MINUTES OF THE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY Sixty-eighth Session June 9, 1995 The Committee on Judiciary was called to order at 8:00 a.m., on Friday, June 9, 1995, Chairman Anderson presiding in Room 332 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Bernie Anderson, Chairman Mr. David E. Humke, Chairman Ms. Barbara E. Buckley, Vice Chairman Mr. Brian Sandoval, Vice Chairman Mr. Thomas Batten Mr. John C. Carpenter Mr. David Goldwater Mr. Mark Manendo Mrs. Jan Monaghan Ms. Genie Ohrenschall Mr. Richard Perkins Mr. Michael A. (Mike) Schneider Mrs. Dianne Steel Ms. Jeannine Stroth GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT: Senator Mark James Senator Maurice Washington STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Dennis Neilander, Research Analyst OTHERS PRESENT: Bob Martin, Executive Director, Nevada Association of Homeopathic Physicians David Horton, Alternative Therapy Support Group Nancy Tiffany, Unit Manager, Nevada Division of Parole and Probation Keith Ashworth, Nevada Power Company SENATE BILL 373 - Revises requirements for giving notice of application for parole to victims of crime. Senator Mark James indicated S.B. 373 was requested due to a tragedy involving the son of one of his constituents. The prisoner had some statutory minimum notice of parole; however, the victim did not. The bill was crafted to address that specific problem and would require notifying the victim five days after the date is established for parole consideration. The bill also requires notification of parole decision. Mr. Schneider speculated as to whether a victim's presence would have an influence in parole board decisions. Senator James noted when someone comes in to testify, it is always more powerful than just reading it on a piece of paper. He surmised it may well have an effect in some cases or possibly tip the balance in not granting parole. He did not feel there would be a substantial fiscal impact. Since there was no further testimony on S.B. 373 Mr. Anderson entertained a motion. ASSEMBLYMAN HUMKE MOVED DO PASS ON S.B. 373. ASSEMBLYMAN MANENDO SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. SENATE BILL 423 - Expands the scope of professional organizations to include homeopathic medicine. Bob Martin, Executive Director, Nevada Association of Homeopathic Physicians, said S.B. 423 was introduced to correct an oversight since the Homeopathic Practice Act was passed. Little had been done with the Professional Corporations Act and no changes were made to include physicians who practiced homeopathic medicine to have the ability to form a professional corporation or to own stock in a professional corporation organized for the practice of medicine. They are classified as physicians by NRS0.40, the same as osteopaths and allopaths. David Horton, Alternative Therapy Support Group, explained that with the HMOs seeking homeopathic participation, S.B. 423 would correct the oversight and allow them to participate on a constructive basis. Many of the HMOs are seeking to broaden their coverage to include homeopathic practitioners; if the homeopathic practitioners are able to participate in the corporate organization, it will facilitate that expansion. ASSEMBLYMAN BUCKLEY MOVED DO PASS ON S.B. 423. ASSEMBLY SCHNEIDER SECONDED THE MOTION.. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. SENATE BILL 313 - Authorizes inclusion of assignment of wages for restitution as condition of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Senator Maurice Washington, Washoe District 2, explained S.B. 313 covers a loophole in the law and provides Parole and Probation with an additional tool. The bill basically is for those victims having been perpetrated by felons committing white collar crimes. Even though under supervision, the felon may possess fineries of life such as cars, stereos, etc. and there is no means in which to garnish these items. The bill addresses this. For felons unable to pay, there is a provision exempting them from having to pay restitution. Nancy Tiffany, Unit Manager, Nevada Division of Parole and Probation, expressed support for S.B. 313. She noted in supervising parolees, it is pretty frequent they have problems deferring gratification in making long range goals in prioritizing their financial business. With S.B. 313, if a person is working, an assessment of wages would be voluntarily signed from the beginning so that the amount of restitution comes right from the top of a paycheck. ASSEMBLYMAN SANDOVAL MOVED DO PASS ON S.B. 313. ASSEMBLYMAN OHRENSCHALL SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ASSEMBLY BILL 534 - Makes various changes regarding protection of children from abuse, neglect and abduction. Mr. Neilander produced a proposed amendment to A.B. 534 (Exhibit C) which deletes Section 2 in its entirety and Section 5 (f) and (g). For further clarification, Mr. Anderson stated Sections 3, 6 and 8 would remain in the bill. Mr. Neilander agreed. Mrs. Buckley declared she was unconvinced there was anything in the remaining sections worthy of a policy matter to have in law. Mrs. Steel concurred, stating Section 6 was altogether too vague. ASSEMBLYMAN STEEL MOVED TO