Legislature approves extra legal help for Alaskans who can’t afford attorneys

The Alaska State Capitol in Juneau is seen on Apr. 24, 2026. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

After four years of effort, the Alaska Legislature has passed a bill offering additional support for the underfunded organization that offers free legal help to Alaskans facing civil lawsuits.

“We’re so excited,” said Maggie Humm, executive director of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation. 

ALSC is the state’s largest provider of free legal assistance for survivors of domestic violence and abuse. It generally supports Alaskans who are unable to afford an attorney on their own.

Under state law, Alaska must provide criminal defendants with a defense attorney. No such mandate exists in civil cases, so the work falls to the ALSC, a nonprofit that lacks the budget to take on every request for help.

On Wednesday, the state Senate voted 17-3 to pass House Bill 48 and give the corporation 25% of all state court filing fees, up from 10%. The change is worth an extra $400,000 to the corporation.

The change does not affect funding for the Alaska Court System; the fees are otherwise used for general purposes, not the courts specifically.

Humm said earlier this year that ALSC provided legal help to roughly 6,200 Alaskans in 2024. By email on Wednesday, she said she expects another 800-850 people will be helped by the additional money.

Because the House passed HB 48 on a 27-13 vote in February, the Senate’s action on Wednesday will send the bill to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for final approval or veto.

Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, proposed an identical bill in 2023, and while that bill passed the Senate, it never received a vote in the House before the 33rd Alaska Legislature expired in 2024.

That left Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, to reintroduce the bill last year and restart the legislative process. 

By email, Humm said that if signed into law, the bill “helps to ensure that more low-income Alaskans facing issues such as domestic violence, elder fraud, and access to earned benefits receive the legal help they need to protect their safety, stability, and dignity. Investing in legal services benefits all Alaskans by helping resolve problems early, before they become more serious and costly challenges for both individuals and our communities.”

ALSC has been trying since 2011 to pass a bill that reserves 25% of the state’s court fees for the corporation. In 2018, the Legislature passed a measure allocating 10%. 

• James Brooks Cascade is a longtime Alaska reporter who lives in Juneau. He previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.