The Alaska Rules of Court are the rules for the administration of all courts in the state and for practice and procedure in civil and criminal cases established by the supreme court under the authority of the Alaska Constitution. The supreme court has also adopted rules for the practice of law in Alaska and procedural rules for children's matters, probate, and appeals.

The current Rules are available above, and the print version is available at all Alaska Court System law libraries and some public libraries. The official publisher of the Alaska Rules of Court is Tower Publishing. Their toll-free number is 1-800-969-8693.

Most Alaska rules are enacted and amended by supreme court order (SCO), which the court issues on a periodic basis. Print versions of all SCOs are available at the Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks law libraries. The Alaska Legislature may also change the court's procedural rules by passing an act expressing its intent to do so by a two-thirds majority of both houses. The Alaska Legislature website provides information about pending legislation.

Complete unannotated Alaska Rules of Court

Including any currently effective, recent rule changes adopted after the print edition's publication deadline.

All Court Rules are provided as PDFs with bookmarks. Please see these instructions to copy content from the PDFs.

Note: The District Court Rules of Criminal Procedure were rescinded or renumbered in 2013.

See also Recent Rule Changes and Supreme Court Orders (SCOs)

Attention: These instructions are NOT for persons who have been summoned for trial or grand jury service.

Pattern jury instructions are used by the trial judge to instruct members of the jury on the law applicable in the case before them. Lawyers may also use pattern jury instructions as they prepare for trial to ensure they address all the elements of their case.

The Alaska Civil Pattern Jury Instructions and Alaska Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions are available online on the Court's website. The Alaska Civil Pattern Jury Instructions are also available in print at the Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau Alaska State Court Law Libraries. These instructions have not been approved or promulgated by any court or the Alaska Bar Association.

Rule changes since the Fall publication of the main edition of the Alaska Rules of Court.

Administration

• Rule 40(a) - amended by SCO 1936, effective April 15, 2021

Appellate Procedure

• Rule 502(a) - amended by SCO 1875 Amended, effective March 9, 2021

Bar Rules

• Rules 3, 28(g), and 30(e) - amended by SCO 1966, effective August 2, 2021

Civil Procedure

• Rule 6(a) - amended by SCO 1875 Amended, effective March 9, 2021

Criminal Procedure

• Rule 40(a) - amended by SCO 1875 Amended, effective March 9, 2021

District Court - Civil Procedure

• Rules 8, 10, 11, 12, 17, and 21 - amended by SCO 1965, effective April 15, 2021

Professional Conduct

• Rules 8.4, and 9.1 - amended by SCO 1964, effective October 15, 2021

Currently no requests for comments.

Venue means place of trial.

Criminal Rule 18 explains how to use the court system's venue map (4.03 MB) to determine the place where a defendant's trial will be held.

The venue map includes a chart (also available separately) that shows the presumptive trial site for each community

In addition to the presumptive trial sites shown on the venue map and community chart, there is also a list of approved additional trial sites in Administrative Bulletin 27. As explained in Criminal Rule 18(e), a defendant may ask the court to transfer the trial to one of those sites if it is:

• within the venue district where the crime charged is alleged to have occurred, and
• is the trial site nearest to the place where the crime charged is alleged to have occurred.

Judicial district lines are also shown on the venue map.

*Please be advised that the posted venue map is current through July 1, 2015. The supreme court has since approved additional changes to the venue map but the revised map is not yet available. The revised venue map:

• Eliminates the Craig trial court and substitutes the Prince of Wales trial court at Klawock as the presumptive district and superior court trial site for Coffman Cove, Craig, Edna Bay, Hollis, Hydaburg, Kasaan, Klawock, Naukati Bay, Thorne Bay, Waterfall, and Whale Pass. SCO 1870(3), effective May 15, 2016; and
• Renames the Barrow trial court as Utqiagvik, SCO 1916(3), effective January 1, 2018.

Note: The separately posted community chart is up-to-date.