How Sheriff Services Work in Alaska

Alaska handles county-style law enforcement differently from the other 49 states. It has no county governments and no elected county sheriffs in the usual sense. The state is divided into organized boroughs and one enormous unorganized borough. Policing is shared among the Alaska State Troopers, city and borough police departments, and village-based officers. This page collects the 19 offices in our database that carry a "Sheriff's Office" label, so you can find a phone number and mailing address quickly.

The label is a directory category, not a legal title. That means the name on a listing does not always match the agency that picks up the phone. Treat each entry as a starting point. A short call to the number shown will tell you whether you need the local police, the troopers, a borough office or a court-related service.

The Legal Framework Behind Alaska's Sheriff Listings

The Alaska Department of Public Safety is the state agency at the centre of law enforcement. Its Division of Alaska State Troopers patrols and investigates across the large areas that have no local police department. Troopers also provide court services such as courthouse security and prisoner transport. Boroughs and cities are organized under Title 29 of the Alaska Statutes, and each one decides whether to run its own police department, contract for services, or rely on the troopers.

That explains listings such as Haines Borough Sheriff's Office and Kodiak Island Borough Sheriff's Office. A borough is the closest thing Alaska has to a county. The directory uses the word county for borough and census-area records so that every state follows the same URL pattern. Census areas, such as Bethel or Dillingham, are statistical divisions of the unorganized borough. They are not governments and have no budget or council of their own.

Troopers, Boroughs and Village Officers: Who Covers Which Part of Alaska

Most of Alaska's land area lies in the unorganized borough, where no borough government exists to run a police force. In those places the troopers are the primary agency. They are often supported by Village Public Safety Officers, who are employed by regional Native nonprofit organizations with state funding, and by village police officers or tribal police hired by the local community.

The result is a patchwork. A resident of Anchorage may deal with a municipal police department for almost everything. Someone in a small Kuskokwim village may depend mainly on a village officer, with troopers arriving by plane or boat when a serious case requires it. Knowing which pattern applies to your community saves a lot of phone calls.

Anchorage, Juneau and the Southeast Hubs

The Anchorage listing, Anchorage County Sheriff's Office at 4501 Elmore Road (907-786-8900), sits in Anchorage Municipality County, the state's largest population centre. Policing there is organized at the municipal level, so ask the operator which unit handles your question. In the capital, the City And Borough Of Juneau Sheriff's Office listing at 6255 Alaway Avenue (907-586-0600) falls within Juneau City and Borough County. Juneau is a consolidated city and borough with no road connection to the rest of the state.

Southeast Alaska has several similar listings. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Sheriff's Office is at 1900 1st Avenue (907-228-6625). The City And Borough Of Sitka Sheriff's Office is at 100 Lincoln Street (907-747-3294). The Petersburg Borough Sheriff's Office is at 12 South Nordic Drive (907-772-4425). These communities sit on islands or narrow coastal strips and are reached mainly by air or by the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, so in-person visits take planning.

Arctic, Bush and Western Alaska Offices

The North Slope Borough Sheriff's Office listing (PO Box 21030, Anaktuvuk Pass, 907-661-3612) belongs to North Slope County. The North Slope Borough is larger than many US states, and Anaktuvuk Pass is a small inland community in the Brooks Range that is reached by air. Farther south and west, the Bethel County Sheriff's Office (PO Box 1388, 907-543-2047) serves the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, where most villages have no road connection to a hub town. The Nome County Sheriff's Office is at 102 Greg Kruschek Ave (907-443-5262), and the Dillingham County Sheriff's Office uses PO Box 889 (907-842-5354) in the Bristol Bay region.

Other rural entries include the Valdez-Cordova County Sheriff's Office (PO Box 307, Valdez, 907-835-4313) and the City And Borough Of Yakutat Sheriff's Office at 309 Max Italio Drive (907-784-3323). The Lake And Peninsula Borough Sheriff's Office uses PO Box 495 in King Salmon (907-246-3421). In the far southeast, the Prince Of Wales - Hyder County Sheriff's Office is listed at 1034 Killer Whale Street in Metlakatla, which sits on the Annette Island Reserve. We have no phone number on file for that entry.

Reading the Alaska Sheriff Listings Without Being Misdirected

Several listings reflect census geography rather than current government structure. Spotting these quirks will keep you from calling the wrong place.

What to Bring and When to Call Before You Go

For an emergency, dial 911 where the service exists. Not every Alaska village has 911, so check your community's emergency number now and save it in your phone. Use the listed numbers on this page for non-emergency questions such as records requests, local ordinances or court paperwork.

If you are dealing with a court matter, bring the case number, the documents and a government-issued photo ID. Ask whether the office serves civil papers or whether you should contact the Alaska Court System clerk instead. Fees vary and are set by the agency or court involved, so ask for the current amount before you pay.

