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State Officials Meet to Discuss Prison System and SB 64

Alaska Department of Corrections

Alaska House and Senate Judiciary Committee members met on Monday to discuss the progress of the crime omnibus bill that was passed earlier this year. Representatives from the Alaska Department of Corrections, Alaska Court System, Alaska Judicial Council and Alaska Health Trust Authority were present. 

Senate Bill 64 created the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission with the hope of reducing recidivism in Alaska’s prison system and costs associated with public safety.  The bill was introduced because of an increase in the numbers of incarcerated people in Alaskan prisons. According to data from Pew Charitable Trusts, Alaska’s prison population increased 97 percent between 1992 and 2012. 

Commissioner of the Department of Corrections Joe Schmidt was present at the meeting on Monday.  He said the DOC was excited when SB 64 passed.

“We saw it as an expectation from our employer, the public and the legislature. And we take this very seriously. One of the greatest benefits is we believe in these strategies, many of these are things we studied and saw promise with, and so we were very excited to move forward. Along that line, we have the resource we need to comply with what we said we were going to comply with and we feel the cooperation is there and the support is there. So we are feeling very good about the program.”

SB 64 provided stricter penalties for attempted abduction, increased the threshold for felony theft from $500 to $750 and reformed the parole system to provide “swift and certain punishment” for violators. 

Chief executive officer of the Alaska Mental Trust Authority Jeff Jessee said keeping parolees from going back to prison is a major part of the bill and will save the state money. He said when it comes to keeping parolees out of prison, the DOC is always called upon.

“When in fact some of the biggest agencies that can impact the reduction in recidivism are not often thought of in that context. And those are agencies such as labor, AHFC for housing and the Mental Health Trust or Health and Social Services were a lot of those services are provided. Because again if you’re looking at 65% of the inmates being trust beneficiaries and you say what is going to take to keep them from coming back into the system-- it’s going to be a housing situation that provides a safe and consistent housing, it’s employment so they have a job and they can actually build themselves a future and of course support for their recovery.”

SB 64 was introduced because if the state’s prison rates continue at the current speed, Senator John Coghill, who sponsored the bill, predicted the state will need a new prison by 2016.  The state’s newest prison, the Goose Creek Correctional Complex in Palmer, cost $240 million and opened in 2012.