Many of Alaska’s first-time criminals may face tougher sentences under a bill approved Friday by the Alaska Senate.
In a 19-1 vote, lawmakers approved Senate Bill 54, a measure that rolls back some of the changes made in last year’s push for criminal justice reform.
Though that push has not even been fully implemented, lawmakers heard a storm of protest from constituents who are seeing a surge in crime locally.
“It was a response to the cry from around Alaska,” said Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, of SB 54.
Coghill was the principal legislative backer of last year’s reform push and of this year’s measure.
One of the key provisions of SB 54 allows judges to put first-time Class C felony convicts in jail for up to one year. Current sentencing guidelines, enacted last year, allow only suspended sentences for first-time C felonies.
C felonies are the lightest felony crimes in Alaska law, and C felony criminals represent 40 percent of the state’s prison population. Any changes to their sentences have a big impact on the cost of the state’s prison system.
Official estimates indicate SB 54 may cost the state as much as $4.3 million more per year, though the exact figure is unclear.
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Last year’s reforms were called Senate Bill 91 and represented one of the biggest changes to Alaska’s criminal justice system in decades. SB 91 was touted as using an evidence-based approach to emphasize treatment and diversion instead of prison.
The core idea behind the bill was that prison terms for lesser offenses trap people in a cycle. If they go to jail, they can’t keep a job. If they can’t keep a job, they’re more likely to turn to crime to survive.
“You put them in jail, they’re more likely to commit a crime in the future,” John Skidmore, head of the criminal division of the Alaska Department of Law, told the Senate Finance Committee during testimony.
SB 54 ignores that principle in favor of longer jail terms.
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The lone vote against the proposal came from Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, who cited the Alaska Federation of Natives’ opposition to the C felony provisions in SB 54.
Hoffman had supported changing the first-time C felony limit to 120 days in jail, but he withdrew a proposed amendment in the House Finance Committee out of fear that it might endanger the bill on the Senate floor.
“I wanted to make sure that, as the sponsor had stated, we can get it to the other body so this issue can be addressed,” Hoffman said.
Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, said he also supports amending the bill to lower the C felony jail limit.
“Now, let’s let it have some time to work so we can better move Alaska forward with public safety and with the treatment of people that need it (for) drug and alcohol abuse,” he said.
SB 54 advances to the House of Representatives for consideration.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 419-7732.
