Committee hears bill to expand, diversify Alaska Board of Parole and require annual reporting

Juneau — Senator Lukey Tobin on March 11 presented Senate Bill 62 to the Senate State Affairs Committee, proposing to expand and change the composition of the Alaska Board of Parole and to add an annual reporting requirement intended to increase transparency about parole decisions.

Tobin told the committee the bill does not change criminal law but would expand the board from five to seven seats, add selection criteria for members (including one seat reserved for a member of a federally recognized tribe, one seat with experience in drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation, one seat with a physician/psychiatrist/psychologist background, and one seat for a victim or victim‑advocacy organization), and apply limits on reappointment. He described Alaska’s high incarceration costs and declining discretionary parole approvals as motivations for the measure, and said more expertise on the board and periodic reporting would help policy makers and the public understand parole decisions and reduce recidivism.

Louie Flora, staff to Senator Tobin, provided a sectional analysis to the committee. Flora said the bill’s sections: expand the board to seven members, modify selection criteria and create defined seats, add a limit such that not more than three members may be current or former correctional employees, add definitions (including ‘‘federally recognized tribe’’), require an annual report on board operations and parole decisions, include an uncodified provision that members who have served two or more terms may finish their current term but not be reappointed, and set an effective date of January 2026. Flora also described changes to the statutory term language; the draft shows staggered five‑year terms in the replacement statutory language and an uncodified bar on reappointment after multiple terms.

Invited testimony was uniformly supportive. Karen Kann, who identified herself as a former Alaska deputy commissioner of corrections and later deputy secretary of corrections in New Mexico, urged the committee to pass SB 62 to make the parole process fairer and more accountable and to help incarcerated people have incentives to participate in rehabilitation programs. She said parole reviews that deny release without explanation discourage applicants from participating in programs. Megan Edge, prison project director at the ACLU of Alaska, also supported the bill; she told the committee that discretionary parole was granted in only about 27% of hearings in recent years and said SB 62 would provide needed expertise and public reporting to reduce arbitrary decision making and honor constitutional principles of reformation alongside public safety.

Committee members asked procedural questions about quorum and staffing effects. Staff told the committee the current quorum requirement is three members; expanding the board to seven would increase the quorum to four. The sponsor and staff discussed a recent sunset audit that cited a lack of clarity in parole decisions and recommended staff adjustments. Senator Tobin said the bill had been amended over the summer to respond to stakeholder concerns and that the sponsor sought a pragmatic approach to increase transparency and hope for incarcerated people.

The committee opened public testimony and left the record open; no final vote was recorded during the hearing. Committee leadership set SB 62 aside for a future hearing.