Section 42.20.320. Exemptions.

   (a) The following activities are exempt from the provisions of AS 42.20.300 and 42.20.310:
        (1) listening to a radio or wireless communications of any sort where the same are publicly made;
        (2) hearing conversation when heard by employees of a common carrier by wire incidental to the normal course of their employment in the operation, maintenance, or repair of the equipment of the common carrier by wire, provided the information obtained is not used or divulged in any manner by the hearer;
        (3) a broadcast by radio or other means whether it is a live broadcast or recorded for the purpose of later broadcasts of any function where the public is in attendance and the conversations that are overheard are incidental to the main purpose for which the broadcast is then being made;
        (4) recording or listening with the aid of any device to an emergency communication made in the normal course of operations by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency or institutions dealing in emergency services, including hospitals, clinics, ambulance services, fire fighting agencies, a public utility emergency repair facility, civilian defense establishment, or military installations;
        (5) inadvertent interception of telephone conversations over party lines;
        (6) a peace officer, or a person acting at the direction or request of a peace officer, engaging in conduct authorized by or under AS 12.37;
        (7) interception, listening, or recording of communications by a peace officer, or a person acting under the direction or request of a peace officer, in an emergency where the communications are received from a device that intercepts the communications of a person
             (A) barricaded and not exiting or surrendering at the direction or request of a peace officer, in circumstances where there is an imminent risk of harm to life or property;
             (B) holding another person hostage; or
             (C) threatening the imminent illegal use of an explosive;
        (8) the interception by a peace officer of an oral communication by use of an electronic, mechanical, or other eavesdropping device that is concealed on or carried on the person of the peace officer and that transmits that oral communication by means of radio to a receiving unit that is monitored by other peace officers, if
             (A) the interception and monitoring occurs
                  (i) during the investigation of a crime or the arrest of a person for a crime; and
                  (ii) for the purpose of ensuring the safety of the peace officer conducting the investigation or making the arrest;
             (B) the peace officer who intercepts the oral communication is a party to the communication and has consented to the interception; and
             (C) the communication intercepted is not recorded;
        (9) interception of a private communication to which a minor is a party by a parent of the minor, except that interception of a private communication between a minor and the minor's attorney or guardian ad litem or between a minor and a child-custody investigator is not exempt from the provisions of AS 42.20.300 and 42.20.310; evidence obtained under this paragraph may be
             (A) considered by a guardian ad litem or a child custody investigator only if the guardian ad litem or child custody investigator determines that consideration of the evidence is in the best interests of the minor;
             (B) admitted in a judicial proceeding, subject to the Alaska Rules of Evidence;
             (C) admitted in a judicial proceeding relating to the custody of a minor, subject to the Alaska Rules of Evidence and only if the court determines that admission of the evidence is in the best interests of the minor; or
             (D) admitted in an official proceeding that is not a judicial proceeding, subject to the rules of evidence governing the proceeding and only if the official presiding over the proceeding determines that admission of the evidence is in the best interests of the minor.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who inadvertently intercepts a private communication that appears to pertain to the commission of a crime may report the information to a law enforcement agency.
   (c) In this section, "explosive" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900.

Notes

History

(Sec. 1 ch 133 SLA 1966; am Sec. 4, 5 ch 61 SLA 1993; am Sec. 1, 2 ch 146 SLA 1996; am Sec. 4 ch 64 SLA 1999; am Sec. 2 ch 104 SLA 2006)