Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 120
02/07/2007 01:00 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Department of Law | |
| Overview: Department of Corrections | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 7, 2007
1:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
SENATE JUDICIARY
Senator Hollis French, Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Bill Wielechowski
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator Gene Therriault
HOUSE JUDICIARY
Representative Jay Ramras, Chair
Representative John Coghill
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Ralph Samuels
Representative Max Gruenberg
Representative Lindsey Holmes
MEMBERS ABSENT
SENATE JUDICIARY
All members present
HOUSE JUDICIARY
Representative Nancy Dahlstrom, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overviews: Department of Law
Department of Corrections
HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
TALIS J. COLBERG, Attorney General Designee
Department of Law (DOL)
PO Box 110300
Juneau, AK 99811-0300
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented DOL overview.
CRAIG TILLERY, Deputy Attorney General
Civil Division
Department of Law
PO Box 110300
Juneau, AK 99811-0300
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Civil Division overview.
LARRY OSTROVSKY, Chief Assistant Attorney General
Oil, Gas and Mining Section
Department of Law
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the Pt. Thompson lawsuit.
MARY ANNE HENRY, Deputy Attorney General
Criminal Division
Department of Law
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Criminal Division overview.
JOE SCHMIDT, Commissioner
Department of Corrections (DOC)
431 N. Franklin, Suite 400
Juneau, AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented DOC overview.
DWAYNE PEEPLES, Deputy Commissioner
Administrative Services
Department of Corrections
431 N. Franklin, Suite 400
Juneau, AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions regarding DOC.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR JAY RAMRAS called the joint meeting of the Senate and
House Judiciary Standing Committees to order at 1:05:48 PM.
Present at the call to order were Representatives Holmes, Lynn,
Samuels, and Coghill, Chair Ramras, Senator Wielechowski and
Chair French.
^OVERVIEW: Department of Law
CHAIR HOLLIS FRENCH announced that the first order of business
is an overview from the Department of Law (DOL).
1:06:50 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE joined the meeting.
TALIS J. COLBERG, Attorney General Designee, Department of Law,
introduced Mary Anne Henry, Anne Carpeneti, Craig Tillery,
Richard Svobodny, Deborah Behr, and Larry Ostrovsky.
ATTORNEY GENERAL COLBERG asked that the legislature remain
mindful of the need for competitive salaries and compensation
for staff. He wasn't expecting changes this session, but it is
increasingly becoming an issue - particularly with support
staff. He noted a recent staff member leaving for higher pay in
the private sector. As senior employees reach retirement age
there will be an increasing need to replace staff and it becomes
an issue of competitiveness for getting and keeping employees.
Unless it's addressed, this issue will sneak up in a very
negative way. Don't let this issue get lost in the discussion of
cuts, he said.
1:11:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG joined the meeting.
ATTORNEY GENERAL COLBERG said he shares the governor's concern
about the deteriorated relationship between urban and rural
populations in Alaska, and he wants to bridge that gap. He noted
that the Rural Justice Commission is presenting opportunities to
resolve this and other longstanding problems that Alaska faces.
1:12:23 PM
CRAIG TILLERY, Deputy Attorney General, Civil Division,
Department of Law, said he would focus on the issues that affect
policy considerations. He won't address child protection even
though that is an incredible problem in the state; it will be
more relevant to the budget committees.
MR. TILLERY said there are about 160 attorneys in the Civil
Division with about 100 in Anchorage, 30 in Juneau and 20 in
Fairbanks. There are some child protection attorneys in smaller
communities where rapid access to the courts is needed. The
Commercial and Fair Business section handles consumer
protection, he said, including average wholesale pricing
litigation-"a scheme by which manufacturers publish essentially
false prices for drugs. Those prices are then used as a
reference for physicians in billing our Medicaid," he said,
which the state reimburses. Alaska's Medicaid program spends
about $129 million annually on prescription drugs, he noted. The
amount of illegal overages is significant, and the state is
preparing for trial in 2008. One defendant is talking about a
significant settlement already, he said.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if these fraud cases are being referred for
criminal prosecution.
