00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 29                                                                   
01 Relating to support for therapeutic courts for repeat driving while under the influence                                 
02 offenders.                                                                                                              
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the Twenty-Second Alaska State Legislature enacted legislation                                          
05 establishing pilot therapeutic court models and establishing standards for court-ordered                                
06 treatment programs; and                                                                                                 
07       WHEREAS pilot courts in Anchorage and Bethel are applying the therapeutic court                                 
08 model effectively, and the communities of Juneau, Fairbanks, and Ketchikan and the Alaska                               
09 Court System are in the process of developing therapeutic courts for driving while under the                            
10 influence (DUI) and other substance offenders; and                                                                      
11       WHEREAS the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has instituted a                                     
12 national program to provide federal funds for the startup of DUI therapeutic courts; and                                
13       WHEREAS the participation of the Department of Law and its local district attorney                              
14 offices and the Public Defender Agency is vital to the startup of these courts;                                         
15       BE IT RESOLVED that                                                                                             
16            (1)  the legislature supports the efforts of therapeutic courts to reduce DUI                                

01 crime, thereby reducing public harm and saving public costs;                                                            
02            (2)  the Department of Law and the Public Defender Agency are encouraged to                                  
03 actively participate in the startup of therapeutic courts in Fairbanks, Ketchikan, and other                            
04 communities where there is a large population of DUI offenders and local support for                                    
05 therapeutic courts.                                                                                                     
06       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Gregg Renkes, Alaska                                   
07 Attorney General; the Honorable Alexander O. Bryner, Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme                                
08 Court; the Honorable Mike Miller, Commissioner, Department of Administration; and to the                                
09 Honorable Stephanie J. Cole, Administrative Director, Alaska Court System.