Alaska Employment Law

The current investigation informally called Troopergate has focused attention on a little known Alaska state agency.  The Alaska Personnel Board has received two complaints about Governor Sarah Palin’s conduct, one filed by Palin herself, and one filed by the union for the Alaska State Troopers. 

The Alaska Personnel Board administers complaints under the Alaska Ethics Act, AS 39.52.   The current Board members are Debra English of Anchorage, Chair, appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski in January of 2004, and reappointed by Gov. Palin in January of 2008; Laura Plenert of Ketchikan, appointed by Murkowski in March of 2004; and Alfred Tamagni, Sr. of Anchorage, appointed by Murkowski in March of 2006.   The Director of the Division of Personnel in the Department of Administration, currently Nicki Neal, acts as the Board’s Executive Director.

In practice, the Board rarely adjudicates ethics complaints.  It spends most of its time considering amendments to the Alaska Administrative Code and occasionally reviewing state government positions for movement between the classified and partially-exempt services. 

The Department of Law screens complaints of violations of the Alaska Ethics Act, AS 39.52.310(d), and, apparently, usually resolves them at that level. On the rare occasions when a complainant challenges the AG determination under AS 39.52.335(d), the Personnel Board reviews the decision by the Department of Law attorney assigned to that task, but, according to Neal, has no power to reverse the AG’s decision not to prosecute. 

On even rarer (non-existent?) occasions when the Board finds probable cause of an Ethics Act violation and is unable informally to resolve the matter, the AG (or, in the case of the governor as respondent, the retained independent counsel) prepares an “accusation.” The accusation is a public document. AS 39.52.350(a). The Board then appoints a hearing officer, who makes a recommendation to the Board. AS 39.52.350-.360. The hearing before the Personnel Board is open to the public, though the Board’s deliberations, of course, are not. AS 39.52.370. The Board’s action is appealable to the Superior Court.   The Personnel Board has not heard any Ethics Act accusations in the last several years, and perhaps much longer. 

The Board meets quarterly, and receives a quarterly report from the Ethics attorney in the Department of Law.  That attorney is now Julia Bockmon, formerly with Robertson Monagle in Anchorage.  The Ethics attorney’s reports are not publicly available. 

According to Neal, the Board records its actions only in its minutes. The Board’s minutes are available to the public, but are not posted on-line.

Under Alaska Statute 40.25.115, part of the Public Records Act, “A public agency is encouraged to make information available in usable electronic formats to the greatest extent feasible.” At the request of Alaska Employment Law blog, the Board is considering posting some of its documents on-line.