Legislature(2025 - 2026)BARNES 124
01/28/2025 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| 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
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
January 28, 2025
8:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Rebecca Himschoot, Co-Chair
Representative Donna Mears, Co-Chair
Representative Carolyn Hall
Representative Ky Holland
Representative Mike Prax
Representative Justin Ruffridge
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JEN WINKELMAN, Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Corrections
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave an overview of the Department of
Corrections.
APRIL WILKERSON, Deputy Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Corrections
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the Department of
Corrections overview.
JAKE WYCKOFF, Deputy Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Corrections
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the Department of
Corrections overview.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:00:27 AM
CO-CHAIR DONNA MEARS called the House Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Representatives Prax, Hall, Holland, Himschoot, and Mears were
present at the call to order. Representative Ruffridge arrived
as the meeting was in progress.
^OVERVIEW: Department of Corrections
OVERVIEW: Department of Corrections
8:01:37 AM
CO-CHAIR MEARS announced that the only order of business would
be an overview of the Department of Corrections (DOC).
8:03:11 AM
JEN WINKELMAN, Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Corrections (DOC), presented a PowerPoint, titled
"Department of Corrections" [hard copy included in the committee
packet]. She shared the department's mission and core services:
secure confinement, supervised release, and reformative
programs. Alaska is one of seven states that operate a unified
correctional system, meaning a system in which the state-level
prison and jail systems are integrated. In response to a series
of questions from Co-Chair Himschoot regarding community jails,
she explained that the legislature established a community jail
system that falls under DOC in communities without a state
facility. The community jails are used to hold individuals for
short stays before transferring them to a state facility. She
explained that a working group was formed to redraft the
community jail contracts, which will be fully effective by July
1, 2025.
8:10:38 AM
APRIL WILKERSON, Deputy Commissioner, Office of the
Commissioner, Department of Corrections (DOC), in response to a
series of committee questions, explained that part of the
contract reevaluation was to establish budget parameters to
ensure consistency between each of the community jails for
allowable costs. If there were shortfalls, she assured the
committee that they could be made whole through a supplemental
budget.
8:14:42 AM
COMMISSIONER WINKELMAN resumed the presentation with a look at
DOC by the numbers. In FY 24, DOC book 26,998 offenders into
its facilities, of which 16,868 were unique offenders; as of
January 1, 2024, DOC was responsible for just under 9,767
individuals. She shared the department's organizational
structure and highlighted its major accomplishments in FY 24: a
jail-based restoration program in partnership with the
Department of Family and Community Services (DFCS) and the
Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API), the expansion of community
placement options, and a system-wide effort to improve outcomes
and close gaps on suicide prevention, a pre-apprentice carpentry
program with the Carpenter's Union, a pilot tablet program, and
a peer support team within DOC's statewide wellness program. In
response to committee questions, she differentiated between
court tablets and the pilot tablet program. Tablets were loaned
by the Alaska Court System (ACS) to be utilized for court
hearings, whereas the pilot program is used for individual
programming.
8:28:56 AM
COMMISSIONER WINKELMAN segued to the department's key
challenges, including the recruitment and retention of qualified
staff, management and movement of the offender population,
controlling the cost and prevalence of chronic illnesses and
disease among incarcerated offenders, and reducing the ongoing
deterioration of facilities. In response to a series of
questions from Co-Chair Mears, she acknowledged the lack of
community resources and the difficulty of hiring professionals
to treat these individuals. She expressed her hope that the use
of tablets and telehealth would widen the available options.
8:33:54 AM
COMMISSIONER WINKELMAN detailed the Division of Institutions,
which provides secure confinement with an emphasis on public
safety and starts the process of programming and community
integration. In response to questions, she said currently, out-
of-state placements are only used for serious medical
treatments, prior law enforcement, and individuals that cannot
be housed with anyone else. She acknowledged that it's more
expensive to house within the state of Alaska; however, the
increase in jobs is an added benefit, as well as the
incarcerated individuals' proximity to family. She touted the
two K-9 units in Southcentral Alaska that have a wide variety of
uses.
8:40:04 AM
JAKE WYCKOFF, Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Corrections (DOC), spoke to the K-9 units, which
are trained to detect institutional contraband, such as alcohol,
marijuana, and tobacco. The K-9 units are used to conduct
targeted searches within the institutions and halfway houses.
8:41:22 AM
COMMISSIONER WINKELMAN emphasized that all DOC facilities are
currently below capacity as of Jan 1, 2025, which contributes to
safer facilities and staff wellness. However, under capacity
does not mean there is available space.
MS. WILKERSON, in response to a question from Co-Chair
Himschoot, she said the Lemon Creek renovations should be
completed by the end of March 2025; final inspections and
occupancy target the end of April and full operations are
expected by July 1, 2025. She added that DOT&PF is overseeing
the project and expects to see an extension of life expectancy
by 10-12 years from this investment, which totals $12 million.
8:48:01 AM
COMMISSIONER WINKELMAN resumed the presentation with a breakdown
of DOC's sentenced and un-sentenced prison population by gender
and offense class. In response to committee questions, she
agreed that the goal is to move individuals through pre-trial
facilities quickly; however, various delays cause individuals to
remain in an unsentenced status for years. She reported that
there are approximately 130 federal inmates housed in DOC
facilities.
9:01:38 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 9:01 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 DOC Department Overview 1.28.2025.pdf |
HCRA 1/28/2025 8:00:00 AM |
DOC |