Governor introduces new anti-crime legislation, budget proposals to fund initiative

Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced $7.2 million in undesignated general funds and $2.77 million in federal matching funds for the Office of Children’s Services, among other operating budget amendments made Feb. 14.

The changes are to the proposed state FY 2023 budget

Introduced in December, the governor’s “People First’ effort is using a mix of statutory changes, new personnel, administrative orders, technology, and focused resources to address five areas where Alaska’s most vulnerable are at risk or are harmed.

• Domestic violence and sexual assault

• Human trafficking

• Missing and murdered Indigenous persons

• The foster care system

• Homelessness

“Many of these issues have been with us for so long that they’ve almost been normalized in Alaska, as unsolvable,” the governor said Monday in a statement.

“We owe Alaskans, especially our most vulnerable, a pledge to do everything in our power to break these vicious cycles of violence, abuse, and despair. This amendment will fortify that effort by adding resources to the People First initiative.”

The funds will add support to the Office of Children’s Services to:

• Invest in frontline employees to promote recruitment and retention

• Expand support positions to broaden services

• Support foster youth and families

• Support youth with complex trauma

• Invest in evidence-based program development

• Develop vocational opportunities for youth

• Offer programs that manage traumatic stress for child welfare workers

Adam Crum, the state Commissioner of the Health and Social Services Department, said: “This further supports our dedicated Office of Children’s Services workers and works to promote employment longevity and provide a stable workforce to strive toward safety and permanency for our children.”

Another operating budget amendment introduced Feb 14 continues the governor’s effort to restore the Alaska State Troopers to staffing levels before 38 positions were cut in 2015 and 2016, a period when state oil revenues dropped sharply.

In January, James Cockrell, Alaska’s Commissioner of Public Safety, said the Governor’s FY 23 budget proposed the single largest funding increase to Public Safety in 30- years, with some $24 million added.

This amendment made Feb. 14 funds eight new trooper positions and eight other positions including court services officers and civilian support staff from the Governor’s FY21 budget. These positions were funded at 75 percent in the last budget until employees could be hired, and now those positions are staffed.

The funding for these employees would increase the budget by $171,000 to fully fund all 16 positions.

Dunleavy has authorized 20 additional Trooper positions since taking office, and if the Legislature approves the governor’s FY 2023 budget proposal that number will be higher in July.

“The Department of Public Safety remains committed to attracting high quality applicants into our ranks,” said Cockrell, the public safety commissioner.

“With our Spring 2022 academy starting in a matter of days our recruitment unit has made tremendous progress filling our open Trooper positions using attractive salaries, hiring bonuses, and the pro-law enforcement environment that our state is known for,” Cockrell said.

The budget amendments followed introduction of three bills to the legislature Feb. 11 on the governor’s public safety package.

The new legislation focuses on statutory changes in sex trafficking, victim protection, and sex offenses.

“Alaska’s current laws do not provide appropriate protections for victims – that is unacceptable.” Dunleavy said

The Sex Trafficking bill provides a new offense series and sentencing that classifies sex trafficking as a crime against a person and amends the conduct criminalized to address how trafficking occurs. The legislation also targets those who patronize those engaging in sex work; a patron of a sex trafficking victim is a class B sex felony if the victim is under 18 years of age, and a class C sex felony if the person is over 18 years of age.

This offense is also a registerable sex offense. The bill clarifies that human trafficking is about labor and is different from sex trafficking. Finally, the legislation allows a person convicted of prostitution to request the conviction to be vacated if they were a victim of sex trafficking at the time of the prostitution offense.

“These long-overdue updates to Alaska’s criminal statutes will help survivors of sex trafficking expunge the criminal records that have punished the victim and held them back from getting good jobs, a home, or from simply moving on,” said Staci Yates, Director of Human Trafficking Recovery Services at My House.

The Victim Protection bill makes several statutory changes. The bill requires the defendant to give the prosecutor 48 hours’ notice of a request to modify bail. The bill also requires the judge to issue written findings explaining how the bail and conditions of release will ensure the appearance of the defendant and protection of the victim and community.

The legislation creates a rebuttable presumption that a person who has previously violated their conditions of release will not appear and will pose a danger to the victim and community. It requires some additional jail time imposed for each conviction for the crime of violation of conditions of release.

The bill allows key witnesses, typically the officer in the case, to summarize the testimony of the other witnesses. The legislation requires those who are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections (DOC) or who must register as a sex offender with the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) to notify those departments when they file a petition to change their name. In addition, persons who have cases pending are required to advise the court of the pending case. Lastly, it returns the Plain Error Rule (Criminal Rule 47) to what it had been from statehood until 2011. Originally, a defendant could only raise an error on appeal if the error was objected to when the alleged error occurred. The exception to this rule was when the error was deemed “plain.” In 2011, the definition of “plain” broadened, which jeopardizes the integrity and fairness of the system. Returning the rule to its prior interpretation will adequately protect the defendant’s rights on appeal while also appropriately preserving the integrity of the conviction and the finality of the case for victims.

“On behalf of Victims for Justice, we are very encouraged to see increased victim investigation and notification in hub communities throughout the state,” said Blaze Bell, Victim Rights Advocate. “On a personal note, as someone who has experienced navigating the criminal justice system as a crime victim, I am deeply grateful to see the increase in victim focused trauma informed actions in both Grand Jury options and Victim notifications. These changes bring me great hope for our community and my fellow survivors.”

The Sex Offenses bill creates a class C felony offense for sexual contact (directly or through clothing) where there is no force or the threat of force. This offense would be a registerable sex offense upon the second conviction. The legislation closes the gap in Alaska’s current criminal laws on sex offenses – whereas now the current law requires force or the threat of force for unwanted sexual contact to be sexual assault.

The bill updates Alaska’s sex offender registration by categorizing additional offenses, such as sending an explicit image of a minor and misconduct involving a corpse, registerable. Furthermore, it aligns Alaska’s sex offender registration more closely with the federal registration by requiring sex offenders to provide DPS with additional information. Additionally, the legislation requires a lifetime revocation of an Alaska teaching certificate if convicted of distribution or possession of child pornography.

The three bills, part of the “People First” Initiative, combine concepts from stakeholder groups and survivors to give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to protect victims. For the past four years, the Dunleavy Administration has continued to reverse the previous cuts to DPS and the number of Alaska State Troopers. The administration has introduced four years of increased resources for DPS and DOC.