00             CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 26(STA)                                                             
01 Supporting increased use of the house arrest program/electronic monitoring with                                         
02 sobriety monitoring as a means of preventing crime and reducing the high costs of                                       
03 imprisonment in Alaska.                                                                                                 
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS a recent study shows that 42 percent of arrests and 44 percent of                                       
06 incarcerations in Alaska are attributed to alcohol and other drug abuse; and                                            
07       WHEREAS, among this population, treating alcoholism and other drug addiction also                               
08 prevents future criminal offenses; and                                                                                  
09       WHEREAS, in 1998, the legislature established the house arrest program/electronic                               
10 monitoring (HAP/EM) and authorized the commissioner of corrections to designate prisoners                               
11 to serve their terms of imprisonment or temporary commitment by 24 hour electronic                                      
12 monitoring and supervision at their residences or other places selected by the commissioner                             
13 under AS 33.30.065; and                                                                                                 
14       WHEREAS HAP/EM protects the public by restricting offenders' freedom and                                        
15 movement through 24 hour electronic monitoring and supervision, yet improves the                                        

01 likelihood that the offender can function productively in society through employment, care of                           
02 family, and education; and                                                                                              
03       WHEREAS offenders on HAP/EM are required to pay all or some of the costs of the                                 
04 program, thus saving the state from paying the costs of imprisonment; and                                               
05       WHEREAS HAP/EM now uses a new technology for sobriety monitoring of alcohol                                     
06 abusing offenders, a computerized device that tests offenders for sobriety and transmits the                            
07 blood-alcohol reading by telephone; and                                                                                 
08       WHEREAS offenders on the HAP/EM program who are also in the Anchorage                                           
09 district court's wellness court are required to take the prescription medicine Naltrexone to                            
10 quell the craving for alcohol and are required to participate in a state-approved alcoholism                            
11 treatment program; and                                                                                                  
12       WHEREAS the experience of the Anchorage district court wellness court shows that,                               
13 with a combination of intensive monitoring, treatment, and anti-craving medication, alcohol                             
14 and other drug abusing defendants can attain and maintain total abstinence from alcohol and                             
15 other drugs and avoid further criminal violations; and                                                                  
16       WHEREAS the Department of Corrections could create a program for alcohol and                                    
17 other drug abusing offenders incorporating the primary elements of the Anchorage wellness                               
18 court program--monitoring, treatment and medication--regardless of whether the offenders                                
19 were enrolled in a therapeutic court; and                                                                               
20       WHEREAS HAP/EM is available in Anchorage, Palmer, Wasilla, Juneau, and                                          
21 Ketchikan, but is not used to capacity;                                                                                 
22       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                      
23 Governor to direct the Department of Corrections, the Department of Law, and the Alaska                                 
24 Court System, and urges attorneys who prosecute and defend alcohol and other drug abusing                               
25 offenders and Alaska judges, to work together to                                                                        
26            (1)  expand the use of the house arrest program/electronic monitoring                                        
27 (HAP/EM) as a condition of bail, in the manner pioneered by the Department of Corrections                               
28 and the Anchorage district court wellness court program;                                                                
29            (2)  expand the use of HAP/EM as a means of serving terms of imprisonment                                    
30 or temporary commitment for offenders who are in or have completed a therapeutic court                                  
31 program;                                                                                                                

01            (3)  develop programs specifically for alcohol and other drug abusing                                        
02 offenders, modeled on the combination of sobriety monitoring, treatment, and anti-craving                               
03 medication that is employed in the Anchorage district court's wellness court program;                                   
04            (4)  publicize the availability of these programs through seminars and                                       
05 educational outreach.                                                                                                   
06       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Jim Duncan, Commissioner,                              
07 Department of Administration; the Honorable Jay Livey, Commissioner, Department of                                      
08 Health and Social Services; the Honorable Margaret Pugh, Commissioner, Department of                                    
09 Corrections; the Honorable Bruce M. Botelho, Alaska Attorney General; and to Stephanie J.                               
10 Cole, Administrative Director, Alaska Court System; and to Mauri Long, President of the                                 
11 Alaska Bar Association.