About the Alaska Court System

Introduction

There are four levels of courts in the Alaska Court System, each with different powers, duties and responsibilities. Alaska has a unified, centrally administered, and totally state-funded judicial system. Municipal governments do not maintain separate court systems.

The four levels of courts in the Alaska Court System are the supreme court, the court of appeals, the superior court and the district court. The supreme court and the court of appeals are appellate courts, while the superior and district courts are trial courts. Jurisdiction and responsibilities of each level of court are set out in Title 22 of the Alaska Statutes.

The supreme court and the superior court were established in the Alaska Constitution. In 1959, the legislature created a district court for each judicial district and granted power to the supreme court to increase or decrease the number of district court judges. In 1980, the legislature created a court of appeals.

The chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court is the administrative head of the Alaska Court System. An administrative director is appointed by the chief justice with concurrence of the supreme court. The director supervises the administration of all courts in the state.

Rules governing the administration of all courts and the rules of practice and procedure for civil and criminal cases are promulgated by the supreme court.

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The Supreme Court

The Alaska Supreme Court is the highest level of state court in Alaska. It hears appeals from lower state courts and also administers the state's judicial system.

The supreme court is comprised of the chief justice and four associate justices. The five justices, by majority vote, select one of their members to be the chief justice. The chief justice holds that office for three years and may not serve consecutive terms.

The supreme court hears cases on a monthly basis in Anchorage, approximately quarterly in Fairbanks and Juneau, and as needed in other Alaska communities. The court prefers to hear argument in the city where the case was heard in the trial court.

The court meets after oral argument and on a bi-weekly basis to confer on cases argued orally and on cases submitted on the briefs. The court decides the cases and announces its decisions in one of three ways:

1. opinions for publication in the Pacific Reporter and in the Alaska Reporter;
2. memorandum opinions and judgments (MO&Js); and
3. orders summarily ruling on the merits of cases or dismissing them.

Though the MO&Js and most orders are not published, the MO&Js are available for public inspection at the Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau offices of the clerk of the appellate courts, and the orders are filed in the clerk's Anchorage office. Current MOJs are also available on the Alaska Court System website.

Under the Alaska Constitution, the supreme court establishes rules for the administration of all courts in the state and for practice and procedure in civil and criminal cases. The supreme court has further adopted rules for the practice of law in Alaska and procedural rules for children's matters, probate, and appeals. The Alaska Legislature may change the court's procedural rules by passing an act expressing its intent to do so by a two-thirds majority of both houses.

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Supreme Court Jurisdiction

The term "jurisdiction" means a court's legal power and authority to hear particular types of cases.

The supreme court has final state appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters:

1. CIVIL APPEALS: The supreme court must accept appeals from final decisions by the superior court in civil cases (including cases which originated in administrative agencies).
2. The supreme court may exercise its discretion to accept:
   a. CRIMINAL APPEALS, from decisions of the court of appeals or upon certification from the court of appeals that the case involves a significant question of constitutional law or an issue of substantial public interest; and
   b. PETITIONS, from non-final decisions by the superior court in civil cases and from final decisions of the superior court on review of the district court's decisions in civil matters.
3. ORIGINAL APPLICATIONS: The supreme court may also exercise its discretion to hear matters in which relief is not otherwise available, including bar admission and attorney discipline matters and questions of state law certified from the federal courts.

