Alaska District Court

Alaska District Courts

Nesbett courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska

The Alaska District Court is a trial court of limited jurisdiction in Alaska. It was created in 1959 and has twenty judges. Decisions of this district court can be appealed to the Alaska Superior Court or, in some cases, to the Alaska Court of Appeals. Taken together, the Alaska Superior Court and the Alaska District Court are where nearly all Alaskan civil and criminal lawsuits are filed, except for a rare case that may go directly to the Alaska Supreme Court.

Jurisdiction

Judges in the Alaska District Court system:

• Hear state misdemeanor cases, and cases regarding 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 case ($10,000 maximum)
• Handle cases involving children on an emergency basis
• Hear domestic violence cases

Districts

There are four judicial districts in Alaska with 20 District Court judges between them.

District	Area served
Alaska First District	Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan Gateway, Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan, Sitka, Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon, Wrangell-Petersburg, Yakutat
Alaska Second District	Nome, North Slope, Northwest Arctic
Alaska Third District	Aleutians East, Aleutians West, Municipality of Anchorage, Bristol Bay, Dillingham, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Lake and Peninsula, Matanuska-Susitna, Valdez-Cordova, Yakutat
Alaska Fourth District	Bethel, Denali, Fairbanks North Star, Southeast Fairbanks, Wade-Hampton, Yukon-Koyukuk

District court judges

Appointment and retention

Judges of the Alaska District Courts are selected through the assisted appointed method. Each justice is appointed from a list of two or more nominees compiled by the Alaska Judicial Council. The initial term of a new judge is two years, after which the justice stands for retention in an uncontested yes-no election. Subsequent terms last four years.

Qualifications

To serve as a judge in the Alaska District Court system, these qualifications must be met:

• 21 years of age
• Citizen of the United States
• Resident of Alaska for at least five years
• One of these two standards must be met:

• Be licensed to practice law in Alaska and have engaged in active practice of law for not less than three years immediately preceding appointment
• Have served for at least seven years as a magistrate in the state and have graduated from an accredited law school

Magistrates

Magistrate judges are allowed to preside over some district court cases. Magistrates are generally appointed in areas of the state where a full-time district court judge isn't needed. Magistrates can serve in more than one such location. Magistrates can also be appointed in metropolitan areas to handle routine matters, thus easing the overall work load of the state's district court judges.

Magistrate judges do not have to be attorneys, but they do need to be at least 21, a United States citizen and a citizen of Alaska for at least six months prior to their appointment.

Magistrate judges are appointed by the presiding judge of the judicial district where they will serve, and they serve at the pleasure of the presiding judge.

Appealing the court's decisions

Civil appeals from the district court go to the Alaska Superior Court in most cases.

At the option of the defendant, criminal appeals from the district court can be taken to the Alaska Superior Court or to the Alaska Court of Appeals. A defendant who first appeals to the Alaska Superior Court may later wants the Alaska Court of Appeals to review the superior court's decision. The Alaska Court of Appeals may take such appeals but is not required to do so.

See also

• Courts in Alaska
• Judicial selection in Alaska
• Alaska district court judges

External links

• Alaska District Courts
• Map of Alaska court venues
• List of Alaska Court Locations by Judicial District
• Alaska court records

Footnotes

Alaska courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Alaska • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Alaska

State courts:

Alaska Supreme Court • Alaska Court of Appeals • Alaska Superior Court • Alaska District Court

State resources:

Courts in Alaska • Alaska judicial elections • Judicial selection in Alaska