House Judiciary adopts committee substitute for infant safety device bill

The House Judiciary Committee adopted a committee substitute Thursday for legislation that would allow hospitals, fire stations, and tribal health facilities to install climate-controlled infant safety devices where parents could anonymously surrender newborns.

Alaska's Safe Surrender Law has been in effect since 2008, requiring parents to surrender newborns 21 days old or younger directly to police officers, firefighters, doctors, or other medical personnel. Since its passage, nine infants have been safely surrendered to authorized persons. However, three infants have been found abandoned in the state since 2013, two in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks. The Fairbanks infant survived, but both Anchorage infants died. In the most recent case in November 2024, an infant was found dead just one block from an Anchorage fire station.

Senate Bill 9 represents an evolution in Alaska's approach to infant safety, proposing to expand the existing law by authorizing infant safety devices as an alternative to in-person surrender. The bill passed the Alaska State Senate on March 31, 2026 on an 18-2 vote. Twenty-two other states have already created legal frameworks for such devices, and the bill would allow Alaska to join them in offering this option. The proposal gained momentum in the legislature earlier this year as lawmakers sought alternatives to the existing in-person surrender requirement.

The committee substitute for Senate Bill 9 adds two new sections. One protects parents who surrender infants under Alaska's Safe Surrender Law from civil consequences in professional licensing and certification. The other requires signage at infant safety devices to inform parents they can call 911 or surrender the infant directly to facility staff.

Committee aide Dylan Hitchcock Lopez explained that a parent who surrenders a child and follows all requirements of the Safe Surrender Law is immune from criminal prosecution. However, that parent is not immune from civil consequences, particularly in the licensing and certification arena.

"The intent of this is to remove that barrier, to say that, you know, as a matter of law, if you do what you are supposed to do, if you are in this situation, if you avail yourselves of Alaska's Safe Surrender Law, that truly is a safe surrender, and that cannot be held against you at a later point down the road in your life," Lopez said.

Senator Robert Myers, who represents the Fairbanks-North Pole area, sponsored the bill. He read a letter from Mallory Haynes, who adopted the Fairbanks infant found abandoned in a cardboard box on New Year's Eve 2021 during a severe weather event.

"Had Fairbanks had baby boxes, I do not know if the mother would have been able to access one or if she would have chosen to use one, but at least now we are one step closer to them being an option," Haynes wrote. "We are one of the coldest cities in the world, and if they are needed anywhere, it is here."