INDEFINITELY POSTPONE A.B. 534. ASSEMBLYMAN OHRENSCHALL SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ********** ASSEMBLY BILL 642 - Changes manner of perfecting and giving notice of security interests in property of public utilities. Mr. Carpenter distributed correspondence he received from Sierra Pacific Power company (Exhibit D). He told committee members he had reviewed the information and urged processing the bill along with the amendments. Keith Ashworth, representing Nevada Power Company, stated they support the bill with amendments. ASSEMBLYMAN CARPENTER MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 642. ASSEMBLYMAN ORHENSCHALL SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ********** ASSEMBLY BILL 560 - Revises provisions permitting attendant to support prosecuting witness at preliminary hearing and trial. Mr. Anderson asked Ms. Ohrenschall for an explanation of proposed amended language in A.B. 560. She indicated on line 14, delete "the prosecuting" and substitute "any other". Following committee discussion, Mr. Anderson entertained a motion. ASSEMBLYMAN OHRENSCHALL MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 560. ASSEMBLYMAN HUMKE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY **********. ASSEMBLY BILL 598 - Limits exclusion of persons from criminal proceedings. Mr. Neilander explained A.B. 598 would prohibit a judge from excluding from the courtroom a victim after he has testified, and would also include the investigating officer or counsel for the victim. There were no written amendments. Ms. Ohrenschall said Ms. Buckley was concerned about the investigating officer and any possibility that if he were to testify, an allegation could be made that he had been prejudiced. She had suggested the same language appearing on lines 11 and 12 be added to line 9 concerning "the investigating officer". Mr. Perkins called into question the definition of "investigating officer" inasmuch as there could be a dozen officers involved in a single investigation, particularly in a complicated crime. He suggested using the term, "an" instead of "the" to alleviate confusion. Committee discussion ensued. ASSEMBLYMAN CARPENTER MOVED AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 598 TO INCLUDE A POLICE OFFICER AT TIME OF TESTIMONY. ASSEMBLYMAN HUMKE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ASSEMBLYMEN BUCKLEY AND STROTH ABSENT AT THE TIME OF THE VOTE. ********** ASSEMBLY BILL 623 - Authorizes juvenile division of district court to bind over for trial child certified as adult after formal adversarial hearing. ASSEMBLYMAN HUMKE MOVED AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 623 WITH AMENDMENT AS OUTLINED BY MR. BOB TOOTIN. ASSEMBLYMAN OHRENSCHALL SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Neilander clarified the amendment essentially rewrites the bill. It is amending NRS 62.080 and is written based on the statute, not on the bill. Responding to Mrs. Steel's inquiry as to whether A.B. 623 conflicts with other bills regarding certification, Mr. Humke stated it simply makes everything consistent whereas A.B. 317 did alter the rules by which a child can be certified upward. This bill only governs the procedure by which the certification would take place. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. A.B. 623 was assigned to Mr. Humke for presentation on the floor. ********** ASSEMBLY BILL 646 - Makes various changes to procedure in juvenile cases. ASSEMBLYMAN CARPENTER MOVED AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 646. ASSEMBLYMAN HUMKE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ********** ASSEMBLY BILL 585 - Makes various changes to provisions prohibiting abuse, neglect and exploitation of older persons. Mr. Anderson called committee attention to a letter written to him (Exhibit E) in response to Ms. Ohrenschall's concerns relative to the Public Administrator of Clark County noted for his expertise in this area. Attached to the letter are proposed amendments to A.B. 585. Ms. Ohrenschall stated she had met with the proponent of the bill, Ms. Kolkoski of the Division of Aging Services, and a preference was indicated for the one paragraph language on the first page of the proposed amendments. Committee discussion ensued involving the difficult question of possible power of attorney abuses, etc. ASSEMBLYMAN HUMKE MOVED AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 585. ASSEMBLYMAN GOLDWATER SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Carpenter indicated the Division of Aging Services did not prove a strong enough case to demonstrate the need for this particular bill. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH NINE AFFIRMATIVE VOTES AND ASSEMBLYMAN CARPENTER VOTING NO. FOUR MEMBERS WERE ABSENT AT THE TIME OF THE VOTE. A.B. 585 was assigned to Mr. Manendo for presentation on the floor. ********** There being no further testimony, the hearing was adjourned at 10.15 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Christine Shaw, Committee Secretary APPROVED BY: Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, Chairman Assemblyman David E. Humke, Chairman Assembly Committee on Judiciary June 9, 1995 Page