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Supreme Court Justices

	Chief Justice Walter L. Carpeneti, born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised there, joined the Alaska Supreme Court in 1998 upon appointment by Governor Tony Knowles. He was elected by his colleagues as chief justice in June 2009. Before his appointment to the supreme court, he served for seventeen years on the superior court, having been appointed by Governor Jay Hammond in 1981. Before his appointment to the bench he served as a member of the Alaska Judicial Council, served on the committee that drafted the Alaska Rules of Evidence, and was the reporter to the supreme court’s Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee. While on the superior court he served on the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct and as a member of the Three-Judge Sentencing Panel; he also chaired the supreme court’s Committee on Criminal Sentencing Practices and Procedures. During his time on the supreme court he has chaired that court’s Judicial Education Committee. Chief Justice Carpeneti graduated with an A.B. degree (with distinction, Honors in History) from Stanford University in 1967 and received a J.D. degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970, where he was managing editor of the law review. He came to Alaska in 1970 to serve as law clerk to Justice John H. Dimond of the Alaska Supreme Court. He also served as law clerk to Justice Jay A. Rabinowitz of that court. After a period of private practice in San Francisco with Melvin Belli, he joined his father, retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge Walter I. Carpeneti, and his brother, Richard Carpeneti, in private practice. Returning to Alaska, he was supervising attorney in the Juneau office of the Alaska Public Defender Agency and in private practice with William T. Council before his appointment to the superior court. He was married in 1969 to Anne (Dose) Carpeneti. They have four children: Chris, Marianna, Lia, and Bianca.
	Justice Dana Fabe has served on the Supreme Court since March 1996 and is the first woman to serve on the court. Justice Fabe was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 29, 1951. She holds a B.A. degree from Cornell University and a J.D. degree from Northeastern University School of Law. Justice Fabe clerked for Justice Edmond W. Burke of the Alaska Supreme Court in 1976-77. She served as a staff attorney for the Alaska Public Defender Agency from 1977-81, and in 1981 she was appointed by the governor to be Chief Public Defender for Alaska. She was a member of the Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar Association in 1987-88. Justice Fabe was appointed to the superior court bench in Anchorage in 1988. She was Deputy Presiding Judge of the Third Judicial District from 1992-95, as well as a Training Judge for the Third Judicial District. She served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from July 2000-2003 and she was elected to a second term as Chief Justice from July 2006-2009. During both terms as Chief Justice, she served as second vice-president of the Conference of Chief Justices. Justice Fabe serves on the Advisory Council of the American Judicature Society and currently chairs the Alaska Supreme Court's Civil Rules Committee, the Alaska Court System's Law Day Steering Committee, and the Alaska Teaching Justice Network. In the fall of 2009 she will assume the role of co-chair of Alaska’s Fairness and Access Initiatives and will chair the Fairness, Diversity and Equality Committee. She has served as co-chair of the Alaska Bar Association's Gender Equality Section and is President of the National Association of Women Judges. Justice Fabe is married to Randall Simpson and they have a daughter, Mia.
	Justice Daniel E. Winfree came to the court in January of 2008 after appointment by Governor Sarah Palin. Justice Winfree was born in what then was the Territory of Alaska, and is a third-generation Fairbanksan. Between 1975 and 1978, he was a truck driver and warehouseman in pipeline camps and Prudhoe Bay working on the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and related projects on the North Slope. Justice Winfree earned a B.S. in Finance from the University of Oregon in 1977 and then earned M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. He was admitted to the Alaska Bar in 1982 and spent 25 years in private practice in Anchorage, Valdez, and Fairbanks, working with large and small firms and as a sole practitioner, before joining the court. Justice Winfree served on the Alaska Bar Association Board of Governors for nine years, including service as President in 1994-95 and related service as President of the Western States Bar Conference in 1997-98, and also served a term on the Ethics Committee and several terms on the Fee Arbitration Committee. The Alaska Bar Association presented him with its Distinguished Service Award in 2007. After his final term on the Board of Governors, he joined the Board of Trustees of the Alaska Bar Foundation and served as its President for two years. Justice Winfree is married to another third-generation Fairbanksan, Cathleen Ringstad Winfree, and they have two children.
	Justice Morgan Christen was appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court on March 4, 2009 by Governor Sarah Palin. Justice Christen was born and raised in Washington, and attended college in England, Switzerland, and the People’s Republic of China. She earned a B.A. degree from the University of Washington in International Studies and a J.D. degree from Golden Gate University School of Law. After law school, Justice Christen clerked for Judge Brian Shortell, and then joined Preston Gates & Ellis (now K & L Gates) where she practiced civil litigation for 15 years. Justice Christen was appointed to the superior court in 2001 by Governor Tony Knowles and served as Presiding Judge of the Third Judicial District from 2005-2009. While in the trial court, she served on the rules committees for Child in Need of Aid and Involuntary Commitment/Involuntary Medication proceedings. Justice Christen also serves on the board of directors for the Rasmuson Foundation and the Alaska Community Foundation. In 2004, Justice Christen was awarded the Light of Hope Award for work on behalf of Alaska’s children and the Chamber of Commerce Athena Society Award. In 2004, she and her husband, Jim Torgerson, were named Philanthropists of the Year. The Alaska Supreme Court’s Community Outreach Award was presented to Justice Christen in 2008. Justice Christen and her husband live in Anchorage, where they are raising two daughters.
	Justice Robert L. Eastaugh retired on November 2, 2009.

