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A state judge in Anchorage has again delayed a new election misconduct trial for former state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, after state prosecutors requested the postponement.

Earlier this year, judges Catherine Easter and Thomas Matthews scheduled a new trial for June, but Judge Josie Garton agreed on May 1 to postpone the trial until the state Court of Appeals takes up a review requested by the state. Under the current briefing schedule for that review, a trial isn’t likely until the fall at the earliest. 

In 2020, prosecutors accused LeDoux of five felonies and nine misdemeanors in connection with the 2018 primary election, the 2018 general election and the 2014 general election. They claimed LeDoux encouraged people to register to vote in her district despite not living there.

The charges related to the 2014 election were dismissed as untimely.

The remainder went to trial in November and December 2024, but that ended in a mistrial after jurors could not agree on LeDoux’s guilt or innocence.

After the mistrial, LeDoux and her attorney filed an interlocutory appeal to challenge a legal definition that would be given to a jury. At issue is the definition of when a person establishes a residence necessary to register to vote.

LeDoux argued that a person who has bought a home within a district is eligible to register to vote there. The state argued that the person must actually be living within the home in order to register.

On Nov. 10, Garton ruled in favor of LeDoux’s interpretation of the law, thus striking down jury instructions that the state had sought.

Prosecutors have since appealed Garton’s ruling to the state Court of Appeals, and both sides are now trading written arguments ahead of possible oral arguments on the matter. 

A new status hearing on LeDoux’s case is scheduled for May 26. 

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Physician assistants may soon be able to operate more independently in Alaska, if Gov. Mike Dunleavy approves a bill passed Friday by the Alaska Legislature.

PAs currently operate many clinics in rural Alaska, but their duties have generally been described in state regulation, not law. That caused problems in 2023, when the state medical board proposed significantly restricting them. 

The board withdrew that proposal soon after it was introduced, but state lawmakers subsequently acted to protect physician assistants from further interference by advancing Senate Bill 89, which would put PAs into state law and allow them to act more independently. 

The bill was written using model legislation and it has the support of the Alaska State Medical Association.

In an 18-2 vote on Friday, the Alaska Senate finalized SB 89 and sent it to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for veto or approval. The state House approved it by a 38-2 vote on Thursday.

Physician assistants are not doctors but in Alaska must have a cooperative agreement with a doctor in order to work. 

SB 89 would remove that requirement if a PA works in a facility licensed by the Alaska Department of Health. If a PA works in a non-licensed facility, they will still need to meet the requirement.

State legislatures across the United States have been moving to encourage their work in an attempt to lower health care costs more generally.

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The Alaska Legislature has approved a bill that would update the law that governs how hospitals and clinics within the state share patient records and other health information.

In an 18-0 vote on Friday, the Alaska Senate approved Senate Bill 272, sending it to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for enactment or veto. The state House approved it 34-6 on Thursday.

Under existing state and federal law, the Alaska Department of Health is allowed to pick a third-party organization to operate a “Health Information Exchange” that transmits electronic health records from one hospital or clinic to another.

In Alaska, the organization is HealthEconnect Alaska, a nonprofit.

If signed into law, SB 272 would clarify the roles of the Department of Health and the organization operating the exchange. People whose records are transmitted through the exchange would be allowed to consent or object to different uses of their data. 

Kendra Sticka, executive director of HealthEconnect, testified in March that the new law is needed because when the original information exchange law was written in 2009, state officials weren’t sure how it would work in practice.

“And so the language in the current statute is somewhat confusing because we didn’t know what it was going to be,” she said.

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