Senate committee hears bill to create statewide address protection program for survivors and public-safety workers

Senate Bill 31, introduced by Senator Jesse Kiel, would create a statewide address protection program in the Department of Administration to give eligible participants a State of Alaska post office box for first-class and registered mail and to keep their real mailing addresses confidential.

Senator Jesse Kiel, sponsor of the bill, told the Senate State Affairs Committee on Jan. 28 the program is intended to help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, and would also be available to peace officers and correctional officers. "Many of those things create a public record," Kiel said. "We are one of only six states without an address protection program." Kiel described the program as a targeted confidentiality tool and said it is not intended to forward commercial packages.

Ella Atkinson (staff to Senator Kiel) summarized…