On January 23, 2026, Vice Chair Anna Brawley convened a work session of the Anchorage Municipal Assembly to review Ordinance 2026-10, a proposed amendment to Title VIII of the municipal code. The ordinance aims to close enforcement gaps in existing penal codes regarding indecent exposure, public sexual conduct, threatening behavior, spitting, and public intoxication. Municipal Attorney Eva Gardner, Chief Case, and Prosecutor Dennis Wheeler presented the legal framework, emphasizing that the changes are designed to better align statutes with on-the-ground law enforcement realities, shifting the focus from merely prohibiting conduct to enabling actionable penalties and improved compliance.
All right, everyone, let's call this work session to order. Today is Friday, uh January 23rd. Um, uh, this is uh Vice Chair Brawley. I'll be running the work session today as Mr. Constant is out of town. Um, and so first we'll do introductions. Oh, and and this is um the work session is on AO 2026 10, an ordinance of the Anchorage Municipal Assembly to promote safe public spaces by amending uh code chapters 810 and 830 to expand prohibitions on unsafe and inappropriate conduct and provide criminal penalties. So that's what we're talking about today. We'll do introductions and then we'll turn it over to our presenters. And I will also note for folks watching online, um, there is a presentation that you can download um on the website, and then members have it in their email. Uh so first we'll start in the room. Go ahead, Mr. Thompson. Zach Johnson, Scott Myers. Anna Brawley. And then on the phone, we have uh Mr. Martinez. Yes, thank you. Ms. Baldwin Day. Thank you. And Mr. Gerker. Yes, present. Thank you. Great. And any other members I missed. Okay, uh, we'll keep an eye on that. And then again, uh, folks on the phone just text me to get in the queue. And we also have uh members of the administration who will introduce themselves shortly, and also in the back, uh members of the public, assembly council, and clerk's office. So with that, uh let's move on and I will turn it over to Chief Case or maybe Ms. Gardner, whoever would like to start. Thank you. Umunicipal attorney Eva Gardner, and up here we've got uh Chief Case from APD and Dennis Wheeler, municipal prosecutor. Uh so we'll all be available to answer questions if you have them. Uh so this ordinance, AO 2026 10, is designed to promote safety in public spaces by closing some gaps that we noticed in our Title VIII uh penal code and refine some of the tools that existed in there to better match the situations that law enforcement officers actually see on the ground. Um go to the first slide. So it does it touches two sections of code. The first one is AMC 81080, which is the section on indecent exposure. And what this does is add a new section that makes it uh misdemeanor crime to expose your genitals in a public place. Um, you might think this is already illegal, but the way that the law is currently drafted, you need a victim to enforce this, you essentially need a victim available to testify as a witness in a proceeding in order to pursue and really uh succeed on charges if they need to be brought. Um, and that in practice is a little bit difficult because often people don't want to stick around when somebody is exposing themselves at them. And we have seen this um issue come up a few times where you know the kind of the victim gets away from there and somebody else sees it, but the code requires the witness to have been offended. Um that's how the courts tend to interpret it. And so if you have, you know, let's say uh a witness who was not personally offended by it, then they aren't really going to be helpful in promoting uh prosecution of these charges. So this one broadens it um to just acknowledge that it is actually inappropriate to expose yourself uh in a public place where other people can see you. Uh and there are some exceptions for adult uh establishments to ensure that those are still able to operate uh legally. Um next slide. And the next section of code that it touches is the section on disorderly conduct in AMC 830120. And disorderly conduct is kind of the this isn't in the section of code on crimes against public order, and this is what I think of as the grab bag of things that you shouldn't be doing in public that don't quite fit anywhere else.