Title 18 — Health, Safety, Housing, Human Rights, and Public Defender

The administration of criminal justice affects the health, safety, and welfare of the people of this state and requires education and training of a professional quality. It is a primary public interest that applicants meet minimum standards for employment as police officers, prob…

There is created in the Department of Public Safety the Alaska Police Standards Council.

The council consists of the following persons: (1) four chief administrative officers or chiefs of police of local governments; (2) the commissioner of public safety or a designee of the commissioner; (3) the commissioner of corrections or a designee of the commissioner; (4) two …

The commissioner of public safety or a designee and the commissioner of corrections or a designee shall serve during each commissioner's continuance in office. Other members of the council shall be appointed by the governor for staggered terms of four years, except that a member …

The council shall select its chairman and vice chairman annually.

Membership on the council does not disqualify a member from holding any other public office or employment.

The members of the council receive no salary, but are entitled to per diem and travel expenses authorized by law for other boards and commissions.

The council shall meet at least twice a year. The chairman shall set the time and place of the meeting, either on the chairman's own motion or on written request by any three members of the council.

[Repealed or reserved.]

The council has the power to (1) adopt regulations for the administration of AS 18.65.130 — 18.65.290; (2) establish minimum standards for employment as a police officer, probation officer, parole officer, municipal correctional officer, and correctional officer in a permanent or…

The Alaska police training fund is created in the general fund. The fund consists of appropriations made by the legislature to the fund. The legislature may appropriate to the fund the annual estimated balance in the accounts maintained under AS 37.05.142 for money collected unde…

(a) The council shall establish and maintain police training programs, probation and parole officer training programs, and correctional training programs through those agencies and institutions that the council considers appropriate. (b) To determine a person's qualification for …

(a) A person may not be appointed as a police officer, except on a probationary basis, unless the person (1) has satisfactorily completed a basic program of police training approved by the council, which includes at least 12 hours of instruction regarding domestic violence and at…

(a) The council shall establish qualifications for employment of persons as municipal correctional, correctional, probation, and parole officers, including (1) minimum age, physical and mental standards, citizenship, moral character, and experience; and (2) minimum education stan…

The council may (1) deny a certificate to an applicant for a municipal correctional, correctional, probation, or parole officer certificate if the applicant does not meet the standards adopted by the council under AS 18.65.242(a); (2) revoke the certificate of a municipal correct…

(a) A person may not be appointed as a municipal correctional, correctional, probation, or parole officer unless the person has a valid certificate issued by the council under AS 18.65.242. (b) The provisions of (a) of this section do not apply to a person employed on a probation…

[Repealed or reserved.]

(a) The council may accept donations of property, both real and personal, and grants of money from a governmental unit or public agency, or from an institution or person. All money received by the council under this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the account …

AS 18.65.150 — 18.65.290 shall be administered in compliance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act).

(a) The commissioner and deputy commissioner of public safety and the chief administrative officers of local police departments are exempt from the requirements of AS 18.65.240. However, a person appointed chief of a local police department after July 1, 1981, who performs any op…

A municipality that employs persons in a municipal correctional facility may, by ordinance, require that those persons meet the requirements of AS 18.65.130 — 18.65.290 that are applicable to municipal correctional officers.

Article 3. Identification Cards. In AS 18.65.130 — 18.65.290, (1) “chief administrative officer” means a chief of police or other official who is head of a police department in a political subdivision; (2) “correctional facility” means a prison or jail owned, leased, or operated …

(a) Upon payment of a $15 fee, the department shall issue a card identical to the motor vehicle operator's license provided for in AS 28.15.111, except that the card shall be of a different color and shall state in bold type letters across the face of it that it is for identifica…

(a) The department shall provide a method, at the time that an identification card is issued, by which the card holder may make an anatomical gift under AS 13.52. The method must provide a means by which the card holder may cancel the gift. (b) An employee of the department who p…

(a) The department shall cancel an identification card if the person receiving the card fails to give the required or correct information in the person's application. Nothing in this section prohibits reapplication by the person or reissuance of the identification card. (b) A per…

Article 4. Disposal of Firearms and Ammunition. In AS 18.65.310 — 18.65.330, “department” means the Department of Administration.

