The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly passed an amended resolution supporting the constitutional right of Alaska Grand Juries to investigate and make recommendations on public welfare and safety concerns. Concerns regarding impartial justice were brought forward by borough residents about the court system and, in drafting this resolution, the Assembly hopes to provide the path to improve accountability and transparency of the judicial system and its officers.
Assembly Member Jesse Bjorkman:
“One of the things that we can do as an assembly is help raise your voices to describe a problem. That’s why I brought this resolution forward, that’s why all of you are here to raise your voices and to say, ‘there’s a problem, here, we’d like somebody to look into it.’ That’s what we’re asking the Alaska State Legislature to do, however we are not the Alaska State Legislature. These nine folks up here, we don’t have the power to make laws that would fix or provide a solution to you, but what we can do is offer suggestions about what is possible within the confines of the law that will be successful. That’s what I have tried to do. Crafting this resolution in a way that I think will be most successful. What I’m trying to do is land a solution that will pass, not just this body, but the Alaska State Legislature to provide a mechanism to enable investigative grand juries to do their work.”
The assembly requests the legislature to enact legislation that provides a mechanism under state law for the public to trigger independent grand jury investigations. The assembly believes the remedy to impartial justice concerns is a constitutional one, encouraging the state to implement an accountability system
In passing the resolution, the assembly says that the alleged denial of constitutional rights guaranteed by the Alaska Constitution is of great concern.
Click here for more information on Resolution 2022-004.