Press Release

State Prosecutors to Help Anchorage City Prosecutors in Misdemeanor Backlog

October 15, 2024

(Anchorage, AK) – An article ran this past weekend in the Anchorage Daily News that examines a shortage of prosecutors and many dismissed misdemeanor cases at the Anchorage Municipality.

“Public safety is one of the primary goals of any government. The Department of Law is not staffed to take on all misdemeanor prosecutions in Anchorage, but we are working to lend a hand to protect the public as best we can while the Municipal prosecutor’s office gets back on its feet. Many of our prosecutors live in Anchorage, so for many of us this is our community too,” said Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore.

The public sometimes confuses the government jurisdictions of the State versus the Muni. The Alaska Department of Law represents the State and files charges violating State statutes (both misdemeanors and felonies), whereas the Municipal Prosecutor’s Office files violations of the Anchorage Municipal Code (only misdemeanors). The Department of Law does have an office in Anchorage – the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office. These attorneys work on felony cases. The Municipality is the city of Anchorage. Muni prosecutors work on misdemeanor cases.

At the time of researching the aforementioned article, the State had not been asked for help by the Anchorage Municipality on its backlog of cases. Shortly before the article was published, however, the Muni reached out and asked for our assistance. Given the crisis at hand, the State is rapidly reviewing how it can best support the Muni by temporarily taking on the prosecution of some misdemeanor cases. The Department of Law also extended an invitation for Muni prosecutors to attend upcoming prosecutor trainings.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.