MR. TILLERY said it is just a civil proceeding at this point; it
would be complex to do it as a criminal fraud case. He said Ms.
Henry can address that, but such convictions can be tough
because of the burden of proof. He noted that states all over
the country are doing the same thing.
1:17:03 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what is being done to protect
consumers from utility rate hikes. He said there are
representatives from industry but none for the consumer.
MR. TILLERY said he will get to that later, but in the consumer
protection unit the attorney general serves as consumer
protection for the state. "We deal with normal consumer
problems," and he gave an example of car dealers falsifying list
prices. Utilities are addressed by another section, and it is
funded through the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). It was
housed in the RCA until about four years ago, he stated. The
attorney general serves as the public advocate and is very
active in the Enstar case.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked him to speak to that case.
MR. TILLERY said the Regulatory Affairs and Public Advocacy
section (RAPA) is involved on behalf of all ratepayers in the
state. It generally participates in all significant rate cases,
he said, but it will decline participation due to lack of
resources or because there is not a case against a rate
increase. Last year comments were filed in three dockets and
testimony in eight cases, including five electric utility cases,
a statewide refuse utility case, three natural gas cases, and
one telecommunication case. As an example, RAPA filed expert
testimony with AEL&P [Alaska Electric Light and Power] regarding
a rate-change proposal, and a settlement was reached.
1:20:51 PM
SENATOR HUGGINS joined the meeting.
MR. TILLERY said RAPA filed for APES [Alaska Pacific
Environmental Services] for interstate subsidiaries, and a
settlement resulted in a reduction in rate increases for four
communities. It filed expert testimony with the electric utility
in Kake, which resulted in an 11.18 percent increase instead of
the requested 55 percent. The section has three attorneys as
well as economists and engineers to provide expertise.
MR. TILLERY said the Cook Inlet gas rate increase is because the
old contract uses a price based on the Henry Hub index. The RCA
objected to the use of the index at that time, but the contract
was allowed to go through. After Hurricane Katrina, the Henry
Hub increased and consumer prices rocketed. He said RAPA spent a
lot of time analyzing a recent request for a new contract using
the Henry Hub, and the RCA rejected it.
1:23:18 PM
MR. TILLERY said there are violations of the Consumer Protection
Act. He spoke of warnings not being issued regarding side
effects like weight gain and diabetes [for a certain
medication], and it will cost Alaska's Medicaid agency millions
of dollars in the future. The state sued and the trial will be
in March, 2008.
MR. TILLERY said there is Vioxx litigation because the drug
increases the risk of heart attacks. A number of class and
individual actions have been filed, he stated. Alaska's Medicaid
reimbursements for Vioxx from 2001 to the present are almost $4
million, "and we filed a claim for the return of some of that
money and for penalties under our consumer protection statutes."
He anticipates it will be sent back to Alaska and the DOL will
request a trial date then.
1:24:50 PM
MR. TILLERY said the Environmental Section primarily represents
the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and the most
significant item is the BP corrosion issue, which is a joint
effort with DOL's Oil and Gas Section. There were two spills due
to pipe corrosion, which resulted from not following
environmental safeguards, and the pipeline shutdown resulted in
a significant monetary loss to the state. He said BP is
cooperating and providing documents. The initial estimate was
200 million pages, and now it is 60 million pages of company
documents that pertain to the state's request for information.
"We don't believe there are 60 million relevant pages out there,
but we're going to be spending, unfortunately, a fair amount of
money figuring that out." He said the state has engaged outside
counsel. He noted that in the next year the DOL will retain more
experts for the corrosion issues and the fiscal damage to the
state from the lost production.
1:26:59 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked if there is currently a dialog with BP and no
litigation.
MR. TILLERY said yes. The documents are arriving electronically,
he added. He hopes the program being used will be searchable.
1:28:08 PM
CHAIR RAMRAS asked about the Alaska Guarantee Fund and workers
compensation companies that went bankrupt several years ago.
"Has the state made any effort to try to recover from parent
companies, associated insurance companies?"
