Initial Report and Recommendations - Alaska Department of Law

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• All available vehicles should be mobilized to combat this problem, tribalas well as state and federal.• Existing federal and state laws and programs are not sufficient to combatthis problem effectively. Although existing state local option laws enablevillages to ban or restrict importation of alcohol, these laws and state druglaws are enforced and prosecuted primarily from regional centers.Defendants are tried in state courts, away from the villages. Penalties forinitial offenses are neither certain nor severe. For youthful offenders,serious intervention is needed when the youth first gets into trouble, yetunder the state system an individual can accumulate any number of minoroffenses before serious attention is paid by the criminal justice system.Geographic and cost constraints will always prevent the state from havingmagistrates, troopers, prosecutors, etc., anywhere but in the largestcommunities. Second-class city governments, where they exist, alsooperate under too many constraints to effectively address alcohol andsubstance abuse. Most second-class city governments in villages havelittle or no tax base. State law does not provide for municipal courts, andsmall cities rarely enforce municipal criminal ordinances because of thecosts associated with prosecuting cases in distant state courts.• Tribal courts can intervene earlier and more effectively, dealing withoffenders in their own communities. The best solutions to communityalcohol problems are those which begin within the community. Tribalgovernments are in place, and are the only government in many villages.They are better situated to enforce and adjudicate minor offenses inremote communities than the state. Tribal courts are already dealing withjuvenile offenses and child protection cases, many of which entail alcoholproblems which the tribal courts need to deal with.• There is state law precedent for extending authority to village councils inunincorporated communities. Village councils have authority to imposeand enforce dog control ordinances within a 20-mile radius of the village,AS 03.55.030. The state local option law, AS 04.11.508, uses a five-mileradius as the jurisdictional perimeter of villages without city governments.• There is historical precedent for federal and tribal regulation of alcoholwithin Alaska. In the late 1800s, Congress, in response to court rulingsthat Alaska was not “Indian country,” acted legislatively to designateAlaska as “Indian country” for the purpose of the then-federal Indianliquor laws. In the early 1980s, the Secretary of the Interior publishedtribal alcohol ordinances for three Alaska villages (Northway, Minto, andChalkyitsik).• This proposal adds federal enforcement authority to the tools to combatsubstance abuse in Alaska’s Native Villages as well as other rural areas.Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission - Page 115
Impact Statement:• Portions of this are loosely patterned after language considered in theoriginal enactment of the legislation creating the Rural JusticeCommission.Federal legislation confirming that Alaska Native tribes have concurrent jurisdictionover alcohol and drug related offenses would enable village Alaska to addresssubstance abuse locally. It would help fill serious gaps in state services, withoutdivesting the state of jurisdiction or authority.Extending to Alaska’s tribes the clear authority to enforce alcohol and drug laws is alogical and necessary step toward effectively addressing the substance abuse problemin rural Alaska.Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission - Page 116
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IntroductionFor years, Alaska Nativ
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In MemoriamEric D. JohnsonApril 27,
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continuous. Those who worked hardes
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Executive SummaryCreated by Congres
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8. Increase Access to Judicial Serv
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Chapter I. Statement of NeedThe Ala
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When domestic violence services are
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With the advent of statehood in 195
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Village Council Presidents, Bristol
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“[M]any of the laws that we have
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“[W]e’re 10 times the national
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Great contrast exists today between
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The literature has often decried th
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Another resource on economic opport
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The continuing escalation of fuel c
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In 1999, in an effort to curb youth
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and follow-up contacts. Since it wa
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Chapter II. Charge to the Commissio
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♦ Gail Schubert, Executive Vice P
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additional time to a person speakin
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. Exchange of Information. The memb
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sheets that had been prepared by th
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Chapter IIIResponse and Recommendat
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• Developing voluntary memoranda
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example, during a protracted negoti
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staffing in Alaska is a significant
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history of being in a community for
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“The State of Alaska is mandated
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“The AFN Sobriety program provide
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community enhances alienation and i
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oth the state and the federal gover
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enforcement programs. In this proce
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skills necessary to communicate wit
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and others in the tribal community
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A Comparison of Alaska and the Lowe
Page 72 and 73: Map Showing the Location of All Ala
Page 74 and 75: Appendix BBiographical Sketchesof C
Page 76 and 77: Revenue. Mayor Botelho became Deput
Page 78 and 79: His wide range of experience includ
Page 80 and 81: Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforc
Page 82 and 83: Workgroup MembersWorkgroup 1: Law E
Page 84 and 85: Appendix EPhotograph of Commissione
Page 86 and 87: Appendix FCommission Recommendation
Page 88 and 89: ) Power differential between govern
Page 90 and 91: 9. Adequate legal infrastructure to
Page 92 and 93: ___________________________________
Page 94 and 95: encouraged and permitted to partici
Page 96 and 97: ___________________________________
Page 98 and 99: ___________________________________
Page 100 and 101: Impact Statement:More culturally ap
Page 102 and 103: ___________________________________
Page 104 and 105: Option(s):a) Incorporating attitude
Page 106 and 107: Current Status:Youth Opportunity Gr
Page 108 and 109: Ideal Status:a) Aftercare programs
Page 110 and 111: issues; and in the event this becom
Page 112 and 113: ___________________________________
Page 114 and 115: Ideal Status:Mandatory training yea
Page 116 and 117: Current Status:In areas without an
Page 118 and 119: Rationale for Option:To reduce the
Page 120 and 121: All of the workgroups’ options ca
Page 124 and 125: Appendix HAttachments for Recommend
Page 126 and 127: (2) materials and equipment used in
Page 128 and 129: under this section if the family me
Page 130 and 131: AS 04.11.140(g) package store licen
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Initial Report and Recommendations - Alaska Department of Law

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