Alaska Statutes
Alaska Stat. § 11.46.482 (2026)
Criminal mischief in the third degree
✓ current as of July 2026
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Sec. 11.46.482. Criminal mischief in the third degree.
(a) A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the third degree if, having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right,
(1) with intent to damage property of another, the person damages property of another in an amount of $750 or more;
(2) the person recklessly creates a risk of damage in an amount exceeding $100,000 to property of another by the use of widely dangerous means; or
(3) the person knowingly
(A) defaces, damages, or desecrates a cemetery or the contents of a cemetery or a tomb, grave, or memorial regardless of whether the tomb, grave, or memorial is in a cemetery or whether the cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial appears to be abandoned, lost, or neglected;
(B) removes human remains or associated burial artifacts from a cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial regardless of whether the cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial appears to be abandoned, lost, or neglected;
(C) defaces or damages real property that
(i) has a place of religious education or worship located on it; and
(ii) if leased or used by a religious organization and is part of a larger property, is the part of the property leased or used by the religious organization, including the access to the entry of that part of the property; or
(D) defaces or damages tangible personal property that has religious significance and is used by a religious organization or displayed for educational purposes.
(b) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under (a)(3) of this section that the defendant, at the time of the offense, was
(1) an employee of the cemetery and was engaged in an authorized activity on behalf of the cemetery;
(2) authorized by law or state permit to engage in the conduct; or
(3) an employee of a religious organization or the owner or operator or employee of the owner or operator of real property or tangible personal property under (a)(3)(C) or (D) of this section and was engaged in an authorized activity on behalf of the religious organization or the owner or operator of the real property or tangible personal property.
(c) In this section,
(1) “contents of a cemetery” includes anything that is designed or used for the protection, security, or ornamentation of a cemetery and that is located within a cemetery;
(2) “memorial” means a headstone, marker, gravestone, monument, or other object designed or intended to mark a gravesite or to memorialize the death of a person;
(3) “tomb” means a mausoleum, columbarium, or crypt, whether that mausoleum, columbarium, or crypt is located above or below ground.
(d) Criminal mischief in the third degree is a class C felony.
(a) A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the third degree if, having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right,
(1) with intent to damage property of another, the person damages property of another in an amount of $750 or more;
(2) the person recklessly creates a risk of damage in an amount exceeding $100,000 to property of another by the use of widely dangerous means; or
(3) the person knowingly
(A) defaces, damages, or desecrates a cemetery or the contents of a cemetery or a tomb, grave, or memorial regardless of whether the tomb, grave, or memorial is in a cemetery or whether the cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial appears to be abandoned, lost, or neglected;
(B) removes human remains or associated burial artifacts from a cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial regardless of whether the cemetery, tomb, grave, or memorial appears to be abandoned, lost, or neglected;
(C) defaces or damages real property that
(i) has a place of religious education or worship located on it; and
(ii) if leased or used by a religious organization and is part of a larger property, is the part of the property leased or used by the religious organization, including the access to the entry of that part of the property; or
(D) defaces or damages tangible personal property that has religious significance and is used by a religious organization or displayed for educational purposes.
(b) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under (a)(3) of this section that the defendant, at the time of the offense, was
(1) an employee of the cemetery and was engaged in an authorized activity on behalf of the cemetery;
(2) authorized by law or state permit to engage in the conduct; or
(3) an employee of a religious organization or the owner or operator or employee of the owner or operator of real property or tangible personal property under (a)(3)(C) or (D) of this section and was engaged in an authorized activity on behalf of the religious organization or the owner or operator of the real property or tangible personal property.
(c) In this section,
(1) “contents of a cemetery” includes anything that is designed or used for the protection, security, or ornamentation of a cemetery and that is located within a cemetery;
(2) “memorial” means a headstone, marker, gravestone, monument, or other object designed or intended to mark a gravesite or to memorialize the death of a person;
(3) “tomb” means a mausoleum, columbarium, or crypt, whether that mausoleum, columbarium, or crypt is located above or below ground.
(d) Criminal mischief in the third degree is a class C felony.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 32
cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1980–2025 · leading case: McGee v. State, 162 P.3d 1251 (Alaska 2007).
McGee v. State, 162 P.3d 1251 (Alaska 2007). “And since AS 11.46.482(a) unambiguously defines the essential elements of criminal mischief to include the absence of "any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right," we further conclude that the state bears the burden of proof on this element once an issue of…”
Austin v. State, 627 P.2d 657 (Alaska Ct. App. 1981). “Evans Austin pled guilty to a charge of criminal mischief in the second degree in violation of AS 11.46.482(a)(4), 1 a class C felony. He was charged with unlawfully taking a car and causing damage to it in excess of $500.”
Ardinger v. Hummell, 982 P.2d 727 (Alaska 1999). “Normandy appeals, maintaining that Joshua violated former AS 11.46.482(a)(4) by driving a car without its owner’s permission and damaging it, 28 and that “public policy precludes an action in tort for damages arising out of one’s criminal misconduct.”
Ortberg v. State, 751 P.2d 1368 (Alaska Ct. App. 1988). “, pled no contest and was convicted of criminal mischief in the second degree, a class C felony, in violation of AS 11.46.482(a)(1). He appeals, contending that the statute is unconstitutional on its face, that the trial court erred in refusing to permit him to withdraw his no…”
Willett v. State, 826 P.2d 1142 (Alaska Ct. App. 1992). “As the Colorado Supreme Court has stated in construing a criminal mischief statute similar to AS 11.46.482: “[T]he damage element in criminal mischief relates to economic loss caused by the knowing infliction of damage” to the property of another.”
