Legislature

Districts spotlighted programs already lost over years of stagnant funding that hasn’t met inflationary pressure.

Most Read