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The Court of Appeals

The court of appeals is a three-judge panel consisting of a chief judge and two associate judges. The court of appeals was created in 1980 by the Alaska Legislature.

The chief judge of the court of appeals is appointed by the chief justice to serve a two-year term. Robert G. Coats is the current chief judge of the court of appeals.

The court of appeals regularly meets in Anchorage.

The court of appeals has the authority to hear appeals from judgments in criminal cases and certain other quasi-criminal cases in which a minor is accused of committing a crime (juvenile delinquency cases), cases in which prisoners are challenging the legality of their confinement (habeas corpus matters), and cases involving probation and parole decisions.

Criminal appeals from the district court can be taken to the superior court or to the court of appeals, at the option of the defendant. A defendant who appeals from district court to superior court can ask the court of appeals to review the resulting decision of the superior court, but the court of appeals may, in its discretion, refuse to hear the appeal.

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Court of Appeals Jurisdiction

The court of appeals has jurisdiction to hear appeals in cases involving criminal prosecutions, post-conviction relief, juvenile delinquency, extradition, habeas corpus, probation and parole, bail, and the excessiveness or lenience of a sentence:

1. MERIT APPEALS (issues concerning the merits of a conviction) or SENTENCE APPEALS (the excessiveness or leniency of a sentence) - The court of appeals must hear appeals from final decisions by the superior court or the district court.
2. PETITIONS - The court of appeals may exercise its discretion to hear appeals of non-final decisions from the superior court or the district court or from final decisions of the superior court on review of the district court's decisions.
3. ORIGINAL APPLICATIONS - The court of appeals may exercise its discretion to hear cases in which relief cannot be obtained from the court through one of the above types of appeals.

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Court of Appeals Judges

Alaska Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert Coats, Judge Joel Bolger, and Judge David Mannheimer.

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The Clerk of the Appellate Courts

The clerk's office of the appellate courts supports the work of supreme court and the court of appeals. The clerk is required to be an attorney. The clerk's responsibilities include monitoring the caseflow through the supreme court and the court of appeals and making recommendations for improvements in appellate procedure. The clerk is also responsible for all case filing and calendaring, publishing opinions and related tasks. The clerk's office is located in Anchorage, and deputy clerks are located in Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Marilyn May was appointed Clerk of the Appellate Courts in October 1998.

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The Superior Court

The superior court is the trial court of general jurisdiction. There are 40 superior court judgeships located throughout the state. Each superior court is located in one of Alaska's four judicial districts. The boundaries of the four judicial districts are defined by state statute. The judicial districts define the boundaries for judicial retention elections at which voters indicate their approval or rejection of the judges and justices.

In January of each year, the chief justice of the supreme court designates a superior court judge from each of Alaska's four judicial districts to serve as presiding judge for a term of one calendar year. The presiding judge, in addition to regular judicial duties, is responsible for the administration of the trial courts within the district, including assignment of cases, supervision of court personnel, efficient handling of court business and appointment of magistrates.

