House lawmakers are expected to hear one of the biggest changes to Alaska’s criminal justice system since statehood, on the floor today.
Senate Bill 91, already approved by the Alaska Senate, is a 114-page bill that promises to reverse the state’s attitude when it comes to getting tough on crime. Rather than simply throwing criminals into jail for longer stretches of time, SB 91 — in broad strokes — calls for less jail time for nonviolent offenses.
The ideas behind the bill are enshrined in 21 recommendations from the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission, which was created in 2014 by the Legislature to address the problem of the state’s rising prison population.
The commission found that an increasing number of jailed Alaskans are people who have been incarcerated before. The state’s prison system, rather than discouraging people from crime, was leaving some Alaskans with no alternative but crime.
The 13-member commission, which included legislators, police, prosecutors and victim advocates, finished its report in December. Its recommendations were turned into Senate Bill 91, which has been pushed by Senate Majority Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole and a member of the commission.
“Two-thirds of the people going out of our jails are going right back in, and within a short time,” Coghill said after the bill passed the Senate. “We asked the commission to look at what we’re doing, what can we do differently, how can we change the paradigm in Alaska.”
In the version of the bill approved by the House Finance Committee, lawmakers have walked back some of the changes approved by the Senate.
The latest version of the bill keeps a charge of failing to appear in court as a class C felony — the Senate had made it a misdemeanor because it is a nonviolent crime.
The House Finance Committee also raised the presumptive penalty for a Class C felony, increased probation term lengths, removed a provision allowing officers to cite people rather than arrest them for lower-level offenses, increased the age of eligibility for geriatric parole and reduced eligibility for administrative parole.
“I would encourage you to pass the bill along, and my guess is the debate isn’t over,” Coghill told the committee before its final vote.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com.
