Youth Courts in the State of Alaska was established by AS 47.12.400. Youth Courts allow minors to have their case heard, determined and disposed of in a court of their peers. The department may use Youth Courts for any minor whose alleged act constitutes a violation of a state law that is a misdemeanor or a violation of a municipal ordinance that prescribes a penalty not exceeding the penalties for a class A misdemeanor under state law.

Youth Courts are an efficient and effective approach for dealing with the problem of juvenile crime. Studies show that Youth Courts provide a meaningful response to offenders that effectively reduces the likelihood that they will commit additional crimes within their community. In Anchorage, the recidivism among Youth Court participants was only 6%, compared to 23% utilizing the traditional approach. Another advantage to this program is the fact that approximately 1,000 Alaskan students are involved in the adjudication process located in at least 14 communities statewide. Their participation fosters respect for the law through education and action. Not only is it estimated that cases processed through Youth Courts cost less than half of the amount of cases processed through district and superior courts, but it allows officers of the court to focus on the most serious offenses or repeat offenders.

The foremost concern facing Youth Courts in the State of Alaska is funding. These programs are dependent on the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant (JAIBG), a federal grant administered through the Division of Juvenile Justice. This grant funded community-based programs in FY 03 for a total of $832,675. In FY 04, the final grant award was for $229,000 in GF, which only funds Youth Court programs.

House Bill 303 would separately account for fines that have been imposed under the Sentencing and Probation statutes. The legislature may then appropriate a prescribed percentage of those fines that have been collected to the Youth Courts.

The permissive "may" and the inclusion of the final sentence of the bill has been found by the Alaska Supreme Court to not constitute unconstitutional dedicated funds because the legislature continues to be able to appropriate money as it sees fit.

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