Governor Praises Passage of SB 218 (Alaska)

Encourages conference committee action on meth/marijuana bill

Alaska Governor Frank H. Murkowski Wednesday praised House passage of Senate Bill 218. The legislation had previously passed the Senate, paving the way for transmittal to the governor's desk.

"I want to thank Senator Bunde for his tireless work on this critical issue. Keeping our children safe from sexual predators is one of the most important obligations of government and of society," said the governor. "I also want to thank the Departments of Corrections, Law and Public Safety for their roles in this process."

The legislation increases sentencing for the most egregious unclassified and Class A sexual felonies against a minor to a minimum sentence of 25 years and increases sentencing for unclassified and Class A sexual felonies against an adult to a minimum of 20 years. The bill also restructures and increases sentencing for Class B and Class C sexual offenses and requires periodic polygraph testing for sex offenders on probation and parole.

"As we move toward the waning weeks of session, I want to thank the Legislature for their efforts in keeping Alaska healthy and safe," said Murkowski. "I look forward to a positive outcome from the conference committee on the meth/marijuana legislation. As I have stated before, I strongly believe that this legislation is necessary in helping our troopers, probation and correctional officers and court system battle against illegal drugs in our communities."

The governor highlighted photos he received from the Alaska State Troopers showing recent results from a Bethel drug bust. Street value of the seized drugs is estimated at nearly $1 million.

"As these photos show, we continue to have a huge problem with illegal substances in our communities. One can only imagine the devastation and destruction that these drugs cause to impacted families, children and young people," said the governor. "Our troopers have done an outstanding job, once again, in getting drugs off of our streets. But these photos highlight the need for the meth/marijuana bill as a tool in the toolkit of our law enforcement professionals."

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