MR. TILLERY said he didn't know but would find out.
CHAIR RAMRAS spoke of one of the companies that he had used,
"and I paid for it in tens of thousands of dollars to the state
through the Alaska Guarantee Fund, and there's a $20 million
balance in that fund, and I just wondered if the state had made
any effort to try and recover from any parent entities." He also
asked about the $12 million that the governor has requested for
outside counsel to litigate against Mercer, and if the Civil
Division will provide oversight to recover from the PERS [Public
Employee Retirement System] and TRS [Teacher Retirement System]
problems of the last few years.
MR. TILLERY replied that outside counsel is engaged through the
DOL using an appropriation from last year.
1:29:44 PM
MR. TILLERY said the Mercer case deals with the unfunded
PERS/TRS liability of $8.5 billion. A law firm call Paul/Weiss
has been engaged. The firm has taken this type of case to trial
and prevailed, he stated. It has evaluated the case, as well as
four outside experts, and the state believes there are
actionable claims against Mercer. It is likely that the DOL will
recommend litigation if necessary, he said. It has requested $12
million supplemental for the entire cost of seeing the case
through appeal. The state extended a tolling agreement with
Mercer and intends to talk with Mercer later this month.
1:31:00 PM
MR. TILLERY said the DOL is continuing to work on making Healey
Clean Coal a productive effort.
CHAIR RAMRAS said as a ratepayer he does not want to see a
lawsuit between GVEA [Golden Valley Electric Association] and
the state. He asked if the state is headed that way.
MR. TILLERY said, "We are in a lawsuit now; we have filed a
lawsuit. The object of our lawsuit is to resolve this so we can
get that plant operating." He said mediation has been helpful,
and he doesn't want the state to litigate because is will cost
everyone a lot of money.
CHAIR RAMRAS said you will not be litigating against GVEA. "It's
a member co-op utility, so you are looking at the person you
would be litigating against. So I hope that the state will be
very thoughtful in proceeding-and very forgiving in a mediation
because it would be heinous for the state to file a suit against
me and all the other ratepayers from GVEA." It will create a
devastating divide in Fairbanks if it proceeds, he stated.
1:32:55 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT joined the meeting.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS asked if the money for all the lawsuits
is included in the DOL budget.
MR. TILLERY said all are included in the budget, except for
Mercer and the Oil and Gas litigation. He stated that Mercer is
already in the supplemental budget, and there will be an Oil and
Gas supplemental as well.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS asked what cuts will come out of the DOL
budget.
MR. TILLERY said the DOL is also involved in a 9th circuit
petition regarding a rule on mercury emissions that will help
GVEA and Healey Clean Coal. Right now, the EPA [Environmental
Protection Agency] will prohibit those plants from operating
based on a mistake in setting the mercury emissions limit.
1:34:43 PM
MR. TILLERY said he expects a decision in the Moore v. State
school litigation that has concluded. He also noted issues of
navigability and predator control, and "we continue to
essentially win on all of those cases." He said DOL is about
half way through briefing on Federal Reserve Water Rights, and
DOL is dealing with subsistence with respect to requests for
reconsideration and appeals from the federal subsistence board
regarding customary and traditional use determination. The major
cases in oil, gas and mining include Pt. Thompson. He said the
TAPS [Trans Alaskan Pipeline System] tariff case is ongoing; the
hearings are finished, and DOL is in the process of post-hearing
briefs.
CHAIR FRENCH asked about the Pt. Thompson timeline.
MR. TILLERY said there is an administrative appeal and an
original action that was filed in court. "We've moved to
consolidate; those have been granted. We filed a motion to
dismiss that hasn't been decided."
CHAIR FRENCH said the nightmare scenario is that it would
devolve into an Exxon Valdez-type litigation with no end.
