Opinion ID: 1189753
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Is 22 AAC 20.200, the regulation which imposes fourteen standard conditions of parole, inconsistent with AS 33.16.150 which mandates one standard condition, and authorizes the board to require other conditions?

Text: Bynum argues that 22 AAC 20.200 conflicts with the statute which authorizes it, AS 33.16.150. An agency's regulations must be consistent with the authorizing statute. AS 44.62.030; Vail v. Coffman Engineers, Inc., 778 P.2d 211, 214 (Alaska 1989). Alaska Statute 33.16.150(a) states that [a]s a condition of parole, a prisoner released on discretionary or mandatory parole shall refrain from conduct punishable by imprisonment under state or federal law or municipal ordinance. This requirement is mandatory for all parolees. In addition, AS 33.16.150(b) lists seventeen additional conditions that the board may require of a parolee. The board has adopted regulations which require that all parolees follow eight of these conditions. 22 AAC 20.200. Bynum argues that the board's adoption of 22 AAC 20.200 is inconsistent with AS 33.16.150 because the regulation replaces the discretion intended by the statute with a per se rule. Administrative law doctrine lends support to the regulation at issue. If an administrative agency is given discretion to dole out a privilege or impose a restriction, the agency may generally restrict its own discretion by formulating mandatory rules. Fook Hong Mak v. Immigration & Naturalization Serv., 435 F.2d 728, 730 (2d Cir.1970); see also 2 Kenneth C. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise § 8:8, at 192-96 (2d ed. 1979). The agency need not engage in case-by-case review if it can formulate per se rules that are reasonable and consistent with the statutory framework. Davis, supra, § 8:8, at 192-93. The only limitation on the agency in adopting such rules is if individualized consideration is mandated by the text or purpose of the statutory scheme. Id. at 192 ([R]ules may preclude discretion as long as they do not cut off needed individualizing.). Nothing in AS 33.16.150 prohibits the board from mandating by regulation some of the statutory conditions listed in section 33.16.150(b). Neither the language nor the purpose of the statute suggests that individualized consideration of each of the 33.16.150(b) conditions is required in every case. Further, the board retains the discretion not to impose or to modify any conditions at any time. 22 AAC 20.200(c); 22 AAC 20.225. We conclude, therefore, that 22 AAC 20.200 is not in conflict with AS 33.16.150.