Legislature(2025 - 2026)BARNES 124
02/13/2025 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview(s): Department of Public Safety | |
| Overview: Department of Corrections | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 13, 2025
8:01 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(S): DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
- HEARD
OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JAMES COCKRELL, Commissioner
Department of Public Safety
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the Department of Public Safety
overview.
COLONEL BRIAN BARLOW, Director
Division of Alaska Wildlife Troopers
Department of Public Safety
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the Department of
Public Safety overview.
LAUREL SHOOP, Legislative Liaison
Department of Public Safety
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Played two videos depicting an aircraft
rescue and the VPSO program.
LISA PURINTON, Director
Division of Statewide Services
Department of Public Safety
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the Department of
Public Safety overview.
DAVID KANARIS, Chief of Forensic Laboratories
Division of Statewide Services
Department of Public Safety
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information on the Alaska Crime
Lab.
MARYBETH GAGNON, Director
Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Department of Public Safety
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information on the Council on
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
JEN WINKELMAN, Commissioner
Department of Corrections
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the Department of Corrections
overview.
TRAVIS WELCH, Director
Division of Health and Rehabilitation Services
Department of Corrections
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information on the Division of
Health and Rehabilitation Services.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:05 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT called the House Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:01 a.m.
Representatives Hall, Holland, Mears, and Himschoot were present
at the call to order. Representatives Prax and Ruffridge
arrived as the meeting was in progress.
^OVERVIEW(S): Department of Public Safety
OVERVIEW(S): Department of Public Safety
8:02:27 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT announced that the first order of business
would be a continuation of the Department of Public Safety
overview.
8:02:57 AM
JAMES COCKRELL, Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Public Safety (DPS), resumed a PowerPoint, titled
"Department of Public Safety Overview" [hard copy included in
the committee packet]. He offered information on the Alaska
Bureau of Investigations (ABI) and the Division of Alaska
Wildlife Troopers (AWT). In response to committee questions, he
confirmed that Figure 2 in the document, titled "Department of
Public Safety Follow-Up" [included in the committee packet]
includes wildlife troopers in the 411 budgeted trooper positions
in 2025. In reference to Figure 4, he said the increase in
crime from 2014 to 2021 was impacted by Senate Bill 91 and a
spike in theft and drug offenses. The AWT focuses on Alaska
Department of Fish & Game (ADFG) regulations and supplements
criminal patrols when the department is short staffed. Search
and rescue has also been delegated to AWT because the division
has the appropriate resources to perform those duties and lessen
the Alaska State Troopers' (AST) load.
8:22:40 AM
COLONEL BRIAN BARLOW, Director, Division of Alaska Wildlife
Troopers (AWT), Department of Public Safety (DPS), reported that
AWT averages a 5 percent citation rate based on the number of
compacts.
8:23:23 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL discussed the Aircraft Section, which
includes a fleet of 49 fixed wing and rotor wing aircraft based
in 19 locations with 6,141 hours flown in calendar year (CY)
2024. The aircraft are used for prisoner transport, search and
rescue, wildlife resource protection, and general law
enforcement response/investigations. In response to committee
questions, he said the aircraft are utilized strategically and
are "mission critical." He noted that several of the aircraft
would be sold in the next year to downsize.
8:32:00 AM
LAUREL SHOOP, Legislative Liaison, Department of Public Safety
(DPS), narrated a video of an aircraft rescue in Fairbanks.
8:35:34 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL gave an overview of the Marine Section and
its fleet of 41 vessels. In response to committee questions, he
said the department receives federal funding for offshore
fisheries patrol from National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). He said the Marine Section's mission,
which differs from the Coast Guard, is to enforce ADFG laws
within territorial waters. He acknowledged that there is a
partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard for drug interdictions,
but the state has limited authority to search a vessel without a
warrant. The larger vessels are run and maintained by civilians
with a minimum of two troopers on board to supplement
enforcement.
8:44:51 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL continued the presentation with a
discussion of the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) Division.
8:49:45 AM
MS. SHOOP played a video about the VPSO Division that showed the
communities in which they serve and the importance of the
program.
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL shared an anecdotal example, emphasizing
the need for a higher level of law enforcement in rural Alaska.
He resumed the presentation with an overview of the Division of
Fire and Life Safety, detailing its mission, fiscal year 2024
(FY 24) accomplishments and challenges, and the Statewide
Support section, which includes the Criminal Justice Information
Services (CJIS), Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC), and
Alaska Public Safety Communication Services (APSCS).
