House panel hears bill to restore PFDs for wrongfully convicted Alaskans

The House Finance Committee heard testimony Sunday on legislation that would allow Alaskans whose convictions are overturned to reclaim Permanent Fund dividends they lost while incarcerated.

Senate Bill 167 would permit exonerated residents to apply for back dividends within one year after the law takes effect. The bill is retroactive. Previously exonerated individuals would also have one year from enactment to apply. Committee discussion initially suggested the bill was not retroactive, but staff later clarified that page 3, line 8 of the bill makes it retroactive.

The bill could affect approximately five known cases, including the Fairbanks Four. The total is roughly $107,852 in back dividends.

State Senator Scott Kawasaki sponsored the measure. He said the state has a duty to make amends when the justice system fails.

Kawasaki said the state has a fundamental responsibility to ensure that every prosecution is fair and every conviction is just. If the system fails, such as when an Alaskan has been wrongfully convicted and then later has had their judgment vacated or reversed, the state must go beyond merely unlocking the cell. The state has a duty to make amends.

While incarcerated, Alaskans forfeit their Permanent Fund dividends to the state. For those rightfully convicted, that consequence is part of their sentence. But for those whose convictions are overturned, Kawasaki said, those funds represent a loss of personal property during that period of time.

The bill distinguishes between pardoned individuals, who remain ineligible, and exonerated individuals, who would qualify for back dividends. A person who is pardoned is different than a person who is exonerated, Kawasaki said.

Representative Sara Hannan noted that Alaska is one of only 12 states without compensation statutes for wrongful convictions. The Tanana Chiefs Conference letter says that Alaska is one of only 12 states that do not have compensation statutes for people that have been wrongly convicted, Hannan said.

Committee members discussed the bill's relationship to existing forfeited dividend funds. Under current statute, those funds support the Violent Crimes Compensation Board and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program. Testimony confirmed the bill would not take money from the Restorative Justice account. Restored dividends for exonerated individuals would come from a separate pool.

Representative Frank Tomaszewski asked how the bill would have affected the Fairbanks Four, who spent nearly 16 to 17 years in prison before being exonerated in 2015. Kawasaki said if the bill had been in effect at the time, they would have been able to apply for the dividends they would have received during their incarceration.