New law toughens penalties for underaged drinkers

PALMER -- Parents and underaged drinkers, be warned. If you're not old enough and get caught drinking alcohol, expect to get a criminal conviction on your record and dole out a lot of money for hefty fines, thanks to a tougher minor-consuming law that went into effect in July.

"I think this is a good thing to have," said Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak, who has been working with law enforcement agencies and the Palmer court to implement the new legislation.

"If we can do something with minors who drink now, we may be able to avoid tomorrow's drunk-driving convictions," Kalytiak said.

The Palmer prosecutor cited the recent drunken-driving incident in Anchorage that killed a police officer and several teens, as well as recent underage drinking parties in the Valley that ended in violence as good reasons for the stricter minor-consuming law.

While the law went into effect on July 4, it wasn't until August that the Alaska Department of Law outlined procedures to deal with underaged drinkers as well as those found in the possession of alcohol.

As of Friday, 33 Valley youths have been cited under the new law for minor consuming alcohol, according to Palmer District Court records.

House Bill 179, sponsored by the House Judiciary Committee, was passed in the last legislation session. The bill was crafted to address Alaska's underage drinking problem and provide tough sanctions and "disincentives" for Alaska youth to continue drinking, Gov. Tony Knowles said in a written statement in July.

The former minor-consuming law was an infraction and required the offender's driver's license to be taken away for three months. The new law separates offenders into three categories, with the punishment for each additional offense escalating.

A first-time offender in Mat-Su is given a citation and required to appear in Palmer District Court for a public hearing. If the underaged drinker is younger than 18, he or she must bring a parent along.

If convicted, the underaged offender is fined up to $600, with a $200 minimum fine and a year-long term of probation for the violation, according to the new law.

Get caught drinking or in possession of alcohol a second time, the youthful drinker is considered a repeat offender and the case is sent to the Palmer District Attorney's office, where the offense is prosecuted.

At this stage, the defendant may fight the citation and has a right to a jury trial. If convicted, the court can impose a fine of up to $1,000, with a minimum fine of $500 and at least 48 hours of community work service.

An underaged drinker found guilty three or more times of MCA is considered a habitual offender by the legal system. The offense is a Class B misdemeanor. If the offender is 18 or older, he or she could face a sentence of up to 90 days in prison.

A habitual offender also faces a possible $1,000 fine and up to 96 hours of community work service.

Ron Wood, who heads the juvenile probation department at the Mat-Su Youth Facility, said the cases of suspected underaged drinkers who are minors will be referred to his department.

Convicted underaged drinkers will still lose their driver's license, with second-time offenders going without driving privileges for three months. A habitual offender's license is revoked for six months.

But the new law does give underaged drinkers a break -- at least initially. The new rules wiped the slate clean for any minor-consuming convictions that occurred prior to July 1.

The new legislation also provides the court an opportunity to give first- time offenders under the age of 18 a chance to suspend their sentences and enroll in a minor-consuming class through the Mat-Su Youth Court, according to program coordinator Lisa Albert-Konecky.

"We're taking first-time offenders, ages 13 to 18 years old, and have them come through our program," said Albert-Konecky. "It's basically a class on alcohol use and driving safety."

The three- to four-hour class will be conducted by Sandy Lane, a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor, Albert-Konecky said.

Albert-Konecky said it is also important to stress to the first-time offenders that they are getting off easy the first time, and inform them of what to expect if they are convicted again.

"It's our intent to let them know this [underaged drinking] is not a joke anymore," Albert-Konecky said. "They need to know that people are tired of kids drinking and driving."

If a first-time offender doesn't comply with the court-ordered suspended imposition of sentence and contact the Valley youth court within a week, a bench warrant will be issued against the youth, Albert-Konecky said.

To date, three offenders are scheduled to attend the first minor- consuming class in October, Albert-Konecky said. Two other teen-agers convicted of underaged drinking did not comply, she said, and the youth court is sending an affidavit to Palmer District Court to notify them of the noncompliance.

While Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon said he knows there is a need for stricter legislation against underaged drinkers, he said he worried the law would eventually be weakened.

Litigation to bar the courts from taking away convicted underaged drinkers driver's licenses is pending in the appeals court, according to the Palmer District Attorney's office.

"My concern is this, like every other minor-consuming law, this one will be watered down," Fannon said.

If the law can be maintained as the legislators intended, Fannon said, then he predicts a decline in crime in Wasilla.

"What we're seeing with underage drinking is people making really poor decisions. We deal with kids driving drunk, making threats and some cases domestic-violence arrests because boys are hitting their girlfriends," Fannon said.