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The Office Of Victims' Rights is an agency of the Alaska Legislature that provides free legal services to victims of crime to help them obtain the rights they are guaranteed under the Alaska constitution and statutes with regard to their contacts with police, prosecutors, judges, and other criminal justice agencies in this state, as well as to advance and protect those victim rights in court when necessary and authorized by law.
In 2001 the Alaska legislature passed a law that created a new agency called the Alaska Office of Victims' Rights (OVR). Its purpose is to help victims of crime obtain the rights they have under the Alaska constitution and statutes with regard to their contacts with criminal justice agencies in this state. The OVR was created in the nature of an Inspector General's office within the legislative, rather than the executive branch, as a way of avoiding conflicts within state government. It was also to ensure that the director and his staff would have the necessary independence to investigate criminal justice agencies and make appropriate recommendations, in their effort to help crime victims and their families. The law, which may be found in Alaska statute (AS) 24.65.010-.250, went into effect on July 1, 2002.
The term "victim" has a very specific meaning in Alaska's law. The Alaska legislature has defined it very broadly in order to protect not only the person who was the actual and direct target of a crime committed by the person responsible for that act (who is referred to in the law as the "perpetrator"), but also that victim's immediate family. In order to obtain the services of the OVR you must fall within the broad legal definition of the term "victim" found in Alaska statute 12.55.185 (16), which is as follows: "Victim" means: (A) a person against whom an offense has been perpetrated; (B) one of the following, not the perpetrator, if the person specified in (A) of this paragraph is a minor, incompetent, or incapacitated: (i) an individual living in a spousal relationship with the person specified in (A) of this paragraph; or (ii) a parent, adult child, guardian, or custodian of the person; (C) one of the following, not the perpetrator, if the person specified in (A) of this paragraph is dead: (i) a person living in a spousal relationship with the deceased before the deceased died; (ii) an adult child, parent, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild of the deceased; or (iii) any other interested person, as may be designated by a person having authority in law to do so.
As a crime victim you have both constitutional and statutory rights. Your constitutional rights are those contained in Alaska's constitution. Statutory rights are those created by the Alaska legislature. • Constitutional Rights Article 1 Section 24 of Alaska's constitution guarantees crime victims the following constitutional rights: The right to be reasonably protected from the accused through the imposition of appropriate bail or conditions of release by the court; The right to confer with the prosecution; The right to be treated with dignity, respect, and fairness during all phases of the criminal and juvenile justice process; The right to timely disposition of the case following the arrest of the accused; The right to obtain information about and be allowed to be present at all criminal or juvenile proceedings where the accused has the right to be present; The right to be allowed to be heard, upon request, at sentencing, before or after conviction or juvenile adjudication, and at any proceeding where the accused's release from custody is considered; The right to restitution from the accused; and, The right to be informed, upon request, of the accused's escape or release from custody before or after conviction or juvenile adjudication. • Statutory Rights In addition to the above constitutional rights, crime victims in Alaska also have numerous statutory rights. Click here to see a comprehensive summary of your victim rights and the constitutional or statutory citations to all the above rights.
The OVR is required by law to keep secret all matters and information, as well as the identities of all complainants or witnesses coming before the OVR, except insofar as disclosures of such information may be necessary to enable the OVR to carry out its duties and to support its recommendations. However, the OVR may not disclose a confidential record obtained from a criminal justice agency.
The OVR is required by law to ensure that their exercise of discretion does not interfere with any ongoing criminal investigation by a police agency or any criminal proceeding by the prosecutor's office. Additionally, the director must make sure OVR employees do not make public statements that lawyers are prohibited from making by the Alaska Rules of Professional Conduct. Finally, the OVR may not prevent or discourage a victim from providing evidence, testifying or cooperating in a criminal investigation or criminal proceeding.
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