Richard Heller, Appellant v. State of Alaska, Department of Revenue, Appellee

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Richard Heller’s 2007 Permanent Fund Dividend because he had not resided in Alaska for six consecutive months before leaving for military service, as required by the governing statute. The court held that the statute permits combining military and other allowable absences but does not permit an applicant to satisfy the six-month requirement while already outside Alaska. It further held that the requirement is a bona fide residency rule that survives federal rational-basis review and Alaska’s sliding-scale equal-protection analysis. Justice Winfree, joined by Justice Stowers, agreed that Heller was statutorily ineligible but dissented from the constitutional analysis, concluding that the statute was an unconstitutional durational residency requirement.