The Office of Special Prosecutions (OSP) handles a variety of statewide criminal prosecutions, including environmental crime, child support enforcement, welfare fraud, PFD and tax fraud, Medicaid provider fraud, cold case prosecutions, selected fish and game prosecutions, white collar crime, and other special prosecutions around the State including a unit that helps cover serious sexual and violent crimes in rural Alaska. The office is separately responsible for civil litigation challenging statutes related to criminal justice, provides legal assistance to the Alaska Police Standard Council, and reviews every officer involved shooting throughout the State. OSP is based in Anchorage, Alaska, with a satellite office in Juneau. Together, the office has twenty attorney positions, five victim-witness paralegals, six law office assistants, six investigators and a forensic accountant.
Jenna L. Gruenstein
Chief Assistant Attorney General
John Darnall
Deputy Chief Assistant Attorney General
310 K Street, Suite 701
Anchorage, AK 99501-2064
907-269-6250, Fax 907-269-7939
lawosp@alaska.gov
Office Hours M-TH 8-4:30, F 8-12:30
In 2019, the Department of Law was awarded $1.4 million over a three-year period to fund the hiring of two prosecutors and one support staff primarily dedicated to prosecuting cases involving crimes against persons that occur in our rural Alaskan communities. Since 2021, the rural prosecution team has covered well over 1000 cases, including homicides, sexual assault and sexual abuse cases, and assisted with training other prosecutors and local law enforcement. The rural prosecution team continues to do critical work for the State of Alaska in protecting the most vulnerable among us.
OSP has two dedicated positions focused on prosecuting sexual assault and sexual abuse cases occurring statewide. These positions also participate in training local prosecutors and law enforcement on sexual assault and abuse laws.
The HIDTA program was created by Congress as part of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The program provides funding to Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. As part of Alaska’s participation in the program, the Division receives funding to support two prosecutors in OSP. Our prosecutors work in conjunction with law enforcement throughout Alaska to remove illicit and dangerous drugs from our communities, including by holding offenders who traffic narcotics accountable.
OSP has three prosecutors whose primary responsibilities include prosecuting violations for welfare fraud, the sales or importation of alcohol in communities that have opted to either ban or limit alcohol in their communities, and fish and game violations. These prosecutors receive support from and work closely with members of the Division of Public Assistance and Department of Public Safety and other agencies.
The Alaska Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has been part of the Attorney General's Office since January 1992. The unit is located in Anchorage and has statewide jurisdiction. It is responsible for investigating and prosecuting Medicaid fraud and the abuse, neglect or financial exploitation of patients in any facility that accepts Medicaid funds.
The PFD & Tax Fraud Unit has statewide responsibility and jurisdiction for the investigation and prosecution of Permanent Fund Dividend fraud and violations of state law tax matters. Additionally, this unit regularly works with white-collar crime investigators at various state and federal agencies to advise in the investigation of white-collar crime cases and to prosecute those matters as appropriate. This unit also provides the Department of Revenue (DOR) and other state and federal agencies with ongoing legal advice and training in the development of fraud cases and assists in the development of uniform policies and procedures in investigating fraud cases.
The Child Support Enforcement Unit has Statewide responsibility for prosecuting non-custodial parents’ willful avoidance of financial support to their children. Working together with Department of Revenue investigators, OSP prosecutes those individuals who either have a history of non-payment to their children or have significant arrearages of at least $20,000 and are willfully failing to make payments. It is a felony in Alaska for failing to pay child support obligations where arrears are at least $20,000 or no payments have been made for over 24 consecutive months.
The Cold Case Unit has statewide responsibility for the prosecution of cases that have been unsolved for a period of at least five years. These cases typically involve the use of cutting-edge forensic science to uncover evidence from crimes dating back as far as the 1970s. Due to the statutes of limitations for many crimes, the Cold Case Unit almost exclusively prosecutes homicides and sexual assault cases. The unit consists of an Assistant Attorney General who works closely with cold case investigators from state and municipal law enforcement agencies, scientists at the Alaska State Crime Laboratory and the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
OSP is responsible for reviewing all officer-involved shootings in Alaska. OSP works with the Alaska State Troopers and other law enforcement agencies in investigating officer-involved shootings. OSP reviews the evidence surrounding each officer-involved shooting incident in order to make a legal determination as to whether the shooting was justified.
