HB 106: "An Act relating to village public safety officers and regional public safety officers."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 106 01 "An Act relating to village public safety officers and regional public safety officers." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 18.65.670(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) There is created in the Department of Public Safety a village public safety 05 officer program to assist local governments and villages through nonprofit regional 06 corporations and boroughs to appoint, train, supervise, and retain persons to serve as 07 village public safety officers to administer functions relative to 08 (1) the protection of life and property in rural areas of the state; and 09 (2) providing probation and parole supervision to persons under 10 supervision by communicating with and monitoring the activities and progress of these 11 persons at the direction of probation and parole officers. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 18.65.670(b) is amended to read: 13 (b) With funds appropriated for that purpose, the commissioner of public 14 safety shall provide grants to nonprofit regional corporations or boroughs for village 15 public safety officers in rural areas of the state and boroughs with populations of
01 less than 10,000. The commissioner of public safety shall coordinate with the 02 commissioner of corrections when providing grants under this section, and the 03 commissioners shall jointly execute an agreement with the nonprofit regional 04 corporations or boroughs. For areas within a borough that exercises areawide law 05 enforcement powers, the commissioner may provide grants under this section 06 only to the borough. 07 * Sec. 3. AS 18.65.670(c) is amended to read: 08 (c) The commissioner of public safety may adopt regulations related to village 09 public safety officers, including minimum standards and training, criteria for 10 community, borough, or corporation participation, and the interaction between the 11 Department of Public Safety and village public safety officers. The commissioner of 12 corrections may adopt regulations related to the functions of village public safety 13 officers providing probation and parole supervision. 14 * Sec. 4. AS 18.65.680 is amended to read: 15 Sec. 18.65.680. Regional public safety officers. The commissioner of public 16 safety may appoint regional public safety officers to 17 (1) provide an expanded public safety and law enforcement presence in 18 (A) rural areas of the state; 19 (B) boroughs that do not exercise areawide law 20 enforcement powers and have populations of less than 10,000; 21 (2) provide oversight and training for the village public safety officer 22 program; 23 (3) administer functions relating to 24 (A) protecting life and property in the rural areas of the state; 25 (B) conducting investigations; 26 (C) conducting search and rescue missions; 27 (D) conducting local training programs in drug and alcohol 28 awareness and prevention, water safety, and gun safety; 29 (4) perform other duties relating to public safety as directed by the 30 commissioner. 31 * Sec. 5. AS 18.65.680 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
01 (b) The commissioner of public safety may provide grants to boroughs that 02 exercise areawide law enforcement powers and have populations of less than 10,000 to 03 allow the boroughs, in consultation with the commissioner of public safety, to appoint 04 regional public safety officers to perform the functions listed in (a) of this section. 05 * Sec. 6. AS 18.65 is amended by adding a new section to article 9 to read: 06 Sec. 18.65.690. Borough law enforcement. For purposes of AS 18.65.670 and 07 18.65.680, a borough exercises areawide law enforcement powers even if a city within 08 the borough exercises those powers under AS 29.35.250(b).