State hopes new law allowing DOC to issue ID cards will reduce recidivism for those leaving custody

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Gov. Mike Dunleavy is scheduled to sign Senate Bill 119 into law this Saturday in Fairbanks that will give the Alaska Department of Corrections statutory authority to issue state IDs to inmates leaving custody in Alaska who don’t already have one.

“What we learned from doing the re-entry simulations in different communities across Alaska was that there was a notion of the challenges associated with releasing inmates when they don’t have an ID to do things like get housing and set up a bank account,” DOC Commissioner Jen Winkelman said. “We recognized that to start those next steps.”

The bill was read for the first time in the state Legislature on March 31 of this year, but Winkelman said that DOC staff had been talking about upgrading the current ID voucher program at the state’s 13 facilities and 15 community jails they have agreements with for much longer.

“We’re going to help inmates be better than they were when they came to us,” Winkelman said. “They’re coming to us at a low, and so when we’re able to give them something they didn’t have when they came in, it may just be that ticket, that one thing that helps them get to that housing, to get to that job, to get to that bank account.”

The ID would be considered valid state identification, Winkelman said, although it would have limitations — it would be valid for 180 days and could be exchanged for a permanent ID at an Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles office. Holders of this type of ID would not be allowed to buy marijuana or alcohol with it.

“We anticipate questions from the community and from vendors and employers and banks on it, and we will be prepared to answer those with regard to where it is in statute now,” Winkelman said.

While lack of and ID, birth certificate, or Social Security card doesn’t directly cause criminal activity, it can contribute to the situations in which people commit crimes. Leaving incarceration without a valid ID can make it tougher for former inmates to succeed, because they may have to rely on the very people who contributed to them getting in trouble in the first place.

“A sense of autonomy and not having to rely on the choices that probably got them in there to begin with,” Winkelman said.

There are about 4,500 inmates in Alaska’s adult correctional institutions at any given time, with about 95% of those incarcerated eventually returning to society. Having those returning inmates equipped with state IDs contributes to a situation where they return with a long-term, positive lifestyle.

“Incredibly important — and it makes the streets safer, without a doubt. Because when they are leading a pro-social life and doing something that is, and what I mean by that is getting a job and doing something that is not hurting another person,” Winkelman said. “We’re going to have safer neighbors.”

After being signed into law Saturday, SB 119 will take effect on Jan. 1 of 2024.

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