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 Criminology and Criminal Justice and in Legal Studies. The Legal Studies degree and certificate programs are approved by the American Bar
Association Standing Committee on Paralegals. 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.
This year's annual Crime in Alaska report was recently released. Brad Myrstol, Justice Center Professor and Alaska Justice Information Center Director, discussed the data compiled from police agencies across the state with Anchorage Daily News.
UAA Justice Center Professor and Alaska Justice Information Center Director, Brad Myrstol, spoke with KNBA about the disproportionally high number of Alaska Native and American Indian inmates in the Alaskan and U.S. prison system.
Kimberly Russell was raised in Anchorage and is a 2008 UAA Justice graduate who currently works at McLaughlin Youth Center as a Social Services Associate II.
Back in the early 1990s, newspaper headlines were fixated on Rodney King and O.J. Simpson-two of the most renowned court cases of David Campbell's generation. In his early 20s at the time, David remembers how current events and an Introduction to Justice course finally piqued his interest enough to settle on a major.
J.R. Dull has his dream job-working with kids in the Bristol Bay Region and helping them stay out of trouble, and if they don't, helping them get the services they need to get back on track. J.R. is the supervising juvenile probation officer in Dillingham, Alaska, and is responsible for all the juvenile cases in the 32 villages in the Bristol Bay Region, an area of about 40,000 square miles. Born in Dillingham and raised in the village of New Stuyahok on the Nushagak River, J.R. moved back to Dillingham for high school, then on to Anchorage to pursue a major in justice at UAA.
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.