Alaska State Legislature - Alaska's Senate, House, Committees, and Districts

Alaska Court System - Appellate courts, Trial courts, Court system, family law, and law library.

Alaska Directory of Courts - Contact information for the courts by city.

Alaska Attorney General's Office - Information on the Attorney General's Office Online

Alaska State Recorder's Office - Resource on various public records.

Alaska Business License Search - Search tool for business licenses.

Alaska Court View Search - Search tool for information for all trial court cases.

Alaska Secretary of State - Online office of Alaska's Secretary of State

Alaska Bar Association - Information on admissions, licensing, sections and committees.

US District Court of the District of Alaska - Offices, Court Information, Calendars and Reference.

US Bankruptcy Court - District of Alaska - Forms, Manuals, Local Rules, General Court Information, Opinions, New Cases and FAQs.

Alaska Court System - FAQ, Court Holidays, Court System, Marriage Commissioners, Mediation, Procurement Guidelines and Access Coordinators.

Alaska Courts - Appellate Court Information and Contact Information.

Alaska Courts - Court Records, Defensive Driving Courses, Electronic Citations, Filing Fees, Jury Duty, Legal Notices and Trial Court Cases.

Alaska Court System - Family Law Self-Help Center

Alaska Courts - Divorce, Dissolution, Custody Forms and Instructions

Alaska Trial Courts - Opinions and Publications

Alaska State Court Law Library - Library Catalog Search

More about the Alaska Court System:

Aside from a few major cities such as Anchorage, Fairbanks and the capital, Juneau, Alaska’s population is fairly sparse and widely scattered. But the state’s four-tiered judicial system keeps the public connected through extensive use of the World Wide Web to provide court contacts, judicial information and legal resources.

Alaska Supreme Court

Provisions establishing the state’s Supreme Court and its Superior Court were written into the Alaska Constitution when the state joined the union in 1959. Alaska’s legislature established a District Court for each of its newly drawn judicial districts, then granted power to the Alaska Supreme Court to establish the number of judges, and increase or decrease that number, as needed.

At this writing, Dana Fabe is chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. That means Fabe, who became the first woman to serve on Alaska’s highest court when she was seated in 1996, is now the administrative leader of the entire state court system, as well. Rules governing all courts in Alaska and the practice of law within the state’s boundaries are written and enforced by justices of the Supreme Court, which includes four associate justices aside from the chief. The chief is chosen to serve a three-year term from among the five justices in a vote by the judges themselves.

Beyond courtroom conduct, the Alaska Constitution also dictates that the Supreme Court writes the rules for the day-to-day administering and operating of court organizations within the state.

In its own courtroom role, the Alaska Supreme Court is given final appellate jurisdiction over both criminal and civil cases within the state. The high court by law must field appeals of final decisions reached on civil cases in Superior Court, including cases which were initiated in the state’s various administrative agencies. The Supreme Court is granted discretion, however, on whether to hear criminal appeals or receive petitions on “non-final” decisions reached on civil cases by the Superior Court. Justices also can exercise discretion over whether to hear appeals of the final decisions made by Superior Court judges in their role of reviewing civil cases rising from District Court. And, the Supreme Court can choose whether to hear matters involving bar admission, attorney discipline, and questions of state law, even if there is no other relief available or the matter is presented to the Alaska Supreme Court by the federal courts.

The Alaska Supreme Court is in session to hear cases on a monthly basis in Anchorage, convenes about once per quarter in the central Alaskan city of Fairbanks, and also meets quarterly in the capital city of Juneau (which is a much smaller community than Anchorage). The court also can convene in other Alaska cities and towns as justices endeavor to deliver services to residents of the large and sparsely populated state. The court, in fact, prefers to hear oral arguments on a case in the city where the matter was first heard in a trial court.

Following oral arguments, the justices gather for biweekly meetings to confer. Justices decide each case, based on oral arguments if offered, and briefs, then issues its decisions in one of three fashions: As an opinion that will be published in the Alaska Reporter and the Pacific Reporter; as a memorandum of judgments and opinions; or as court orders that summarily rule on a case or dismiss it based on its merits.

Alaska Supreme Court resources available online include: the court’s oral arguments schedule (most of these arguments are broadcast on the state’s court television network, Gavel to Gavel Alaska); Slip opinions by the court, which are posted online but removed once the opinion is actually published; Supreme Court orders; and, memorandum opinions. The courts also offer a slip opinions notification service, which provides to subscribers up-to-date notices of new opinions emerging from both of the state’s appellate courts.

