The House Judiciary Committee adopted a committee substitute Thursday for legislation that would allow hospitals, fire stations, and tribal health facilities to install climate-controlled infant safety devices where parents could anonymously surrender newborns.

The committee substitute for Senate Bill 9 adds two new sections. One protects parents who surrender infants under Alaska's Safe Surrender Law from civil consequences in professional licensing and certification. The other requires signage at infant safety devices to inform parents they can call 911 or surrender the infant directly to facility staff.

"The intent of this is to remove that barrier, to say that, you know, as a matter of law, if you do what you are supposed to do, if you are in this situation, if you avail yourselves of Alaska's Safe Surrender Law, that truly is a safe surrender, and that cannot be held against you at a later point down the road in your life," committee aide Dylan Hitchcock Lopez said.

Since Alaska passed its Safe Surrender Law in 2008, nine infants have been safely surrendered to authorized persons. But three infants have been found abandoned in the state since 2013. Two were in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks. The Fairbanks infant survived. Both Anchorage infants died. In the most recent case in November 2024, an infant was found dead just one block from an Anchorage fire station.

Senator Robert Myers, who represents the Fairbanks-North Pole area, sponsored the bill. He read a letter from Mallory Haynes, who adopted the Fairbanks infant found abandoned in a cardboard box on New Year's Eve 2021 during a severe weather event.

"Had Fairbanks had baby boxes, I do not know if the mother would have been able to access one or if she would have chosen to use one, but at least now we are one step closer to them being an option," Haynes wrote. "We are one of the coldest cities in the world, and if they are needed anywhere, it is here."

The bill does not mandate installation of the devices or provide funding for them. Facilities would have to agree to install and provide monthly inspections. Groups in both Fairbanks and Anchorage have offered to pay for devices, but current law limits safe surrender to a person directly.

The devices would be climate-controlled, have automatic locks, require 24-hour video surveillance, and immediately trigger a 911 call when opened. They must be installed in conspicuous locations with appropriate signage.

Anchorage Fire Chief Doug Schragi testified that nothing currently prevents fire departments from installing the devices, but the lack of legal framework creates uncertainty about immunity from prosecution.

"The problem that we are trying to solve is that the current problem of immunity may be a deterrent, and it may be that people are fearful of the face-to-face interaction that is currently required as a condition for that immunity," Schragi said.