00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 21                                                                    
01 Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to the office of                               
02 attorney general.                                                                                                       
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04    * Section 1. Article III, sec. 25, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                        
05 Section 25. Department Heads. The head of each principal department shall                                             
06 be a single executive unless otherwise provided by law. The head of a principal                                     
07 department [HE] shall be appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by a                                    
08 majority of the members of the legislature in joint session, and shall serve at the                                     
09 pleasure of the governor, except as otherwise provided in this article with respect to                                  
10       the lieutenant governor and the attorney general [SECRETARY OF STATE]. The                                    
11       heads of all principal departments shall be citizens of the United States.                                        
12    * Sec. 2. Article III, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended by adding a new section                     
13 to read:                                                                                                                
14 Section 28. Attorney General. (a) The attorney general shall be elected in the                                        
15 manner provided by law by the qualified voters of the State at the same time and for                                    
16 the same term as the governor. The attorney general shall be a citizen of the United                                    

01 States, a qualified voter of the State, and a resident of Alaska. A person is not eligible                              
02 to serve as attorney general unless the person is an active member of the organized                                     
03 state bar. The attorney general shall perform the duties and receive the compensation                                   
04 prescribed by law, which compensation may not be diminished during the term of                                          
05 office for which the attorney general is elected unless by general law applying to all                                  
06       salaried officers of the state.                                                                                   
07 (b)  No person who has been elected attorney general for two full successive                                            
08       terms shall be again eligible to hold that office until one full term has intervened.                             
09 (c)  In case of a vacancy in the office of attorney general for any reason, the                                         
10 governor shall, by proclamation, call a special election to be held on a date not less                                  
11 than sixty nor more than ninety days after the date the vacancy occurs. However, if the                                 
12 vacancy occurs on a date that is less than sixty days before or is on or after the date of                              
13 the primary election of a year in which an attorney general is regularly elected, the                                   
14 governor may not call a special election. The governor may, at least five days after a                                  
15 vacancy occurs but within thirty days after the date of the vacancy, appoint a qualified                                
16 person to fill the vacancy until the results of the special election called to fill the                                 
17 vacancy are certified. If the special election is not called for the reasons provided in                                
18 this subsection, the person shall fill the vacancy until the results of the next general                                
19       election are certified.                                                                                           
20    * Sec. 3. Article XV, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended by adding a new                              
21 section to read:                                                                                                        
22 Section 30. Initial Election of Attorney General. The first election for an                                           
23 attorney general required by the constitution to be elected shall occur at the first                                    
24 general election at which a governor is to be elected occurring after the requirement of                                
25 an elected attorney general is established under the constitution. A vacancy that occurs                                
26 in the office of attorney general before the first general election at which an attorney                                
27 general is elected shall be filled under the law as it existed before the elected office                                
28       was established under the constitution.                                                                           
29    * Sec. 4. The amendments proposed by this resolution shall be placed before the voters of                          
30 the state at the next general election in conformity with art. XIII, sec. 1, Constitution of the                        
31 State of Alaska, and the election laws of the state.