Superior Court Jurisdiction

The superior court has the authority to hear all cases, both civil and criminal, properly brought before the state courts (with the very limited exception of matters taken directly to the supreme court). However, the superior court does not routinely hear cases which may be brought in the district court (a court of limited jurisdiction).

The superior court:

• is a trial court for both criminal and civil cases.
• serves as an APPELLATE COURT for appeals from civil and criminal cases which have been tried in the district court and for appeals from some administrative agencies
• hears cases involving CHILDREN who have committed crimes or who are abused or neglected
• hears cases involving the PROPERTY OF DECEASED OR INCOMPETENT PERSONS
• hears cases involving INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT of persons to institutions for the mentally ill
• handles DOMESTIC RELATIONS matters

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Superior Court Judges

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The District Court

The Alaska Constitution provides that the legislature shall establish such lower courts as may be necessary. In 1959, the legislature created a district court for each judicial district and granted to the supreme court the power to increase or decrease the number of district court judges within each judicial district. The district court currently has twenty-one judges.

District Court Jurisdiction

The district court is a trial court of limited jurisdiction. A district court judge may:

• hear STATE MISDEMEANORS and violations of CITY AND BOROUGH ORDINANCES
• issue SUMMONSES, ARREST WARRANTS and SEARCH WARRANTS
• hear first appearances and PRELIMINARY HEARINGS in felony cases
• record VITAL STATISTICS (in some areas of the state)
• hear CIVIL CASES valued up to $100,000
• hear SMALL CLAIMS cases ($10,000 maximum)
• handle cases involving CHILDREN on an emergency basis
• hear DOMESTIC VIOLENCE cases

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District Court Judges

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Magistrates

Magistrates preside over certain district court matters in areas of the state where services of a full-time district court judge are not required. Some magistrates serve more than one court location. Magistrates also serve in metropolitan areas to handle routine matters and to ease the workload of the district court.

A magistrate is not required to be a lawyer. The magistrate is a judicial officer of the district court whose authority is more limited than the authority of a district court judge.

Magistrate Jurisdiction

A magistrate may:

• hear SMALL CLAIMS cases ($10,000 maximum for most cases; $20,000 for wage claims brought by the Department of Labor)
• hear FORMAL CIVIL cases ($10,000 maximum)
• issue writs of HABEAS CORPUS (challenges to the legality of a person's confinement)
• solemnize MARRIAGES
• perform NOTARY PUBLIC duties and record VITAL STATISTICS (in some areas of the state)
• handle cases involving CHILDREN on an emergency basis
• hear DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES
• act as a hearing officer to review an ADMINISTRATIVE REVOCATION of a driver's license
• enter a judgment of conviction if a defendant pleads guilty or no contest to any STATE MISDEMEANOR
• hold TRIALS and enter judgments in STATE MISDEMEANORS if defendant agrees in writing to be tried by a magistrate
• hear trials of MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE violations, STATE TRAFFIC INFRACTIONS and Alaska Statute TITLE 11 violations
• preside over PRELIMINARY HEARINGS in felony cases
• issue SEARCH AND ARREST WARRANTS, and SUMMONSES
• conduct EXTRADITION (fugitive from justice) proceedings.

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Statewide Court Administration

The chief justice of the supreme court is responsible for statewide court administration. By court rule, this responsibility is delegated to the administrative director of the courts subject to general guidelines set forth by the supreme court. Christine Johnson is the Administrative Director of the Alaska Court System.

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Judicial Education

Judicial training takes several different forms. There is a statewide judicial conference each year for judges which includes training in specific areas of court procedures or operations. Judges are eligible on a rotating basis for training at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. All magistrates attend at least one magistrate conference during a calendar year. During odd-numbered years, regional magistrate conferences are held for the four judicial districts and the Bethel area magistrates. A statewide magistrate conference is held in Anchorage during even-numbered years. Training judges, deputy training judges and staff of the administrative office regularly visit with magistrates for on-site training. The administrative office prepares written educational materials that are distributed to magistrates.