Article 5. Security Guards. (a) Except as provided by (b) of this section, the state and a municipality may only dispose of forfeited, surplus, or recovered but unclaimed firearms and ammunition by (1) public sale not limited to firearms dealers; (2) trade-in for credit in the pu…

A person may not be employed as a security guard or security guard agency until the person has obtained a license from the commissioner of public safety under AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490.

(a) Application for a license as a security guard must be made on forms provided by the commissioner. The application must require the furnishing of information reasonably required by the commissioner to carry out the provisions of AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490, including classifiable…

As a condition to issuance of a license, the applicant or the applicant's employer must furnish a bond or proof of a policy of insurance to protect the state and its residents from damages arising out of the acts of the licensee.

A security guard license issued under AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490 is valid for a period of two years and may be renewed for additional two-year terms. A renewal fee of $50 shall be paid for each renewal.

A security guard license issued under AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490 is subject to revocation in accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for the following reasons: (1) false statements in an application issued under AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490; (2) violation of a provision…

The commissioner shall adopt regulations necessary to implement AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490, including provisions specifying the amount of bond or insurance required and the types of uniforms, badges, and insignia that may be used.

An employer is not required to seek licensure for the employer's employees who provide unarmed plant security on that employer's premises.

Security guards licensed under AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490 may not be armed with a firearm for the purpose of protecting property until they have completed firearms training acceptable to the commissioner.

A violation of a provision of AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490 or a regulation adopted under AS 18.65.450 is a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 60 days, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by both.

Article 6. Bodyguards. In AS 18.65.400 — 18.65.490, (1) “commissioner” means the commissioner of public safety; (2) “security guard” means a person in the business of being a private watchman, providing patrol services, or providing other services designed to prevent the theft, m…

Article 7. Domestic Violence. A person who, in this state, hires another person to guard a person in this state with arms or deadly weapons, or a person who comes into this state armed with deadly weapons for the purpose of guarding a person, without a written permit from the com…

(a) Each established police training program in the state shall provide training that acquaints police officers with (1) laws relating to substantive crimes and rules of criminal procedure applicable in cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault; (2) techniques for hand…

(a) A peace officer investigating a crime involving domestic violence shall protect the victim and any member of the victim's family and prevent further violence by (1) transporting an adult victim and any member of the victim's family from the place of the offense or the place o…

(a) A peace officer investigating a crime involving domestic violence shall orally and in writing inform the victim of the rights of victims of domestic violence and the services available to them. The notice must be in substantially the following form: If you are the victim of d…

(a) Except as provided in (b) or (c) of this section, a peace officer, with or without a warrant, shall arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe the person has, either in or outside the presence of the officer, within the previous 12 hours, (1) committed domes…

(a) The Department of Public Safety shall maintain a central registry of protective orders issued by or filed with a court of this state under AS 13.26.450 — 13.26.460, AS 18.65.850 — 18.65.870, or AS 18.66.100 — 18.66.180. The registry must include, for each protective order, th…

Article 8. Missing Persons Information Clearinghouse. In AS 18.65.510 — 18.65.590, (1) “domestic violence” has the meaning given in AS 18.66.990; (2) “pet” means a vertebrate living creature maintained for companionship or pleasure, but does not include dogs primarily owned for p…

There is in the Department of Public Safety the missing persons information clearinghouse.

(a) The missing persons information clearinghouse is established as a central repository of information regarding missing persons. (b) The clearinghouse shall (1) establish within the state a system and appropriate procedures for communication of information regarding missing per…

(a) A local or state law enforcement agency shall submit to the clearinghouse all missing person reports received by the law enforcement agency that relate to a person who is not located within 48 hours after the first report concerning that person was filed. (b) For a person und…

(a) When a person files a report of a missing person with a law enforcement agency or with the clearinghouse, a form authorizing the release of medical and dental records to the law enforcement agency and to the clearinghouse shall be supplied to the family, next of kin, or legal…

A person who has filed a missing person report with the clearinghouse or a law enforcement agency shall immediately notify the clearinghouse or the law enforcement agency when the location of the missing person is determined.

The commissioner of public safety, or a person designated by the commissioner of public safety, may file a civil complaint in the district court to enforce AS 18.65.640. A person who fails to comply with AS 18.65.640 is subject to a civil fine of not more than $1,000.