Description:

The Criminal Division Central Office of the Department of Law is recruiting for an attorney to specialize in and handle matters involving a criminal defendant's competence, including pre-trial and pre-sentence competence, and hospitalization following a finding of incompetence. This is a statewide position that will serve as the subject matter expert on competency for the Criminal Division.

This position offers the incumbent the opportunity to vary their practice of law by handling competency matters in high level prosecutions, including conducting evidentiary hearings, advising attorneys on competency issues, and developing policies and trainings for prosecutors statewide.

The Criminal Division's role in competency matters does not stop after a finding of incompetency. Therefore, this position is also responsible for:

Assisting with cases following a finding of incompetency, including filing petitions for hospitalization on behalf of the assigned attorney;
Serving as a liaison between the Criminal Division, the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) and the court system for matters involving competency and hospitalization proceedings following criminal cases;
Tracking cases pending competency review, admission for restoration, and post-restoration review;
Serving as a point of contact for post-hospitalization updates to cases and ensuring appropriate victim contact and updates.

This position will assist with developing training and training prosecutors statewide on issues involving competency and post-competency hospitalization proceedings. These trainings can be a combination of in-person, video conference, webinars, and other mediums that can be as short as a brown bag lunch to multiday conferences.

Given the duties of this position, the desired applicant should demonstrate:

A reasonable familiarity with competency procedure in Alaska;
The ability to clearly communicate verbally and in writing;
Strong organizational skills and self-motivation;
The ability to work independently and also as a team;
The ability to think critically and reason logically.

These cases require a familiarity with mental health diagnoses and how those diagnoses may impact a defendant's competency, and a general understanding of scientific terms and concepts. Due to the complexity of competency cases, the following are desired qualifications:

Experience handling evidentiary hearings involving medical testimony;
A working knowledge of mental health diagnoses; and
The ability to interact with, interview, and critically review the reports of psychologists and psychiatrists.

It is expected this position will offer some opportunity for travel across the state, including for contested competency hearings and to assist with training. This position may be located in either Anchorage or Juneau.

Contact:
For further information, we encourage interested individuals to reach out to Criminal Division Director, Angie Kemp at angie.kemp@alaska.gov or Deputy Attorney General, John Skidmore at john.skidmore@alaska.gov.

Benefits & Compensation

State Benefits Package

Health benefits (including dental and vision), life insurance and voluntary supplemental benefits
Generous leave accrual, starting at 21 days a year
12 paid holidays
A variety of retirement plans
Potential eligibility for student loan forgiveness through the Public Loan Forgiveness Program.
37.5-hour workweek
Eligibility for part-time teleworking, alternate workweek, or a flex schedule after an initial training period.

Estimated Compensation
The table below gives an estimate of compensation based on a combination of judicial clerking and licensed legal experience. The compensation listed in the table represents the base pay. Several locations around Alaska have geographical pay differences. Upon a job offer, you would receive a firm salary quote based on location of position and qualifying experience. Attorneys are eligible to promote from Attorney 1 through 4 with service and acceptable job performance.

Attorney level Experience level Pay range and step Base pay*

Attorney 1 Unlicensed attorney 18 D or E $89,895 or $92,703
Attorney 2 Less than two years of licensed experience 20 C or D $99,235.50 or $102,843
Attorney 3 More than 2 but less than 4 years of licensed experience 22 B or C $109,882.50 or $113,256
Attorney 4 More than 4 years 24 B through F $125,482.50 – $143,734.50

Summary of Geographical Pay Rate Differences.

Location Base pay + geographical difference