1:36:55 PM
LARRY OSTROVSKY, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Oil Gas and
Mining Section, DOL, said there are three administrative appeals
on Pt. Thompson filed by Chevron, BP, and Exxon. Additionally,
Exxon filed an original action. Administrative appeals usually
move faster than original actions because they are based on an
agency decision. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has
assembled about 30,000 pages for the record and the court will
set a briefing schedule. Administrative appeals can usually be
handled within two years. Original actions take longer because
there tends to be more motion work, he said. That's one reason
the state filed to dismiss Exxon's original action and to
consolidate the administrative appeals. The state wants to move
expeditiously, but it is hard to predict.
1:39:17 PM
MR. TILLERY said the government's case with the Exxon Valdez was
finished in less than two years. The private plaintiff case has
lingered forever, he explained. There are some very high value
income tax cases that are confidential. The TAPS quality bank is
another issue.
1:40:15 PM
MARY ANNE HENRY, Deputy Attorney General, Criminal Division,
said the issues are simple; "people continue to commit crimes
and we continue to prosecute them." She said there are 13
offices with district attorney generals, and she is the head of
the department. There is a central office in Juneau and
Anchorage. Each office has specific areas that it covers. There
is also an office of special prosecutions and appeals, which is
headed by Mr. Svobodny. There are eight appeals attorneys who
handle all of the appeals in the state in order to be consistent
in front of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. There is
one attorney handling misdemeanor appeals, she explained, and
another attorney handling all the post conviction relief
actions. The murder in McCarthy is still pending because of a
claim of chemicals in the defendant's blood that caused him to
commit the murders, she stated.
1:43:52 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked when the McCarthy case took place.
MS. HENRY said she believes it was in the 1980s. Another ongoing
litigation is the Faccio case. The Faccio's children started the
group Victims for Justice after their parents were murdered. One
of the victim's daughters asked Ms. Henry, "Doesn't this ever
end?"
1:44:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS asked, "How would we stop that?"
MS. HENRY said a statute was passed that put a two-year time
limit on when a post conviction relief could be filed, but once
it is filed it's handled as a civil case, she said.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS asked if the statutes set up the process.
MS. HENRY said yes.
MS. HENRY said the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals
(OSPA) has eight state-wide attorneys, often funded by the
clients, who work on environmental crimes, fish and game crimes,
welfare fraud, Medicaid provider fraud, permanent fund dividend
fraud, and child support insurance fraud. There are two
attorneys who work on special prosecutions that the District
Attorney's office can't handle, prosecuting a police officer,
for example.
1:47:03 PM
MS. HENRY said one of the attorneys in OSPA prosecuted the
Whitewater case, which is well-known because of the recent
pardon. The Greenpeace case in Ketchikan is being handled by
that office too. She said statistics can give an idea of what is
going on. There is also a cold case attorney; "that's recent and
that's going very well." There is also a rural prosecution unit
made up of three attorneys and one paralegal. They travel to
small communities for homicides and sexual assaults, she stated.
Her office has been able to help Bethel with its several
homicides in the last several months.
1:48:36 PM
MS. HENRY noted that "statistics in most areas are going up."
New crimes are created by the legislature each session, "which
is fine," but it requires money for more prosecutors.
CHAIR RAMRAS said he and Senator Bunde attended a sex offender
policy management course, and he learned of a 12-year-old who
raped another 12-year-old. He was told that Alaska criminal
statutes are deficient for juvenile sex offenders. He noted that
Alaska is building a juvenile residential psychiatric unit in
Fairbanks and a quarter of it is for sex offenders. He asked if
that is an area that ought to be addressed.
1:50:09 PM
MS. HENRY said there is a special prosecutor who only works on
sex crimes and she is based out of Fairbanks. The problem with
12-year-olds is they are tried in juvenile court. Getting a
waiver to try a child in adult court is difficult under the age
of 16, she said. "If they're 12, we can try to waive them, it's
not automatic, but we have a mini-trail and try to waive them
into adult court, but that's up to a judge." The juvenile
justice system will have jurisdiction over that child until he
or she is 19. There are sex offenders at 15 years of age, and
those four years of jurisdiction are usually not enough to go
through the sexual offence program, she said. She clarified that
she is not proposing lowering the age for automatic waiver, but
that is the problem, "and I'm not sure that lowering the age any
more would be acceptable."
