Alaska § 43.23.055 - Duties of the department.

§ 43.23.055. Duties of the department.

The department shall        (1) annually pay permanent fund dividends from the dividend fund;

 (2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year;

 (3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on behalf of the individual;

 (4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends;

 (5) use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under AS 43.23.005 (d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those individuals;

 (6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005 (d) and 43.23.048;

 (7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no application was submitted on behalf of the individual;

 (8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050 (a)(2) reissued if it is not collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued must be filed;

 (9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent fund dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010 , or the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the department shall provide the requesting agency with either             (A) access to the data base; or

 (B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement certifying its contents;

 (10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the             (A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in AS 11 , by detecting and investigating those crimes; and

 (B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions under AS 43.23.270 ;

 (11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is entitled to receive;

 (12) submit fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public Safety for a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 for the purpose of determining a person's qualifications and suitability for administering the permanent fund dividend program under this chapter.