Celesty Noel Farmer v. State of Alaska, 449 P.3d 1116 (Alaska Ct. App. 2019). “1 Former AS 11.46.482(a)(1) (2013). 2 Former AS 11.”
Waters v. State, 64 P.3d 169 (Alaska Ct. App. 2003). “16 We therefore uphold Waters’s composite sentence even though Judge Er-lich failed to make an explicit finding under the Neal-Mutschler rule.”
McComas v. Kirn, 105 P.3d 1130 (Alaska 2005). “Under AS 11.46.482(a)(1), "[a] person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the third degree if, having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right, with intent to damage property of another, the person damages property of another in an…”
Nelson v. State, 68 P.3d 402 (Alaska Ct. App. 2003). “A defendant who claims constitutional error must prove that an error occurred (under the applicable standard of review). Only then does the defendant obtain the benefit of the "harmless beyond a reasonable doubt" rule-when the appellate court turns to the issue of whether this…”
Paige v. State, 115 P.3d 1244 (Alaska Ct. App. 2005). “For this reason, we uphold Judge Weeks’s decision to impose additional suspended imprisonment for these two offenses.”
Jerrel v. State, 756 P.2d 301 (Alaska Ct. App. 1988). “had in it, by recording statements pertaining to that or any other crime which, if uttered, will constitute evidence of the particular crime of AS 11.46.482(a)(1), criminal mischief, and would tend to show that Dan Jerrel committed such crime.”
Young v. State, 848 P.2d 267 (Alaska Ct. App. 1993). “Young was charged under AS 11.46.482(a), which provides, in pertinent part: A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the second degree if, having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right, (1) with intent to damage property of…”
— Alaska Stat. § 11.46.482(a) — 6 cases
McGee v. State, 162 P.3d 1251 (Alaska 2007). “And since AS 11.46.482(a) unambiguously defines the essential elements of criminal mischief to include the absence of "any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right," we further conclude that the state bears the burden of proof on this element once an issue of…”
Young v. State, 848 P.2d 267 (Alaska Ct. App. 1993). “Young was charged under AS 11.46.482(a), which provides, in pertinent part: A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the second degree if, having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right, (1) with intent to damage property of…”
Patrick Dale Burton-Hill v. State of Alaska, Jerald Dwayne Burton Jr. v. State of Alaska, Marcus Djaun Howard v. State of Alaska, 500 P.3d 1016 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021).
Rusty J. Redding v. State of Alaska, 451 P.3d 1193 (Alaska Ct. App. 2019).
Lenz v. State, 354 P.3d 163 (Alaska Ct. App. 2015).
— Alaska Stat. § 11.46.482(a)(1) — 18 cases
McGee v. State, 162 P.3d 1251 (Alaska 2007). “And since AS 11.46.482(a) unambiguously defines the essential elements of criminal mischief to include the absence of "any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right," we further conclude that the state bears the burden of proof on this element once an issue of…”
Ortberg v. State, 751 P.2d 1368 (Alaska Ct. App. 1988). “, pled no contest and was convicted of criminal mischief in the second degree, a class C felony, in violation of AS 11.46.482(a)(1). He appeals, contending that the statute is unconstitutional on its face, that the trial court erred in refusing to permit him to withdraw his no…”
Willett v. State, 826 P.2d 1142 (Alaska Ct. App. 1992). “As the Colorado Supreme Court has stated in construing a criminal mischief statute similar to AS 11.46.482: “[T]he damage element in criminal mischief relates to economic loss caused by the knowing infliction of damage” to the property of another.”
McComas v. Kirn, 105 P.3d 1130 (Alaska 2005). “Under AS 11.46.482(a)(1), "[a] person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the third degree if, having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right, with intent to damage property of another, the person damages property of another in an…”
Nelson v. State, 68 P.3d 402 (Alaska Ct. App. 2003). “A defendant who claims constitutional error must prove that an error occurred (under the applicable standard of review). Only then does the defendant obtain the benefit of the "harmless beyond a reasonable doubt" rule-when the appellate court turns to the issue of whether this…”
— Alaska Stat. § 11.46.482(a)(4) — 6 cases
Austin v. State, 627 P.2d 657 (Alaska Ct. App. 1981). “Evans Austin pled guilty to a charge of criminal mischief in the second degree in violation of AS 11.46.482(a)(4), 1 a class C felony. He was charged with unlawfully taking a car and causing damage to it in excess of $500.”
Ardinger v. Hummell, 982 P.2d 727 (Alaska 1999). “Normandy appeals, maintaining that Joshua violated former AS 11.46.482(a)(4) by driving a car without its owner’s permission and damaging it, 28 and that “public policy precludes an action in tort for damages arising out of one’s criminal misconduct.”
Wood v. State, 712 P.2d 420 (Alaska Ct. App. 1986).
Crouse v. State, 736 P.2d 783 (Alaska Ct. App. 1987).
Allridge v. State, 969 P.2d 644 (Alaska Ct. App. 1998).
— Alaska Stat. § 11.46.482(b) — 2 cases
Waters v. State, 64 P.3d 169 (Alaska Ct. App. 2003). “16 We therefore uphold Waters’s composite sentence even though Judge Er-lich failed to make an explicit finding under the Neal-Mutschler rule.”
Willett v. State, 826 P.2d 1142 (Alaska Ct. App. 1992). “As the Colorado Supreme Court has stated in construing a criminal mischief statute similar to AS 11.46.482: “[T]he damage element in criminal mischief relates to economic loss caused by the knowing infliction of damage” to the property of another.”
— Alaska Stat. § 11.46.482(d) — 1 case
Celesty Noel Farmer v. State of Alaska, 449 P.3d 1116 (Alaska Ct. App. 2019). “1 Former AS 11.46.482(a)(1) (2013). 2 Former AS 11.”
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