CHAIR FRENCH requested knowledge of the scope of that problem
for a future conversation.
CHAIR RAMRAS said, "They grow up to be adult sex offenders and
then they don't get caught until they get caught in the adult
cycle, and a lot of young lives are destroyed."
MS. HENRY said Theresa Foster, the state-wide prosecutor give a
presentation on sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor next
Wednesday. Mr. Bodick, who represents the Department of
Corrections, will be available by phone. He will explain what is
going on with the polygraph issue, she stated.
MS. HENRY said getting new judges is a problem, particularly in
Southcentral and in the valley, "and we're not getting new DAs."
It forces them to be in two courtrooms at the same time. There
was a question of why the state is not criminally prosecuting
fraud cases, and it is because proving intent is difficult.
CHAIR RAMRAS noted the plethora of DUI [driving under the
influence] offenses. He asked if therapeutic courts are
successful, and if such cases are overwhelming the DAs office.
MS. HENRY stated the belief that 60 percent of those who use
therapeutic courts do not recidivate for five years. Therapeutic
courts are a good idea, she said, and it doesn't burden DOL too
much, except that somebody has to be in the courtroom most of a
day.
1:55:23 PM
CHAIR RAMRAS asked how many cases involve DUI and alcohol.
MS. HENRY replied that it is about 50 percent of misdemeanors,
and the rest are related to domestic violence. There are two
full-time prosecutors in the Anchorage office who only work on
felony DUIs.
1:56:25 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT said a public defender told him that he would
expect to win 5 to 15 percent of his cases, but in Kenai the
public defenders win 55 percent. He asked what the problem is.
MS. HENRY said she plans to go to Kenai. The problem is they are
taking all the cases that police send, rather than screening out
or declining any. She plans to reorganize the office so that
someone screens the cases to determine if a case is provable or
worth the time.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said the waste of time and money is
disturbing, and it is putting citizens through the "meat-
grinder" legal process unnecessarily. He said he needs to
explain to constituents that it is prudent to not prosecute a
case that won't be successful.
MS. HENRY said there is a lot of plea bargaining going on, but
the public defender in Kenai won't bargain a case if he knows
he's going to win at trial.
CHAIR FRENCH brought up the issue of gang violence. He asked if
she had suggestions to strengthen laws dealing with it.
MS. HENRY noted that the material witness bill that requires
somebody to give their identification is helpful. Until she saw
the problems associated with Senator McGuire's requirement to
report bill, she had hoped that it would help too. The thought
was that "some of these people would report" when faced with
being charged for a crime. She said witnesses refuse to talk and
identify themselves when police respond to a gang shooting. Now
they must identify themselves, she stated, and she is not sure
if any more is needed. She said there are probably a couple of
other tools to be found. There is one prosecutor newly assigned
to the gang unit at the Anchorage police department.
2:01:28 PM
CHAIR FRENCH told Ms. Henry that she, as the state's top
prosecutor, can be a public relations agent throughout the
communities and schools to warn kids that there are aggressive
prosecutors "waiting to take your case to trial, if necessary,
and to punish you severely if you're caught with a gun or
drugs." He urged her to use the power of her office to get the
word out that prosecutors will make an offender's life
miserable.
MS. HENRY agreed. She noted that there is a police-in-schools
program and students could be informed that there is a
prosecutor focused only on gangs and one focused only on guns
and drugs. Perhaps that would help, she said.
CHAIR FRENCH said, "A new-marshal-in-town kind of approach."
2:03:19 PM
SENATOR HUGGINS noted that judges were added to Mat-Su and
Fairbanks, and he asked if that has helped.
MR. HENRY said she thinks it will help the backlog. Civil judges
were increased in Anchorage, but not criminal judges. A criminal
judge will be added to Kenai and Palmer, she said.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if planning a new prison and justice
center in Mat-Su will be within the domain of the DOL.
MS. HENRY said, "To a certain extent, yes." She has an attorney
working for her who represents the Department of Corrections,
but he will be just a small part of the discussion.