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The Judicial Appointment Process

Alaska has a merit selection system for judges and justices. The governor appoints a supreme court justice or a judge of the court of appeals, superior court, or district court from a list of qualified candidates submitted by the Alaska Judicial Council. The governor has 45 days from receipt of the list to make the appointment.

In order to be eligible for appointment to the supreme court, a person must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of Alaska for five years prior to appointment. A justice must be licensed to practice law in Alaska at the time of appointment and must have engaged in the active practice of law for eight years.

A court of appeals judge must be a citizen of the United States; a resident of Alaska for five years immediately preceding appointment; have been engaged for not less than eight years immediately preceding appointment in the active practice of law; and at the time of appointment be licensed to practice law in the State of Alaska.

The qualifications of a judge of the superior court are the same as for a supreme court justice, except only five years of active practice are necessary.

A district court judge must be 21 years of age; a citizen of the United States; a resident of the state for at least five years; and (1) be licensed to practice law in Alaska and have engaged in active practice of law for not less than three years immediately preceding appointment, or (2) have served for at least seven years as a magistrate in the state and have graduated from an accredited law school.

Magistrates are not appointed by the governor nor are their qualifications reviewed by the Alaska Judicial Council. Their appointments are made for an indefinite period by the presiding judge of the judicial district in which they will serve. Each magistrate serves at the pleasure of the presiding judge. A magistrate does not have to be a lawyer. A magistrate must be 21 years of age, a United States citizen, and a citizen of Alaska for six months prior to appointment.

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Judicial Retention Elections

All judges and justices in Alaska periodically must stand for retention (approval by the voters).

Each supreme court justice and each court of appeals judge is subject to approval or rejection by a majority of voters statewide on a nonpartisan ballot at the first general election held more than three years after appointment. Thereafter, each justice must participate in a retention election every ten years, each court of appeals judge must participate every eight years.

Each superior court judge is subject to approval or rejection by the voters in the judge's judicial district at the first general election held more than three years after appointment. Thereafter, the judge is subject to approval or rejection every sixth year. Each district court judge must run in a retention election in his or her judicial district at the first general election held more than two years after appointment, and then every fourth year thereafter. State laws that require judges to participate in retention elections do not apply to magistrates.

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The Commission on Judicial Conduct

The Commission on Judicial Conduct is a constitutionally created state agency in the judicial branch but separate from the court system. The commission consists of nine members: three state court judges or justices, three lawyers with at least ten years legal practice in Alaska, and three persons who are not lawyers or judges. The chief function of the commission is to investigate complaints of ethical misconduct against state judges and justices. The commission has the power to recommend that the supreme court sanction a justice or judge. Possible sanction recommendations include suspension, removal, retirement from office, or public or private censure. Since 1990, all formal hearings before the Commission on Judicial Conduct are public.

For more information visit the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct website or call 907-272-1033 or toll-free 800-478-1033.

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The Alaska Judicial Council

The Alaska Judicial Council is an independent judicial branch agency created by the Alaska Constitution. It has three constitutional and statutory functions. First, the council solicits, screens, and nominates applicants for gubernatorial appointments to vacant judgeships, the Alaska Public Defender and administrative tax law judges. Second, it evaluates judges standing for retention and publicizes information on judges and its retention recommendations. Third, the council conducts research to improve what the constitution refers to as "the administration of justice."

The judicial council is comprised of the chief justice, who serves as chairperson and ex officio member; three attorney members appointed by the Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar Association and three non-attorney members appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the state legislature in joint session. Council members serve six-year terms.

The Alaska Judicial Council, which must report to the Alaska State Legislature and the Alaska Supreme Court at least once every two years, is assisted by an executive director and support staff.

For more information visit the Alaska Judicial Council's website or call 907-279-2526.

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Budget and Fiscal Affairs

The Alaska Legislature annually appropriates from the state's general fund all monies for the operation of the Alaska Court System. A statewide budget for all trial courts, the appellate courts and court administration is prepared centrally by the administrative office.