Call ahead for every visit. Rural offices may have limited hours, and an officer may be away on a call or travelling to another village. Alaska Time is four hours behind Eastern Time in winter, which matters if you phone from outside the state. Leave a clear message with your name, number and reason for calling, and expect that a callback may take a day or more in remote areas.

Sheriff offices in Alaska are independently elected county agencies responsible for law enforcement, jail operations, and civil process service. Each county in Alaska elects its own sheriff, who serves as the chief law enforcement officer for that county's unincorporated areas.

Sheriff locations are available in 18 cities across Alaska. They are spread across 17 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration of sheriff office listings include Haines, King Salmon, Yakutat, reflecting the population centers where multiple sub-offices or specialty divisions may be located.

Alaska residents should note that sheriff offices handle civil law enforcement functions — such as serving eviction notices and foreclosure papers — in addition to criminal law enforcement, so the sheriff office is often the correct point of contact for civil legal matters at the county level.

Sheriff by Counties

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If you are a Alaska resident looking to obtain a concealed carry permit, request a background check clearance letter, or serve legal documents through official channels, your county sheriff office is the starting point — contact them directly to confirm required documentation and current processing times.

Browse Sheriff by county across Alaska to find the nearest location.

Distance, Weather and Local Practice Across Alaska

Geography shapes every interaction with a local law enforcement office in Alaska. Many communities have no road link to a larger town, and winter storms can ground flights for days. If you plan to visit an office in person, confirm that someone will be there and that you can get there and back. The Kodiak Island Borough Sheriff's Office, listed at 2160 Mill Bay Road (907-486-8000), serves an island reached by air or ferry. The Northwest Arctic Borough Sheriff's Office at 163 Lagoon Street in Kotzebue (907-442-2500) is the listing for Northwest Arctic County, where nearly every trip beyond town goes by plane, boat or snow machine.

Many everyday needs can be handled by phone or mail. In Southeast Alaska, Wrangell-Petersburg (C County has two entries: the Petersburg Borough Sheriff's Office at 12 South Nordic Drive (907-772-4425) and the City And Borough Of Wrangell Sheriff's Office at PO Box 531 (907-874-2381). These are neighbouring communities, but they are separate local governments with their own procedures. Always contact the one that covers the address where your issue occurred.

The questions below cover the points that confuse people most often. For anything involving a deadline, such as a court date or a legal filing, confirm the details with the agency or the court directly.

Not in the traditional sense. Alaska has no county governments, so there are no countywide elected sheriffs. Law enforcement comes from the Alaska State Troopers, which are part of the Department of Public Safety, from city and borough police departments, and from village-based officers in smaller communities. The offices in this directory carry a Sheriff's Office label because the directory sorts local law enforcement into categories used nationwide. When you call a listed number, ask which agency actually handles your issue. It may be a borough department, a police force or the troopers.

In the unorganized borough, the Alaska State Troopers are the primary agency. Many villages also have a Village Public Safety Officer, employed by a regional Native nonprofit with state funding, or a village police officer or tribal police employed by the community. These local officers are often the first to respond, and troopers travel in for serious incidents. If you live in a small community, find out ahead of time who your local officer is and what number to call, because 911 is not available everywhere. Write that number somewhere visible in your home.

Start with the clerk at the Alaska Court System location handling your case. The clerk can explain the service rules for your type of filing and tell you whether service is done by court services staff, by a private process server or by another method the court allows. Practice differs by community, and the listed offices may not all offer this service. Bring the case number, the documents to be served and the address where the person can be found. Ask about the fee before you submit anything, since amounts vary by service and location.

Alaska generally allows adults aged 21 and older who may legally possess a firearm to carry a concealed handgun without a permit. The state still offers an optional concealed handgun permit through the Department of Public Safety, which some people obtain so that other states will recognize their right to carry. Rules about where you can carry, such as certain government buildings, bars and school grounds, still apply, as do duties when you are stopped by an officer. Laws change, so check the current requirements with the Department of Public Safety rather than relying on a local office.

Our database has two records for Haines: the Haines Borough Sheriff's Office at 103 3rd Avenue South and the Hoonah-Angoon County Sheriff's Office at PO Box 1209. Both show 907-766-2231. This likely happens because the same local office is recorded under a borough name and under a census-area name. Haines sits in the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, which is a statistical region rather than a government. Call the shared number first and say where the matter took place. If the person who answers cannot help, ask who can, and note the answer for next time.

A post office box works for letters but not for visits. Several Alaska entries, including Bethel, Dillingham, King Salmon and Valdez, list only a PO box plus a phone number, so call and ask for a street address and hours. The Prince Of Wales - Hyder County Sheriff's Office in Metlakatla, at 1034 Killer Whale Street, has no phone number in our records. For that one, contact the community or borough office, or ask the Alaska State Troopers for the right local contact. Allow extra time for mail, since delivery to remote communities can take longer than in larger towns.