The committee took an at-ease from 2:05:49 PM to 2:15:25 PM.
CHAIR FRENCH reconvened the meeting and announced the next order
of business is an overview from the Department of Corrections.
^OVERVIEW: Department of Corrections
2:15:40 PM
JOE SCHMIDT, Commissioner, Department of Corrections (DOC),
introduced Dwayne Peeples, Deputy Commissioner, and Sharleen
Griffin, Director of Administrative Services. He recapped his
professional history. Mr. Peeples oversees administration
functions statewide, the budget, and the medical function. He
noted that Sam Edwards is Deputy Commissioner of statewide
operations. The DOC has three divisions: Institutions; Probation
and Parole; and Administrative Services. He said it is a unified
department, which means it holds and supervises pre-trial
prisoners as well as sentenced prisoners. The pre-trial
prisoners are new to the system, and "their life is in a
different place than after they're sentenced," he said. New
prisoners start developing relationship problems and they lose
their property, and it is more stressful than after they have
been in the system for awhile.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS asked how many pre-trial individuals are
first-time offenders.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said he will find out.
2:18:19 PM
CHAIR FRENCH surmised that the difference between jail and
prison is the length of stay.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT clarified that jail is for pre-trial, and
prison is for sentenced people, no matter how many days or years
are spent there.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said DOC moves people across the state
for pre-trail issues, "which has a huge detriment to any kind of
programmatic approach that you might have for drug and alcohol
rehab." He asked if the commissioner will focus on that, if the
legislature could help, or if it is not fixable.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said he will discuss that. He noted that
$1.5 million was reduced from his department in 2003, and DOC is
in the process of rebuilding and evaluating. A current task is
to keep prisoners from losing their place in a program just
because of a transfer. He suggested using common curriculum, but
prisoners may be using the transfer as an excuse.
2:20:49 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said there are 12 institutions, totaling
3,122 beds. The emergency capacity is 3,232 beds. There are 13
probation offices supervising 5,560 offenders. There are 15
contract jails throughout the state, totaling 153 beds. There
are 7 community residential centers with 614 beds, but 100 beds
were lost last year primarily due to vacancy, he said. Another
100 were empty in December, "and we don't want to go through
that again, so what we're doing is pushing population management
real hard for central office driving the facilities to fill
these beds." If prisoners can be safely managed they should be
in community beds, he opined. They can work and support their
families. "We've already paid for the bed; if we don't we pay
for the bed that's empty at the halfway house, we pay for the
bed they are in in Alaska, and somewhere down the line we're
sending people to Arizona and we're paying for that bed."
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked if the specialty courts and the
community residential centers (CRC) have lightened the loads for
the probation officers. There are two different values of
supervision, he said, and the workload is high. "Is there
continuing training/education for the probation officers?"
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said he will address that later.
2:23:45 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said there are 7 contract treatment centers
with 26 beds. The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in
Red Rock, Arizona is holding 1,060 of Alaska's prisoners.
CHAIR FRENCH asked why there are only 26 beds in 7 treatment
centers.
2:24:36 PM
DWAYNE PEEPLES, Deputy Commissioner, Administrative Services,
Department of Corrections, said there are 26 beds allotted in
the different centers.
CHAIR FRENCH asked what the function is.
MR. PEEPLES said it is intensive, in-patient alcohol treatment.
The services are supported through the Department of Health and
Social Services (DHSS), Division of Behavioral Health.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said the Oxford House "has a little bit
of work there." He asked if it is outside the probation system,
and said these were different from the halfway houses.
MR. PEEPLES said, "Akeela House, these YKHCs [Yukon Kuskokwim
Health Corporation], these are not our normal CRCs. Some of
these operations, they're alcohol therapy treatment facilities."
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said CIRI [Cook Inlet Region
Incorporated] also proposes a Southcentral location.
MR. PEEPLES agreed.
2:26:27 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what percentage of the prison
population are heavy drug or alcohol users.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said it is 92 percent nationally.