The budget process for the court system begins with the submission of budget requests by the trial and appellate courts to the administrative director. The requests are reviewed with each judicial district's area court administrator and the clerk of the appellate courts. Then, these requests are modified to conform to the overall court budget plan. The court's budget request is reviewed and approved by the supreme court. Following legislative review and appropriation, funds are then allocated to the judicial districts, the appellate courts and the administrative office.

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Beyond the Court System

There are three separate branches of government created in the United States and Alaska Constitutions: the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch. This document outlines the functions of Alaska's judicial branch of government, which is more commonly called the court system.

This document discusses the roles of justices, judges and magistrates in the court system. However, many persons work within the justice system but are not part of the court system. For example:

1. A plaintiff is the person (or group, or corporation, etc.) who first brings a case to court and starts the court action.
2. The defendant is the person (or group, or corporation, etc.) who is on the other side of the dispute that the plaintiff has brought to court.
3. A peace officer or enforcement officer (for example, a policeman or state trooper) is someone who is responsible for maintaining order, enforcing the law, and preventing and detecting crime. A peace officer is not part of the judicial system.

   A peace officer works in the executive branch of government in the Department of Public Safety or for a city government. He or she may appear in court as a witness or as a prosecutor, but a peace officer is not a part of the judicial branch of government.

4. A lawyer (also called an attorney, counsel or counsellor) is a person who is trained in legal matters, licensed to practice law, and who acts on behalf of other people in legal matters. The person a lawyer appears for is called the client. A lawyer's main duty is to his or her client, although the lawyer must also meet other obligations. (For example, a lawyer cannot knowingly make a false statement in court, even though the client may want him to.)

   Some lawyers who hold special positions have special titles. A lawyer who is appointed by the court to represent a defendant in a criminal case because the defendant is too poor to hire his or her own lawyer is usually a lawyer employed by the Public Defender Agency, and is called an Assistant Public Defender. The lawyer who usually represents the State of Alaska in a criminal case is an Assistant District Attorney. Any lawyer who represents the plaintiff in a criminal case may be called the prosecutor or the prosecuting attorney. A lawyer who represents the State of Alaska in civil cases is usually called an Assistant Attorney General.

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What is a Court Case?

A court case is simply a dispute that goes to court. The court is asked to decide (1) what the facts are, and (2) how the laws of Alaska apply to those facts. There are two main kinds of cases: civil cases and criminal cases.

Civil law is the law that deals with relationships between individuals. (A corporation is an "individual" under the law.) Civil suits are between private persons, such as a suit by one person to collect a debt from another person. (The word "suit" simply means "civil court case" and the word "sue" means to start a civil lawsuit.) The State of Alaska, just like an individual, can bring a civil action. An example of a civil case many people know about is a civil suit resulting from an automobile accident. One person sues another person for damages to his car or to himself from the accident. Some other kinds of civil cases are suits to collect money, suits for divorce and suits to recover property.

Criminal law is the law under which the federal, state, city or borough government brings a case against a person who has done something against the interest of all people. The government charges an individual with violating a criminal law or ordinance (city law) and brings a court action to punish and rehabilitate a person for what he did, so that he and other people will not do those kinds of acts in the future. The charging of a person with a crime and bringing him to trial is called a prosecution. The prosecution for all cases under the criminal law must be brought in the name of the federal, state, city or borough government, even though the case may be started by the complaint of a private person who is called the complainant. Some examples of crimes are murder, assault, disorderly conduct and drunk driving.

A person can do something which can result in both criminal and civil actions. For example, a person who steals a snow machine and wrecks it could be prosecuted by the state for the crime of theft and sued in a civil action for damages by the owner of the snow machine. The state, through the use of the courts, could bring a criminal action to punish the person by fining him, putting him in jail or both. The owner could demand in a civil court case that the thief pay him for the snow machine he destroyed.

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The contents of this page are based in part on the Profile of the Alaska Court System.

Rev. 3 November 2009 © Alaska Court System www.state.ak.us/courts webmaster@courts.state.ak.us

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