By: Haley Lehman, Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday that would grant back Permanent Fund dividends to Alaskans whose convictions are vacated, reversed or dismissed.
Under current Alaska law, people who were sentenced or incarcerated as a result of a felony conviction or certain combinations of multiple misdemeanors forfeit their dividends that year and any following years of incarceration. An amount equivalent to the incarcerated person’s dividend is deposited into a restorative justice account.
Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, the sponsor of Senate Bill 167, said Monday, “The state has a duty and obligation to rectify harm done to those who might have been wrongfully convicted and to those who have been exonerated of a crime.”
The bill would grant past dividends to people whose charges were later dismissed or if their conviction was vacated, their case was retried and they were acquitted. Individuals who qualify would have one year after their charges were reversed or dismissed to apply. Individuals whose charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement in another criminal case would not qualify for back payment of dividends.
When Kawasaki served in the House of Representatives, he sponsored a similar bill in 2017 that passed in that chamber 38-1.
Kawasaki told the Senate that this change would impact “very few people annually,” and would provide a “modest, essential source of income.”
The Department of Revenue was not able to determine the fiscal impact of the proposed legislation since the Permanent Fund Dividend Division does not know how many Alaskans with past vacated sentences will apply for a past year’s dividends. Funding for past PFDs comes from a reserve for prior years’ dividends in the budget.
The bill received support from Tanana Chiefs Conference and the nonprofit After Innocence.
Kawasaki estimated last year that Marvin Roberts, Eugene Vent, George Frese and Kevin Pease, known as the Fairbanks Four, would receive approximately $103,450 in back PFDs after they were wrongfully incarcerated in connection with the 1997 death of John Hartman.
