AS Title 39, Chapter 5: Qualifications, Appointment, and Tenure

Chapter 05. Qualifications, Appointment, and Tenure. Sec. 39.05.010. Employment of persons not citizens prohibited. [Repealed, § 29 ch 208 SLA 1975.] Sec. 39.05.020. Appointment of department heads. The governor shall appoint the head of each principal executive department in the state government. Each appointment is subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the legislature in joint session. Sec. 39.05.030. Service at governor's pleasure. Each principal executive officer serves at the pleasure of the governor. Sec. 39.05.035. Commission of office. After each appointment of a state officer, the governor shall execute a commission, which states that the person to whom it is issued is appointed and sets out the office to and the term for which the officer is appointed. The attorney general shall prescribe the form of the commission. Sec. 39.05.040. Oaths for executive officers, boards. The principal executive officer of each department and the member of each board within the state government shall take, sign, and file the oath of office required by the constitution before entering upon the duties of office. Sec. 39.05.045. Oaths for other employees. A public officer or employee of the state, before entering upon the duties of office, shall take and sign the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Alaska, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties as ............... to the best of my ability.” Sec. 39.05.050. Surety bonds. The principal executive officer of each department and subordinate officials shall furnish corporate surety bonds in the instance and amount required by law or determined by the governor upon recommendation of the commissioner of administration. The state shall pay the cost of the bond. The attorney general shall approve the form of the bond. Sec. 39.05.053. Terms of office. The term of office of a position or membership ends on March 1 of the year when the position's or membership's term expires except as otherwise provided in a law relating to positions or memberships on a specific board or commission. Sec. 39.05.055. Staggered initial terms. The terms of the initially appointed members of a board, commission, council, or other multi-member body that will have a continuing existence shall be set by the governor as follows: (1) in the case of three-member boards, for one, two, and three years; (2) in the case of four-member boards, for one, two, three, and four years; (3) in the case of five-member boards, for one, two, three, four, and five years; (4) in the case of six-member boards, two members serve for one year, two for two years, and two for three years; (5) in the case of seven-member boards, two members serve for one year, two for two years, and three for three years; (6) in the case of eight-member boards, two members serve for one year, two for two years, two for three years, and two for four years; (7) in the case of nine-member boards, three members serve for one year, three for two years, and three for three years; (8) in the case of 10-member boards, two members serve for one year, two for two years, two for three years, two for four years, and two for five years. Sec. 39.05.060. Appointment, qualifications, and terms of office of members of departmental boards, councils, or commissions. (a) Each member of the following shall be a citizen of the United States: (1) Local Boundary Commission; (2) Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. (b) The governor shall appoint each member on the basis of interest in public affairs, good judgment, knowledge and ability in the field of action of the department for which appointed, and with a view to providing diversity of interest and points of view in the membership. Appointments are subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the legislature in joint session. (c) [Repealed, § 56 ch 21 SLA 1985.] (d) A vacancy occurring during a term of office is filled in the same manner as the original appointment is made and, except as provided in AS 39.05.080 (4), is filled for the balance of the unexpired term. Except as otherwise provided by law, each member holds office at the pleasure of the governor notwithstanding the member's term. Sec. 39.05.065. Qualifications of members of the Board of Education and Early Development. (a) Each member of the Board of Education and Early Development shall be a citizen of the United States and have been a resident of Alaska for at least three years. (b) A member of the Board of Education and Early Development may also be a member of a district school board. Sec. 39.05.070. Purpose of AS 39.05.070 — 39.05.200. It is the purpose of AS 39.05.070 — 39.05.200 to provide procedural uniformity in the exercise of appointive powers conferred by the legislature to eliminate, insofar as possible, recess or interim appointments except in the event of death, resignation, inability to act, or other removal from office and the exercise, insofar as possible, of appointive powers only when the legislature is in session. Sec. 39.05.080. Procedure for all appointments. Except as otherwise provided in a law relating to the positions or memberships on a specific board or commission, appointment to a position or membership shall be made in the following manner: (1) Each governor shall present to the legislature the names of the persons appointed by that governor; each governor may present the name of a person appointed by a previous governor; only presentment that occurs during the time that the legislature is in regular session constitutes presentment under this section. The governor shall, within the first 15 days after the legislature convenes in regular session, present to the legislature for confirmation the names of the following persons: (A) persons appointed to a position or membership who have not previously been confirmed by the legislature, and (B) persons to be appointed