House Judiciary Advances Bill Restoring PFDs for Wrongfully Convicted

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to advance Senate Bill 167, which restores eligibility for Permanent Fund Dividends to Alaskans whose convictions were vacated or reversed on appeal. The bill now moves to the full House with individual recommendations from committee members.

The legislation addresses cases like the Fairbanks Four, a group of Alaska Native men who spent nearly two decades in prison before their murder convictions were vacated in 2015. The case drew widespread public attention and sparked broader conversations about wrongful convictions in Alaska's criminal justice system. Under current law, individuals incarcerated for felonies cannot receive PFDs. Amounts equal to what they would have received are transferred to the state's restorative justice account. Senate Bill 167 would allow those whose convictions were later vacated or reversed to apply for the dividends they missed.

"Our community in Fairbanks has been affected notably with the Fairbanks Four, with folks that have been wrongfully convicted, and this bill aims to seek to return what is their personal property," said Matty Hull, staff to sponsor Senator Scott Kawasaki, during the hearing.

The committee adopted a substitute version of the bill that makes it identical to House Bill 189, a companion measure previously considered by the committee. Committee aide Dylan Hitchcock Lopez explained that the substitute removes Sections 1, 4, 5, and 6 from the previous Senate bill version. The remaining sections were renumbered to conform to the deletions. The substitute keeps the core provision that restores PFD eligibility for individuals whose convictions were vacated or reversed.

Hitchcock Lopez said the substitute restores PFD eligibility for individuals whose convictions were vacated or reversed. It establishes application procedures for claiming past PFDs. It adds that a prior transfer to the restorative justice account does not disqualify an otherwise eligible individual from receiving those past PFDs.

The restorative justice account, created under Alaska Statute 43.23.048, receives funds equal to PFDs that would have been paid to incarcerated individuals. The legislature appropriates money from that account to crime victims' compensation, the Office of Victims' Rights, nonprofit organizations serving crime victims and domestic violence programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment for offenders, and the Department of Corrections.

Representative Costello raised questions about whether the bill's language properly aligned with existing statutes governing the restorative justice account. She noted that when she looked at the statute, it actually listed out that the dividend for those who had to have it relinquished goes into specifically the Violent Crimes Compensation Board and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program. She wanted to ensure that dividends transferred on behalf of incarcerated individuals continued to fund the specific programs designated by law.

Hitchcock Lopez clarified that the bill does not change how the restorative justice account operates or where its funds are allocated. "This bill doesn't have any implication on those accounts and how they're structured and where the money goes," he said.

The statute directs the legislature to appropriate funds from the restorative justice account in specific percentages: 10 to 13 percent to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund, 2 to 6 percent to the Office of Victims' Rights for payments to crime victims, 1 to 3 percent to nonprofit organizations providing services for crime victims and domestic violence and sexual assault programs, 1 to 3 percent to nonprofit organizations for mental health services and substance abuse treatment for offenders, and 79 to 88 percent to the Department of Corrections for incarceration or probation costs.

The bill specifies that individuals whose convictions were vacated or reversed can apply to claim past dividends they were denied. The prior transfer of funds to the restorative justice account does not disqualify them from receiving those payments.

Committee Chair Gray reported the measure out of committee. "Hearing no objections, Senate Bill 167, Work Order 34-LS0491/G, as in golf, is reported out of the House Judiciary Committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note," he said. He then authorized Legislative Legal Services to make any necessary technical and conforming changes to the bill before it advances to the House floor.

The measure had previously been heard in the Senate and passed that chamber before moving to the House. Wednesday's meeting was the bill's first hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

The House Judiciary Committee met Wednesday afternoon in the Gruenberg Room at the state Capitol in Juneau. The committee initially lacked a quorum when it convened at 1 p.m. Members present at the start included Representatives Gray, Costello and Vance. Representatives Mena and Aishide joined at 1:01 p.m., establishing a quorum. Representative Underwood joined the meeting at 1:11 p.m.