Opinion ID: 2510466
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The meaning of the phrase place of arrest is ambiguous in the statute and the regulation.

Text: We give popular or common words their ordinary meaning, if the words are not otherwise defined in the statute. [7] We may also consider how we have interpreted the words in other cases or statutes or how administrative agencies have used the words. [8] [P]lace of arrest is not defined in AS 33.30.081 or 22 AAC 05.585. Dictionary definitions for place support the conflicting interpretations proposed by Wilson and DOC. [9] Definitions supporting DOC's interpretation of place as meaning community include: a portion of space; an area with definite or indefinite boundaries; a definite location.... A particular town or city; [10] an indefinite region or expanse; and a particular region or center of population. [11] Definitions supporting Wilson's view that place is a precise location include: a definite location ... A house, apartment, or other abode; [12] and an individual dwelling or estate: house, homestead. [13] Wilson argues that place was meant to be a precise location rather than a community because 22 AAC 05.585(a) offers released inmates transportation to an alternative site  if they choose not to be returned to their place of arrest. (Emphasis added.) But DOC correctly argues that site has many possible definitions and could denote either an entire community or a specific building. Definitions of site include: the spatial location of an actual or planned structure or set of structures (as a building, town, or monuments); [14] local position of a building, town, monument, or similar work either constructed or to be constructed, esp. in connection with its surroundings; scene of an action ... or specified activity; [15] and a place or location; esp., a piece of property set aside for a specific use. [16] Wilson argues that we should look to the use of place in AS 12.70.070, which authorizes a police officer holding a valid warrant to arrest the accused at any time and any place where the accused may be found within the state. But the meaning of place is no more specific in that statute. Place could mean either the precise location or, more broadly, the community encompassing the exact place of the arrest. DOC responds that AS 12.70.070 has no relevance here. It points to Alaska Criminal Rule 4(c)(2), [17] which describes the territorial limits of an arrest warrant as any place within the jurisdiction of the State of Alaska. DOC points out that the arresting officer need only indicate the community where the offender was arrested as the place of arrest. [18] We do not find this use of place of arrest to be helpful in interpreting AS 33.30.081. Our prior opinions have used place of arrest almost exclusively to refer to the exact location of arrest, but those cases concerned search-and-seizure challenges for which the precise location was relevant to determining whether the search was incident to a lawful arrest. [19] These cases do not help us interpret place of arrest in AS 33.30.081.