MR. PEEPLES said the Mental Health Trust is just completing a
study of the beneficiary profile of the correctional system.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he would like that information
broken down into alcohol, drug, and mental health. He would like
to see different mental health categories, including paranoid
schizophrenia, bipolar, and others. It will be helpful because
the more we know about the people who wind up in prison the
better we can help them, he stated.
CHAIR RAMRAS asked how many of Alaska's prisoners who are in
Arizona, stay in Arizona, and how many of them must come back to
Alaska as part of their probation or treatment. I'd just as soon
export them, he said.
2:29:57 PM
MR. PEEPLES said the department returns all people to the point
of arrest. Everybody in Arizona is returned to Anchorage and
then put under probation, and Arizona strictly regulates that.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said there must be a protocol for looking
at mental health issues during intake.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he is not asking for major
research.
2:31:44 PM
MR. SCHMIDT said the DOC processes 33,000 prisoners yearly, and
more than 13,000 will have some type of mental health problem.
Approximately 40 percent of Alaska inmates suffer from mental
illness, traumatic brain injury, mental retardation, or
developmental disability, and 18 percent have a serious chronic
mental illness like bipolar disorder. Mental health employees
see about 100 new patients each month who had previously been
unidentified as having mental health diagnoses. They had more
than 13,000 inmate contacts in 2005, which is a 23% increase
from 2001.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked that that information be
included, but to be careful because an individual may go through
intake more than once. He also asked for information on the
success of the prison system treatment.
2:33:57 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said people with mental illness are
incarcerated for twice as long as other offenders regardless of
the level of offense. About 1 in 10 inmates with mental illness
is either homeless or living in a motel at the time of arrest,
he stated. About 14 percent of Alaska Mental Health Trust
beneficiaries were diagnosed with mental illness for the first
time within the DOC. "It appears that we're the first ones to
ask the question. Obviously something terrible happened that
landed them in jail, so now the system is asking why." He said
some offenders want a diagnosis that can help in court.
2:35:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said there are lingering affects of
methamphetamine use that mirror mental health problems. Those
will dissipate over time, he stated. "Some are genetic and some
are self induced, like methamphetamine," he said.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said that can be factored in.
2:36:29 PM
SENATOR McGUIRE said there seems to be a direct correlation
between the legislature eliminating community-based mental heath
and treatment programs and the spike in offender rates of those
who are mentally ill. It is of concern because the legislature
has a modus operandi of using community treatment and not
institutionalizing people. But "to an extent, I think we have
abandoned those people and so our jails are fancy mental health
treatment facilities," he said.
CHAIR RAMRAS asked what sex offender treatment programs are in
the corrections system and how many people are held for sexual
offenses, particularly against children.
2:38:07 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said that in the 1950s there were 560,000
mental patients in hospitals nation wide, and in 1980, there
were 130,000, and in 2002 there were 61,000. From 1979 to 2005,
"API [Alaska Psychiatric Institute] even reduced from 220 down
to 78." He said that is due to modern medicine and a public
philosophy of managing people in the community. If that
community-based support doesn't materialize, then 13,000 end up
in jail. Whether a person should be in jail or in a hospital is
a big debate, but his job is to react when someone shows up in
the DOC system. For reentry, the DOC mental health staff is
doing more than anyone else, and they help with Medicaid
qualification approval prior to release. The first 30 to 60 days
after being released is crucial for recidivism, so by getting a
person the medication and counseling prior to release, "we think
they are less likely to re-offend." The Mental Health Trust
agrees with that, he said. But there are a lot of mentally ill
patients in the DOC system, so staff is stretched.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said the electronic monitoring program is
supervising 194 offenders, and 180 are in the Anchorage area and
the others are in Kenai and Fairbanks. It has a 95 percent
success rate. The failures are technical violations, like
smoking marijuana or drinking. These are prisoners in the
community, so public safety is an issue, but with a 95 percent
success rate, he thinks the program should be "advanced." If a
person can be productive and safely managed in the community and
"if we can stop their behavior with electronic monitoring, then
I think that's where they need to be."
2:40:38 PM
SENATOR McGUIRE spoke of a court opinion yesterday noting
possible discrimination in the application of an ankle monitor.
