The UAA Justice Center, established by the Alaska Legislature in 1975, has a mandate
to provide statewide justice-related education, research, and service. The Justice
Center is an interdisciplinary unit that provides undergraduate and professional education;
conducts research in the areas of crime, law, and justice; and provides services to
government units, justice agencies, and community organizations throughout urban and
rural Alaska to promote a safe, healthy, and just society.
The Justice Center is an academic and research unit within theCollege of Health at the University of Alaska Anchorage. We offeracademic programs in Justice and in Legal Studies. The Legal Studies programs are approved by the American Bar Association. Our faculty
conductresearchin a number of areas including violence and violent crime, law and the courts, substance
abuse, rural justice issues, homelessness, policing, and juvenile justice.
Academic Programs
Leading statewide efforts in criminal justice and criminology education, research
and service, the UAA Justice Center is a top choice among criminal justice schools
in Alaska and the U.S.
The Legal Studies BA program trains you in American law, legal processes and policy.
You’ll expand your legal knowledge and develop technical job skills in legal research,
analysis and writing.
Mateo Jaime, a Legal Studies student, arrived at the court hearing that would, finally, end his years in custody of the Alaska Office of Children’s Services in a buoyant mood. At age 21, young adults “age out” of foster care in Alaska if they have not been adopted or reunified with parents. A judge approves it in a hearing that amounts to a grim bureaucratic formality: A child has passed into adulthood without the foster care system laying a path to permanent legal family for them, and now they are on their own.
Trial and Advanced Litigation Processes students present their oral arguments before Justice Jennifer S. Henderson in the Alaska Supreme Court Courtroom on Oct. 3, 2022.
The Justice Center hosted a barbecue for its returning students on Sept. 8, 2022, at the Professional Studies Building of the University of Alaska Anchorage.
The UAA Justice Center worked in partnership with the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) through the Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance funded Alaska Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (AK-SAKI) to conduct research on DPS's policies and procedures related to sexual assault investigations, prosecutions, and victim-survivor engagement and support.
UAA Justice Center Assistant Professor Ingrid Johnson recently published an article in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, titled "Victim-Survivors’ Prioritization of Reasons for Non-Reporting Adult Sexual Assaults to Law Enforcement."
This manuscript used data from a survey of survivors of adult sexual assault in Alaska on their reasons for not reporting to the police, which was part of the Alaska Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (AK-SAKI).
The Alaska Justice Information Center (AJiC) compiles, analyzes, and reports on criminal justice topics in order to improve public
safety, to increase criminal justice system accountability, and to reduce recidivism.
The Alaska Victimization Survey (AVS) provides comprehensive statewide and regional
data to guide planning and policy development and to evaluate the impact of prevention
and intervention services.
The Alaska Justice Forum is a research journal focusing on justice and legal issues in Alaska. It was published
by the Justice Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
