Rural Justice & Law Enforcement

The Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission (ARJLEC) was created by Congress in 2004 and was charged with the task of studying four areas of the law related to rural Alaska including: law enforcement, judicial services, alcohol importation and interdiction, and domestic violence and child abuse.

With these changes in mind, nine broad categories of recommendations for improving the four aspects of rural justice identified in the Commission's legislative mandate were identified: (1) Engaging in more partnerships and collaboration, (2) Making systemic changes to improve rural justice law enforcement, (3) Enlarge the use of community-based solutions, (4) Broaden the use of prevention approaches, (5) Broaden the use of therapeutic approaches, (6) Increase employment of rural residents in law enforcement and judicial services, (7) Build additional capacity, (8) Increase access to judicial services, and (9) Expand the use of new technologies.

At the legislative level we continue to improve our state bootlegging and local option laws - topics strongly tied to concerns raised by the Commission with respect to the use, sale and abuse of alcohol in rural Alaska. At the departmental level, we have created new law enforcement and rural prosecution positions and worked with federal agencies to step up rural alcohol interdiction efforts. Our goal is to work with village residents to address their needs.