Title 24 — Legislature and Lobbying

(a) A legislative intern or legislative volunteer shall comply with AS 24.60.030 - 24.60.039, 24.60.060, 24.60.080, 24.60.085, and 24.60.155, and the committee shall apply AS 24.60.158 - 24.60.170, 24.60.176, and 24.60.178 to a legislative intern or legislative volunteer. (b) A l…

A person serving as a legislator, legislative employee, or public member of the committee shall, not later than 90 days after the person's final day of service as a legislator, legislative employee, or public member, file a final disclosure of every matter or interest, except for…

Article 3. Legislative Ethics Committee; Opinions; Complaints.

(a) There is established as a permanent interim committee within the legislative branch of state government the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics. (b) The committee consists of nine members, in two subcommittees, as follows: (1) the senate subcommittee, which consists of two…

(a) When appointing members of the legislature to serve on the committee under AS 24.60.130(b), the speaker of the house of representatives or the president of the senate, as appropriate, shall appoint an alternate member for each regular member. The alternate member shall have t…

(a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, in addition to complying with the other requirements of this chapter, a public member of the committee, an employee of the committee, or a person under contract to provide personal services to the committee may not, during the person…

(a) The senate subcommittee has authority over proceedings concerning conduct by a member or former member of the senate or a person employed by a member or a committee of the senate. (b) The house subcommittee has authority over proceedings concerning the conduct by a member or …

(a) The committee shall (1) adopt procedures to facilitate the receipt of inquiries and prompt rendition of its opinions; (2) publish annual summaries of decisions and advisory opinions with sufficient deletions in the summaries to prevent disclosing the identity of the persons i…

(a) A person who is a legislator, legislative employee, public member of the committee, legislative intern, or legislative volunteer shall complete a legislative ethics course administered by the committee under AS 24.60.150(a)(4) within 10 days of the first day of the first regu…

The committee shall authorize and train its staff to give oral advice and provide a written informal nonbinding advice letter to persons seeking guidance as to the spirit or legal requirements of this chapter, provided that the advice is given with the express stipulations that (…

(a) On the request of the committee, the Alaska Public Offices Commission, a person to whom this chapter applies, or a person who has been newly elected to the legislature, the committee shall issue an advisory opinion within 60 days as to whether the facts and circumstances of a…

[Repealed or reserved.]

(a) The committee shall consider a complaint alleging a violation of this chapter if the alleged violation occurred within five years before the date that the complaint is filed with the committee. The committee may not consider a complaint filed against all members of the legisl…

(a) If the person found to have violated this chapter is or was a member of the legislature, the committee's recommendations shall be forwarded by the chair of the committee to the presiding officer of the appropriate house of the legislature. If the committee recommends sanction…

(a) If the person found to have violated this chapter is or was a legislative employee, the committee's recommendations shall be forwarded to the appropriate appointing authority which shall, as soon as is reasonably possible, determine the sanctions, if any, to be imposed. The a…

(a) When the committee finds that a person has violated this chapter, the committee may recommend appropriate sanctions, including sanctions set out in (b) of this section. (b) The sanctions that the committee may recommend include (1) imposition of a civil penalty of not more th…

[Repealed or reserved.]

Article 4. Required Annual Financial Disclosure.

A legislator, a public member of the committee, and a legislative director shall file a disclosure statement, under oath and on penalty of perjury, with the Alaska Public Offices Commission giving the following information about the income received or deferred income, earned or o…

(a) A person required to file a disclosure statement under AS 24.60.200 shall file an annual report with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, covering the previous calendar year, containing the disclosures required by AS 24.60.200, on or before March 15 of each year, except that…

The Alaska Public Offices Commission shall (1) adopt regulations to implement and interpret the provisions of AS 24.60.200 — 24.60.260; (2) prepare standardized forms on which the statements required by AS 24.60.200 shall be filed; and (3) examine, investigate, and compare all re…

A statement filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission under AS 24.60.200 is a public record. A person is not required to comply with AS 24.60.200 to the extent that a court of competent jurisdiction of the state determines that legally privileged professional relationships …

A person required to file a disclosure statement under AS 24.60.200 who fails to file a properly completed report under AS 24.60.200 is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10 a day for each day the delinquency continues as the Alaska Public Offices Commission determines,…

(a) In addition to the sanctions described in AS 24.60.260, if the Alaska Public Offices Commission finds that a candidate for the legislature who is an incumbent legislator has failed to file a report under AS 24.60.200 by March 15, the commission shall notify the candidate that…

(a) A person may file a written complaint alleging a violation of AS 24.60.200 — 24.60.260 has occurred or is occurring. (b) Complaints filed under (a) of this section must be filed within five years after the date of the alleged violation. (c) If a member of the Alaska Public Of…