to fill a position or membership the term of which will expire on or before March 1 during that session of the legislature. If an appointment is made after the first 15 days after the convening of the regular session but while the legislature is in regular session, the governor shall immediately present to the legislature for confirmation the name of the person appointed. (2) When appointments are presented to the legislature for confirmation, (A) the presiding officer of each house shall assign the name of each appointee to a standing committee of that house for a hearing, report, and recommendation; standing committees of the two houses assigned the same person's name for consideration may meet jointly to consider the qualifications of the person appointed and may issue either a separate or a joint report and recommendation concerning that person; then (B) the legislature shall, before the end of the regular session in which the appointments are presented, in joint session assembled, act on the appointments by confirming or declining to confirm by a majority vote of all of the members the appointments presented. (3) When the legislature declines to confirm an appointment, the legislature shall notify the governor of its action and a vacancy in the position or membership exists which the governor shall fill by making a new appointment. The governor may not appoint again the same person whose confirmation was refused for the same position or membership during the regular session of the legislature at which confirmation was refused. The person whose name is refused for appointment by the legislature may not thereafter be appointed to the same position or membership during the interim between regular legislative sessions. Failure of the legislature to act to confirm or decline to confirm an appointment during the regular session in which the appointment was presented is tantamount to a declination of confirmation on the day the regular session adjourns. (4) Pending confirmation or rejection of appointment by the legislature, persons appointed shall exercise the functions, have the powers, and be charged with the duties prescribed by law for the appointive positions or membership. However, the duration of an appointment made during the time period between regular sessions of the legislature by a person who is not still the governor on the first day of the next regular session ends on the date during the next regular session that the sitting governor presents for confirmation an appointment to the office. For the purpose of applying laws that limit the number of terms or parts of terms that may be served by a member of a board or commission, the part of the term of office that is served under an interim appointment immediately before the member is reappointed under this paragraph is considered to be merged with the part of the term of office that is served immediately after reappointment so that the two periods of service constitute only one part of a term. The duration of an appointment made during a regular session of the legislature and not presented to the legislature by the governor during that session ends no later than the last day of that session. The duration of an appointment made during an interim by a governor who is not in office at the beginning of the next regular session of the legislature ends no later than the last day of that regular session unless the governor who is in office during that session presents the person's name for confirmation. The same governor may not appoint the same person to the same position or membership if the person's appointment ends because of the governor's failure to present the person's name for confirmation. Sec. 39.05.090. Time limits in AS 39.05.080 . The time limitations concerning the submission and resubmission of names as prescribed in AS 39.05.080 do not apply to those appointments that by law require recommendations by professional groups. Sec. 39.05.100. Qualifications for appointment. (a) A person appointed to a board or commission of the state government shall be and have been before the last general election, (1) a registered voter in the state, if the appointment is made at large or (2) a registered voter from the judicial district, if the appointment is made from a specific judicial district. The student member of the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska appointed under AS 14.40.150 (b), the student member of the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education appointed under AS 14.42.015 (d), and a member of the Alaska Human Relations Commission appointed under AS 44.19.600 , are exempt from the requirement of this subsection if the member was not old enough to be a registered voter in the last general election. (b) A member of a board or commission of the state government who ceases to reside in the state during the member's term terminates membership on the board or commission. For the purposes of this section, the acceptance of employment outside the state for a six-month period or longer, or physical absence from the state for one year or longer, or registration as a voter in a municipal, county, district, state, or national election in a voting precinct outside the state is considered as discontinuing residence in the state. Sec. 39.05.110. [Renumbered as AS 39.05.200 .] Sec. 39.05.120. [Renumbered as AS 39.05.035 .] Sec. 39.05.130. [Renumbered as AS 39.05.045 .] Sec. 39.05.150. Information not to be requested of or volunteered by applicant for state employment. [Repealed, § 2 ch 237 SLA 1970.] Sec. 39.05.200. Definitions. In this chapter, (1) “confirmation” means confirmation or approval by the legislature of a name submitted for appointment to a position or membership; (2) “position or membership” means an executive position or membership on a state board, commission, authority, council, or committee that by law requires appointment by the governor and confirmation by the legislature.