The Alaska Department of Law’s Criminal Division will be hosting its annual District Attorney’s/Paralegal Conference for state prosecutors and paralegals next month in Girdwood and Anchorage.

The conference, which is closed to the public, will be held at the Hotel Alyeska in Girdwood then the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage from Oct. 8 through Oct. 10.

Attorney have obligations under the Alaska Bar Association for continuing legal education, and the conference is the way Alaska fulfills that requirement, according to John Skidmore, the director of the state of Alaska Department of Law’s Criminal Division. The bar approves the conference’s agenda of topics.

Skidmore said roughly 125 attorneys and 34 paralegals work for the criminal division and will be attending this year.

The first two days will be in Girdwood in southcentral Alaska, and the last day of the conference will be in Anchorage.

The last day is a joint conference with prosecutors, public defenders and the judiciary, Skidmore said.

The conference has been held annually for at least the past 16 years, Skidmore said.

It is funded by the federal government through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women. That grant also funds other training for prosecutors and paralegals.

Issues relating to domestic violence are always a theme throughout the conference. This year’s keynote speaker, prosecutor Paul Greenwood, of San Diego, will be lecturing on elder abuse and caretaker fraud.

Juneau’s District Attorney David Brower said city prosecutors generally handle court proceedings for his office during the conference, but his office can be made available if necessary.

• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.