Alaska’s new Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth is no stranger to litigation. Lindemuth has been practicing law in the state for nearly 20 years and has argued cases before the Alaska Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Lindemuth also represented clients pro bono, including one of the men known as the Fairbanks Four, helping to secure the release of the men after 18 years in prison.
She said in private practice she worked with a dozen clients at one time, now she’s managing a staff of 450, overseeing a big range of diverse legal issues.
Lindemuth said the state’s recent decision to drop the litigation against tribes being able to request the Interior Department to hold certain lands in trust status, effectively putting it under protection by the federal government, should not be cause for concern by Alaskans worried about what trust status could mean.
LINDEMUTH: The federal government, the state, and then the ANCSA corporations, between those three groups, own more than 99% of the lands in Alaska. And so the less than 1% is in private hand or in tribal land. So like, there’s just very little land right now that could even be at play for lands into trust. And so, people need to keep that into perspective, right? And so, these issues… I really look forward to working through these issues but we shouldn’t decide what it’s going to look like until we’ve actually gotten there.
TOWNSEND: Well kind of continuing on that theme, the applications for tribes in Alaska applying to have land placed into trust will be made public at some point. The state could challenge them on an individual basis. Has there been any conversation about what would rise to the level of concern where the state may say, “Uh… not so sure we like this one?”
LINDEMUTH: So, you know I’ve been tasked by the governor and lieutenant governor to go out and engage with the different stakeholders. That includes the federal government, Bureau of Indian Affairs and it includes the tribes, and it includes ANCSA corporations. It includes industry. It includes the outdoor council and those who are concerned with game management issues. You know, it’s everyone. What the end result maybe could be, potentially you know additional federal regulation that addresses the unique aspects of Alaska. Or it could be that the state decides standards by which we will judge different applications that come uh, for trust applic – trust as. So that would give us, you know if these standards are met then we can approve it. And if these concerns are raised, then we will enter an objection.
TOWNSEND: The state has had an evolving relationship with tribal courts. How is the relationship between those tribal courts and the state law department, how has that – I mean you’ve only been there for weeks now – but what would you say the sort of trajectory of that relationship has been?
LINDEMUTH: There has been, even before I started, a lot of collaboration and work on different agreements that would empower the tribal courts. There’s several diversion agreements both in draft form with Tlingit Haida and with Tanana Chiefs, TCC. And those arrived on my desk with just a few more minor edits needed to get those finalized. And so we’re within probably a month or two of getting those agreements signed with both TCC and Tlingit Haida. There’s also the Kenaitze wellness court initiative and that’s also on my desk and we should be able to finalize that here soon. And so those efforts were already begun and already well underway before I started, and I get to arrive and sign the paperwork and you know claim this a victory.
TOWNSEND: Our state budget cuts, how challenging will it be for you as the new leader of the state law department to manage all that’s coming at you and in light of the fact that we’ve got less dough in the bank?
LINDEMUTH: You know, Lori, it’s extremely challenging that, you know, the state is facing a bunch of decisions ahead and you know it’s easy to say that folks that they want to cut government, but they have to realize that means cutting government services. Our budget, overall in the last three years, the overall budget has shrunk 15%. And then the unrestricted general fund budget, which is the actual budget that I have control over, has shrunk almost 27%. Those are the funds that we use for child protection and to prosecute crimes. The department, before I even gotten there, has really had to rearrange things and to make sure that the most important issues are dealt with. But in the last three years, the crime rate especially with the drug epidemic, has gone up. And so the demand on those attorneys, has actually increased tremendously. For example, for child protection cases, the number of cases has gone up 50% in two years. So, we’re actually, it’s not a matter of fewer lawyers dealing with the same workload. It’s fewer lawyers dealing with a larger caseload.
Lori Townsend is the news director and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452.