9:02:17 AM
LISA PURINTON, Director, Division of Statewide Services,
Department of Public Safety (DPS), in response to a committee
question about access to fingerprinting options in rural Alaska
for noncriminal justice purposes, said virtual instruction is
available and the division works with the accessible resources
in each community.
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL resumed the presentation by addressing the
APSCS, which supports first responders with the Alaska Land
Mobile Radio (ALMR). He acknowledged that there are dead zones
across the state, but his goal is to stand up a new tower every
year. In response to a follow up question, he confirmed that
satellite phones and cell phones can be used in dead zoned. He
discussed Information Services under Statewide Support and its
accomplishments, including an Online Criminal History Request
portal, deployment of Starlink devices to improve bandwidth, and
continued extensive work with the CJIS program and several
vendors as part of a project to modernize the state's databases.
9:12:09 AM
MS. PURINTON further detailed the CJIS program, which manages
the state's criminal history repository, sex offender registry,
concealed handgun permits, and "hot file" records, and its
accomplishments.
9:15:06 AM
DAVID KANARIS, Chief of Forensic Laboratories, Division of
Statewide Services, Department of Public Safety (DPS), detailed
the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory's ("Alaska Crime Lab")
core services: Forensic analysis, breath alcohol testing,
training and education, and forensic science hit outcome
programs. He noted that the lab's forensic scientists testified
over 90 times in 2024 across the state. He confirmed that the
crime lab has sufficient resources to address the workload with
three new trained analysts and a cleared backlog of cases.
9:21:30 AM
MARYBETH GAGNON, Director, Council on Domestic Violence and
Sexual Assault (CDVSA), Department of Public Safety (DPS), gave
an overview of the council, its mission, and its accomplishments
and challenges. In response to committee questions about the
working relationship between the council and the Department of
Corrections (DOC), she said statutes for perpetrator
rehabilitation programming are under DOC statutes. There is a
memorandum of understanding that the CDVSA will approve and
monitor the program and receives inner-agency receipts from DOC
to conduct its work. She confirmed that the funding received
through U.S. Senator's Murkowski's earmark is going away, and
the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding is diminishing each
year. She further reported that there would be a 39 percent cut
to the federal FY 25 awards, which follows a 37 percent cut in
FY 24.
9:27:47 AM
COMMISSIONER COCKRELL concluded the presentation with an
overview of the Violent Crimes Compensation Board, its
accomplishment, and it challenges.
9:32:34 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 9:32 a.m. to 9:34 a.m.
^OVERVIEW: Department of Corrections
OVERVIEW: Department of Corrections
9:34:42 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT announced that the final order of business
would be a continuation of the Department of Corrections
Overview.
9:35:25 AM
JEN WINKELMAN, Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Corrections (DOC), resumed the PowerPoint
presentation, titled "Department of Corrections" [hard copy
included in the committee packet] and acknowledged that the
department works in tandem with DPS.
9:37:49 AM
TRAVIS WELCH, Director, Division of Health and Rehabilitation
Services, Department of Corrections (DOC), gave an overview of
the Division of Health and Rehabilitation Services, which is
statutorily required to provide timely access to essential
healthcare for offenders. In response to a series of committee
questions, he spoke to the working relationship between DOC and
other state departments, like DOH and DFCS. He explained that
many individuals entering DOC's care and custody with a
substance use disorder (SUD) transfer to providers outside the
system, and DOC assessments help track that data. Prioritizing
treatment slots is often determined by the payer, like Medicaid,
which places a lower priority on individuals in DOC custody.
Medicaid's inmate exclusion clause applies to those being housed
within a facility; however, people in inpatient programs and
community residential centers can bill Medicaid for those
services. He reported that failure to provide medical services
to an incarcerated individual violates the Eighth Amendment, and
said screening, training experience, and prior knowledge are
used to determine whether individuals entering the facilities
are at risk for withdrawal.
10:01:22 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 10:01 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Public Safety Overview 1.30.2025.pdf |
HCRA 2/13/2025 8:00:00 AM |
Public Safety |
| Department of Corrections Overview 1.28.2025.pdf |
HCRA 2/13/2025 8:00:00 AM HCRA 2/27/2025 8:00:00 AM |
Department of Corrections |
| Department of Corrections Follow-up 1.28.25 HCRA Meeting 2.7.25.pdf |
HCRA 2/13/2025 8:00:00 AM HCRA 2/27/2025 8:00:00 AM |
Department of Corrections |
| Department of Public Safety Follow-Up 1-30-2025 HCRA Meeting 2.12.25.pdf |
HCRA 2/13/2025 8:00:00 AM |
Department of Public Safety |