HCR 26: Supporting increased use of the house arrest program/electronic monitoring with sobriety monitoring as a means of preventing crime and reducing the high costs of imprisonment in Alaska.
00 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 26 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, curing alcoholism and 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 electronic monitoring at 12 their residences or other places selected by the commissioner under AS 33.30.065; and 13 WHEREAS HAP/EM protects the public by restricting offenders' freedom and 14 movement through electronic monitoring and supervision, yet improves the likelihood that the 15 offender can function productively in society through employment, care of family, and
01 education; and 02 WHEREAS offenders on HAP/EM are required to pay costs of the program, thus 03 saving the state from paying the costs of imprisonment; and 04 WHEREAS HAP/EM now uses a new technology for sobriety monitoring of 05 alcoholic offenders, a computerized device that tests offenders for sobriety and transmits the 06 blood-alcohol reading by telephone; and 07 WHEREAS offenders on the HAP/EM program who are also in the Anchorage 08 district court's wellness court are required to take the prescription medicine Naltrexone to 09 quell the craving for alcohol and are required to participate in a state-approved alcoholism 10 treatment program; and 11 WHEREAS the experience of the Anchorage district court wellness court shows that, 12 with a combination of intensive monitoring, treatment, and anti-craving medication, alcoholic 13 defendants can attain and maintain total abstinence from alcohol and avoid further criminal 14 violations; and 15 WHEREAS the Department of Corrections could create a program for alcoholic 16 offenders incorporating the primary elements of the Anchorage wellness court program-- 17 monitoring, treatment and medication--regardless of whether the offenders were enrolled in a 18 therapeutic court; and 19 WHEREAS HAP/EM is available in Anchorage, Palmer, Wasilla, Juneau, and 20 Ketchikan, but is not used to capacity; 21 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 22 Governor to direct the Department of Corrections, the Department of Law, and the Alaska 23 Court System, and urges attorneys who prosecute and defend alcoholic offenders and Alaska 24 judges, to work together to 25 (1) expand the use of the house arrest program/electronic monitoring 26 (HAP/EM) as a condition of bail, in the manner pioneered by the Department of Corrections 27 and the Anchorage district court wellness court program; 28 (2) expand the use of HAP/EM as a means of serving terms of imprisonment 29 or temporary commitment for offenders who are in or have completed a therapeutic court 30 program; 31 (3) develop programs specifically for alcoholic offenders, modeled on the
01 combination of sobriety monitoring, treatment, and anti-craving medication that is employed 02 in the Anchorage district court's wellness court program; 03 (4) publicize the availability of these programs through seminars and 04 educational outreach. 05 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Margaret Pugh, 06 Commissioner, Department of Corrections; the Honorable Bruce M. Botelho, Alaska Attorney 07 General; Stephanie J. Cole, Administrative Director, Alaska Court System; and to the Alaska 08 Bar Association.