Special guests from the State of Alaska discussed advancements to state and tribal collaboration as follows:
Supreme Court Justice, Joel Bolger (Judge since 1997): Justice Bolger indicated that the Alaska court system is committed to improving relationship with tribal courts and provided some examples below.
1) Circle sentencing: In 1999 the Village of Kake began to study circle sentencing and accepted members in their circle. They formalized processes and amended criminal rules to allow state court judge or magistrate to refer to the peacemaking circle. Contact is Magistrate Mike Jackson. There is a plan with Shona tribe to refer cases in Kodiak, Chrystal Bay, and Copper River Valley. Contact: Superior Court Judge Eric Smith, phone # 907-746-8189.
2) Diversion projects: Involves referral from peace officer, law enforcement, or juvenile officer directly to a tribe rather than coming to state courts. Addressing cases such as underage drinking. City of Sitka reporting the Tribal Youth Diversion Effort has been effective. Kenaitze has also been diverting youth. The Alaska Division of Juvenile Justice has agreements involving St. Paul, San Pointe and Fort Utah. Contact: Sean, Doug or Heidi or call Rob Wood, operations manager for division: 907-261-4388.
3) Kenai Therapeutic Court: Judge Sweet and State Supreme Court Justice, Anna Moran, are working with Oregon Health and Science University to implement a therapeutic court. The focus is to engage people in ongoing treatment; the project will target offenders with substance abuse problems facing felonies and/or serious offenses, e.g. in danger of losing children or facing long prison sentences. Contact Judge Sweet at 907-335-7233.
Please check the box next to the following questions if the answer is 'yes'.
Please enter the applicable Event Date if there is an Event associated with this TTA.
When entering an Event Date, the Time is also required.
If the TTA is targeted to a particular audience or location, please complete the questions below.
Milestones are an element, activity, work product, or key task associated with completing the TTA (e.g. kick-off meeting, collect data from stake holders, deliver initial data analysis).
Please complete the fields below, if applicable, to create a milestone for this TTA.
Please respond to the Performance Metrics below. The Performance Metrics questions are based on the TTA Type indicated in the General Information section of the TTA.
Please submit a signed letter of support from your agency’s executive or other senior staff member. The letter can be emailed to or uploaded with this request. The letter should be submitted on official letterhead and include the following information:
- General information regarding the request for TTA services, i.e., the who, what, where, when, and why.
- The organizational and/or community needs specific to the request for TTA services.
- The benefits or anticipated outcomes from the receipt of TTA services.
By submitting this application to BJA NTTAC, I understand that upon approval of this application for TTA, the requestor agrees to keep BJA NTTAC informed of any circumstances that may impact the delivery of the TTA, including changes in the date of the event, event cancellation, or difficulties communicating with the assigned TTA provider.
Please call [site:phone] if you need further assistance completing this application.