Senate committee hears bill to permit limited inmate tablet use for education, telehealth and reentry services

Juneau — The Senate State Affairs Committee on March 11 heard Senate Bill 19, sponsored by Senator Robert Myers, to permit limited inmate access to electronic devices such as tablets for education, legal access, telehealth, vocational training and reentry planning. Senator Myers and an intern presented the sponsor statement and sectional analysis, and the Department of Corrections and multiple reentry coalition coordinators provided invited testimony supporting the measure.

Senator Myers told the committee the bill is intended to expand educational and rehabilitative opportunities, reduce recidivism and lower administrative burdens and costs (for example by allowing telemedicine and remote legal contact that could reduce transports). Ashlyn Brooks, the sponsor’s intern, walked the committee through the sectional text: the measure would add an exemption to the statutory prohibition on electronic devices for prisoners, add accepted uses (rehabilitative and case‑plan purposes, legal material access, health care access, and commissioner‑identified uses by regulation), prohibit correctional centers from charging fees for device use, and add clarifying language that electronic services should supplement — not replace — in‑person visitation to the extent practical.

Invited testimony included coordinators from the Alaska Reentry Partnership and regional reentry coalitions (Juneau, Fairbanks, Matanuska‑Susitna) who told the committee tablets and secure digital services improve digital literacy, allow reentry planning before release, expand access to education and telehealth, and better connect incarcerated people to community supports. Terry Tibbett (Alaska Reentry Partnership) highlighted national evidence and state reentry work; Don Habiger (Juneau Reentry Coalition) flagged the Last Mile program (national pilot with low reported recidivism) as an example of programs that use secure digital education. Fairbanks and MATSU reentry coordinators described real‑world barriers — limited lab access, interruptions such as COVID shutdowns, fragile in‑person infrastructure — and said tablets would mitigate those problems and better prepare people for reentry.

The Department of Corrections said it supports SB 19 and has run a pilot at Highland Mountain Correctional Center. Commissioner Jen Winkelman said the pilot has been successful; Highland Superintendent Brandon Jones said the facility has enough tablets for the current population, is rolling out a digital law library, electronic mail, professional visitation and facility messaging, and is building foundations for request/grievance workflows. The pilot tablets are used for facility‑approved content and professional visitation on separate hardware, Jones said.

The sectional text prohibits correctional centers from charging inmates for device use and states devices are meant to supplement, not replace, in‑person services. The committee heard multiple invited witnesses argue that education and digital literacy reduce recidivism and improve employment outcomes; DOC and the reentry coalitions argued the bill would both increase available programming and reduce some security and transport costs.

The committee closed testimony and set SB 19 aside for a further hearing. No final vote was taken during the March 11 session.