Only those with money could get one, she said, so the opinion
was "throwing it out wholesale." It concerns her, she said.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said the appellate court said that
electronic monitoring won't count toward prison time. "It's when
the court puts someone out in lieu of being in prison or being
in jail awaiting trial, that time doesn't count. It's bail
release; it's not people that are ours yet." He surmised that if
the court deems that a person qualifies for electronic
monitoring "at the front end, when they are the most volatile…I
think it's likely they'll qualify for the program on the tail
end of the sentence, so we didn't see a huge impact there."
SENATOR McGUIRE encouraged the department to work with DOL. If
there is a perceived inequity, "the other way to tackle that
would be to subsidize those individuals that don't have access-
the way we do with public defenders." She noted that it will
cost the state either way.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said the fee is waived in many cases. He
sees how it could be perceived as discrimination, and he is not
sure how many get the fees waived.
2:43:58 PM
CHAIR RAMRAS said he had a maintenance man with an ankle monitor
and was very impressed with the program.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked for a copy of the opinion and
suggested looking into it.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if high school drop out rates could
predict the future population of the prisons.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said dropping out goes hand in hand with
criminal activity; "there seems to be some common themes there."
He said all facilities have GED [General Equivalency Diploma]
and adult education programs. Often, the prisoners need to be
pushed to get a GED but are thankful once they have it.
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES said she heard that there was a relative
lack of beds in halfway homes for women.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said he would find out.
2:48:45 PM
CHAIR RAMRAS asked how much of the $150 million budget cut will
come out of DOC.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said DOC will be cut by $19.8 million. The
department has come up with three different allocation plans.
CHAIR RAMRAS asked if the DOC has found savings.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said it has.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked why all the offender population
projections show an increase and what could be done to stem that
increase.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said the increase of 200 per month is based
on "our growth," not on statewide population. The reasons are
varied, and one is alcohol abuse. He suggested getting programs
in place that work. He noted that DOC overlaps with mental
health statistics. He asked the Mental Health Trust to help DOC
diagnose the program. "Every time you find someone who says a
program works, you can find someone who says it doesn't."
Predicting the future is difficult, but "Jeff" suggested
constructing a history for everyone and looking at how often
they come to jail. Commissioner Schmidt suggested that everyone
who can be in the community ought to be. He said recidivism for
45-year-old men is lower than for younger men.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked the commissioner to consider what
kind of study ought to be done. He suggested a comprehensive
funding approach with the DOC, mental health, and other
departments. He said he will work on it with him. It is a
solvable problem and Alaska should take a leadership role.
2:54:54 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said measuring recidivism has to be part of
it.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he is tired of hearing that no
progress has been made.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT cautioned that some things don't work but
if programs are built for results, some things will work.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked about an increase in gang members in
the correctional system.
2:56:36 PM
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said he doesn't have that number, but the
facilities are small and gangs can be identified and broken up.
It is usually an easy fix. His intent in running DOC is to "tidy
up the house."
2:58:34 PM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked about a large new prison proposed in his
area. He said he has heard people say that by the time Alaska
gets 2250 beds available, there will still be a shortfall. He
also asked about bringing prisoners back from Arizona.
COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT said he is not projecting a shortage, "but
we're going to be right on top of being full when it opens, and
that will bring everyone back from Arizona." The facilities are
at 103 or 104 percent, and he wants it down to 100 percent. The
design has been changed from a single unit to a campus design
where prisoners come to the service (dining, counseling, etc).
"One advantage of having a sentenced facility is these guys are
sentenced and they're settled." It is a more efficient operation
to have the inmates come to the service rather than bring it all
to them. Plans are still in process, but the final site will be
Pt. McKenzie, and Sutton is the alternate. Staff numbers for the
original concept was between 400 and 600. He is not sure what
the change will be. The designers say that the budget limit is
being met, except there is an argument over whether the borough
or a private entity will bring in utilities.
CHAIR FRENCH adjourned the meeting at 3:02:13 PM.
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