AK HB189

CSHB 189(STA) - Criminal Conviction Overturned: Receive Past PFD

• Individuals whose criminal convictions are vacated, reversed, or dismissed become eligible to receive permanent fund dividends for each year they were previously ineligible due to that conviction

• Eligibility requires either that charges are dismissed (not as part of a plea agreement in another case) or that the individual is retried and found not guilty

• Applications for back dividends must be filed within one year of the dismissal or not guilty finding

• Individuals remain eligible even if funds were previously transferred to the restorative justice account in lieu of their dividend payment

• Transition provision allows individuals whose dismissal or not guilty finding occurred before the act's effective date to apply within one year after the act takes effect