Facts and Policy Reforms for Alaska
Like most states, Alaska’s prison population has exploded in recent decades.
Like most states, Alaska’s prison population has exploded in recent decades.
Between 1980 and 2016, the prison population in Alaska grew more than fivefold. As of 2017, Alaska had 4,237 people imprisoned in its state correctional institutions — a slight decrease from this population’s peak in 2015, when more than 5,000 people were imprisoned.
Aware of this unsustainable growth, Alaska’s lawmakers passed Justice Reinvestment legislation in July 2016 through Senate Bill 91. Unfortunately, this progress was cut short in 2017 when the Alaska Legislature rolled back portions of the reforms ushered in by S.B. 91, and again in May 2019, when the Legislature passed House Bill 49 to repeal and replace the S.B. 91. Under H.B. 49, it is estimated that Alaska’s prison population will exceed the capacity of every existing prison facility in the state within three years.
Unsurprisingly, Alaska’s mass incarceration crisishas had an enormous impact on people of color, especially Alaska Natives. Although they accounted for only 13 percent of the state adult population, Alaska Natives comprised 37 percent of the incarcerated population in Alaska in 2017. Black Alaskans are also disproportionately impacted by incarceration. As of 2017, one in 27 Black men in Alaska was incarcerated. Ending mass incarceration is a critical — although insufficient — step towards addressing racial disparities in Alaska’s criminal justice system as well as its broader society.
Women are also being sent to prison in Alaska at alarming rates. Since 2000, the number of women incarcerated has grown at more than four times the rate of increase in the number of men, nearly doubling the female prison population between 2000 and 2017.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Alaska can continue to dramatically reduce its prison population by implementing the following sensible reforms:
- Investing in and expanding alternatives to incarceration, particularly for people with mental health needs and substance use issues.
- Returning to the reform principles enacted through S.B. 91 and continuing to pursue evidence-informed policies to reduce time served while protecting public safety.
- Abandoning efforts to repeal Alaska’s Medicaid expansion.
- Expanding eligibility for presumptive parole and expanding access to compassionate release.
- Broadening the availability of earned credits against a prison sentence through participation in educational, vocational, and other opportunities.
If Alaska were to follow these and other reforms in this Smart Justice 50 State Blueprint, 2,224 fewer people would be in prison in the state by 2025, saving over $337 million that could be invested in schools, services, and other resources that would strengthen communities.
For more information, along with detailed breakdowns of Alaska’s prison population and the reforms needed to reduce it, click here.