Article 5. Miscellaneous and General Provisions. (a) A person required to make a disclosure under this chapter may not knowingly make a false or deliberately misleading or incomplete disclosure to the committee or to the Alaska Public Offices Commission. A person who files a disc…

The attorney general may independently bring civil actions relating to violations under this chapter regardless of the outcome or settlement of a charge before the committee. This section does not prohibit the attorney general from bringing an action under another civil or crimin…

Each agency of the executive branch of state government shall, to the extent permitted by state or federal law, cooperate fully with the committee or a subcommittee by providing information and assistance, including disclosure of financial material and other records relating to a…

(a) In this chapter, (1) “administrative action” means conduct related to the development, drafting, consideration, enactment, defeat, application, or interpretation of a rule, regulation, policy, or other action in a regulatory proceeding or a proceeding involving a license, per…

This chapter may be cited as the Legislative Ethics Act.

There is created in the legislative branch of the state the office of victims' rights. The victims' advocate is the director of the office of victims' rights.

(a) A candidate for appointment as the victims' advocate shall be nominated by the victims' advocate selection committee composed of three members of the senate appointed by the president of the senate and three members of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of …

A person may not serve as victims' advocate (1) unless the person has been a resident of the state for the three years immediately preceding the person's appointment; (2) unless the person has been engaged in the active practice of law for the three years immediately preceding th…

(a) The term of office of the victims' advocate is five years. A victims' advocate may be reappointed but may not serve for more than three terms. To be eligible for reappointment at the conclusion of each five-year term of service, a victims' advocate seeking reappointment must …

The legislature, by a concurrent resolution adopted by a roll call vote of two-thirds of the members of each house entered in the journal, may remove or suspend the victims' advocate from office, but only for neglect of duty, misconduct, or disability.

The victims' advocate is entitled to receive an annual salary of Range 26 on the salary schedule set out in AS 39.27.011(a) and (l).

(a) The victims' advocate shall appoint a person to serve as acting victims' advocate in the absence of the victims' advocate. If the victims' advocate is not available to appoint a person to serve as acting victims' advocate, the president of the senate and the speaker of the ho…

(a) Subject to restrictions and limitations imposed by the executive director of the Legislative Affairs Agency, the administrative facilities and services of the Legislative Affairs Agency, including computer, data processing, and teleconference facilities, may be made available…

(a) The victims' advocate shall, by regulations adopted under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), establish procedures for advocacy on behalf of crime victims, receiving and processing complaints, conducting investigations, reporting findings, and ensuring that confidential …

(a) The victims' advocate has jurisdiction to advocate on behalf of crime victims of felony offenses or class A misdemeanors, if the class A misdemeanor is a crime involving domestic violence or a crime against a person under AS 11.41, in the courts of the state and to investigat…

(a) Subject to appropriation, the office of victims' rights is authorized to pay outstanding balances on orders of restitution under AS 12.55.045 or AS 47.12.120. The office of victims' rights shall coordinate and make payments from the restorative justice account (AS 43.23.048) …

(a) The victims' advocate shall assist crime victims in obtaining the rights crime victims are guaranteed under the constitution and laws of the state with regard to the contacts crime victims have with justice agencies. (b) The victims' advocate may make the statement a crime vi…

(a) Notwithstanding another provision of this chapter, the victims' advocate may (1) file a request under AS 12.36.070 with a law enforcement agency for the return of property to a crime victim after having conducted an investigation and determining that the crime victim is entit…

(a) The victims' advocate may investigate complaints from crime victims that they have been denied the rights they are guaranteed under the constitution and laws of this state. (b) In an investigation, the victims' advocate may (1) make inquiries and obtain information considered…

(a) Subject to the privileges recognized by court rule and statute of this state, the victims' advocate may compel by subpoena, at a specified time and place, the (1) appearance and sworn testimony of a person who the victims' advocate reasonably believes may be able to give info…

Before giving an opinion or recommendation that is critical of a justice agency or person as a result of an investigation under AS 24.65.120, the victims' advocate shall consult with that agency or person. The victims' advocate may make a preliminary opinion or recommendation ava…

(a) The victims' advocate shall report the advocate's opinion and recommendations to a justice agency if the victims' advocate finds, after investigation under AS 24.65.120, that the agency has denied a crime victim rights the crime victim is guaranteed under the constitution and…

Except as provided in AS 24.65.150(c), within a reasonable amount of time after the victims' advocate reports the advocate's opinion and recommendations to a justice agency, the victims' advocate may present the opinion and recommendations to the governor, the legislature, a gran…

The victims' advocate shall make available to the public an annual report of the victims' advocate's activities under this chapter and notify the legislature that the report is available. The victim's advocate may include in the report a summary of the advocate's participation as…

A proceeding or decision of the victims' advocate may be reviewed in superior court only to determine if it is contrary to the provisions of this chapter.