Alaska Laws

Alaska is known as the biggest state as well as one of the coldest regions of the United States. Simply because this vast land mass is not landlocked to the other forty-eight states does not mean that all other federal laws do not apply. In fact it is governed by all of the necessary federal regulations as well as its own state laws, where federal laws do not stipulate.

Many of these laws include bankruptcy laws, labor laws, felony laws, gun laws, divorce laws, DUI laws, and many others. Despite being physically apart from the continental United States, Alaska's state laws are very similar to nearly any other state.

Bankruptcy
The bankruptcy laws for Alaska have recently been altered by the federal bankruptcy requires. Filing for bankruptcy in the past was often quick, simple, and could easily been done through do-it-yourself systems. Now bankruptcy laws require three times as much paperwork for a single filing. Additional paperwork was added to eliminate those who use bankruptcy as an easy way out of paying their credit card bills.

Alaska, in fact, states that bankruptcy is only for those who have encountered extreme medical bills, the loss of employment, the loss of an important client, or other personal situations where debts amounted quickly.

Divorce
Where individuals are allowed to file for divorce depends on their state and county of residency. This is true for the state of Alaska as well as all other states. Alaska has set specific residency requirements that state an individual must be a current Alaska citizen prior to filing for divorce.

Those who are stationed in Alaska for military duties are consider Alaska citizens after residing thirty days. Each individual filing for divorce is to file in his or her county of residency. This is a state and federal requirement as the county circuit courts handle all divorce cases. If a divorce suit is filed to the wrong county, the case will be thrown out.

Employment
There is currently no federal law requiring employers to pay their employees for any sick leave taken. This leaves the decision to the state level. Alaskan state law however also does not require that employees receive payment for taking sick time. Employers may then, at their own discretion, choose to provide paid sick leave or choose to pay for any unused sick leave when an employee is terminated.

Many employers believe that sick leave is often abused, so many businesses and companies have chosen to provide paid time off instead. This is also not required by the state but is an option.

Expungement
In many states individuals who have been convicted of some misdemeanors or felonies may later have their records expunged. The state of Alaska only allows cases of identity theft, mistaken identity, or any other form of mistaken charges to be expunged.

The state allows driving under the influence charges to be later sealed, but only if the individual was accidentally charged, was later pardoned, or had the warrant later reversed. Both misdemeanors and felonies cannot be expunged unless mistakenly charged.