Alaska Court of Appeals

The state of Alaska’s Court of Appeals was established in 1980 through the action of the state’s legislature. The appellate court consists of three judges – a chief and two associates. The chief justice of the Court of Appeals is appointed to the role by the Supreme Court chief justice, and serves a two-year term in the post. Court of Appeals judges routinely convene in Anchorage, but will also meet in Fairbanks when the court’s caseload dictates.

The Alaska Court of Appeals is given the authority to field appeals of judgments reached in criminal matters and some quasi-criminal cases involving a minor who is accused of a crime. The court’s jurisdiction also includes cases of prisoners who challenge whether their confinement is legal (known as cases of “habeas corpus”), appeals of a convict’s severity of sentence, and matters dealing with parole and probation.

At the option of the defendant, District Court criminal appeals can be elevated either to the state’s Superior Court system, or all the way to the Court of Appeals. Defendants who appeal their case from District Court to Superior Court can pursue a Court of Appeals review of whatever decision the Superior Court might reach, but if that course is chosen by the defense, the Court of Appeals does have the option of refusing to hear the case.

Online resources for the Court of Appeals include: an oral arguments calendar; a powerful lookup feature to find information about specific appellate cases in several courts; slip opinions from the Court of Appeals; and, the court’s memorandum opinions are posted online. The aforementioned slip opinions notification service serves subscribers by notifying them of cases in both the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

Superior Court system of Alaska

The state’s general jurisdiction trial court is the Superior Court, with 40 judgeships within the state. Alaska is divided into four separate judicial districts, with boundaries defined by state law. The boundaries also are used to determine which judges’ seats appear on the ballot during periodic retention elections.

Every January, the chief justice of the Supreme Court names one Superior Court judge from each of the judicial districts to serve as the district’s presiding judge during the forthcoming year. That judge will be responsible for administering all courts in the district, including case assignment, supervising court employees, ensuring the efficient handling of court business, and appointing magistrates.

Judges in Superior Court have the original jurisdiction to hear any case, be it civil or criminal, with limited exceptions that include a small number of matters that are introduced directly to the Supreme Court. Though the jurisdiction is available, however, Superior Court judges rarely hear cases that could have been filed in District Court instead.

Alaska Superior Court nonetheless is the trial court of the state for both civil and criminal cases, and also an appellate court for cases of both types that might arise from District Court and from any of several administrative agencies. Superior Court jurisdiction includes juvenile cases, from delinquency, to crimes, to cases of abuse and neglect. The court also hears cases regarding the property of incompetent or deceased individuals, decides petitions for involuntary commitment of individuals in need of mental health care, and fields domestic relations cases, as well.

Superior Court case records can be accessed online, and each Superior Court location’s calendar is also available over the Internet.

District Court of Alaska

The state of Alaska founded its District Court system when the state itself was established. The Alaska Legislature in 1959 devised a system with a court for each judicial district, then issued the power to the Supreme Court to decrease or increase the number of judgeships in these courts whenever necessary. At this writing, there are 21 judges serving in Alaska’s district courtrooms.

Alaska’s District Court is a trial court with only limited jurisdiction. The courts can hear state misdemeanors, plus violations of borough and city ordinances. The court can issue a summons, search warrants and arrest warrants. It grants first appearances in court to criminal suspects, and holds preliminary hearings in felony cases.

The District Court is the court of record for vital statistics and certain areas, and is entrusted with handling civil matters up to $100,000, though small claims court matters are limited to $10,000.

The District Court holds jurisdiction over matters involving children in cases that need to be heard in an emergency. It is the primary court for domestic violence matters.

District Court magistrates are charged with presiding over some of these matters if they serve in an area where the caseload does not require a full-time District Court judge. Some magistrates, in fact, serve at more than one court site. Magistrates are not required to be educated or licensed as attorneys, but in turn have much more limited authority than a judge. Some routine matters even in larger, metropolitan areas, are handled by magistrates, in an effort to ease the workload of the court’s judges.

Alaskan magistrates can perform the following duties: hearing small claims cases (up to $10,000 in most events, or $20,000 if the case is a wage claim brought by the Department of Labor); decide formal civil matters valued at $10,000 or less; issue a writ of habeas corpus; perform marriages; serve as a notary public and recorder of vital statistics (only in certain regions); deal with emergency legal matters involving children; tackle domestic violence cases; serve as a hearing officer in cases involving revocation of a driver’s license; make official a judgment of conviction in cases where the defendant pleads guilty or “no contest” to a state misdemeanor; conduct trials and enter a judgment in such misdemeanor cases provided the defendant has agreed in writing to have his trial presided-over by a magistrate and not a judge; hear cases involving violations of municipal ordinances or traffic laws; issue summonses and warrants for search or arrest; and, conduct proceedings involving extradition.

Additional Courts and Services

Alaska, like many states, has developed a series of “therapeutic courts,” created to deal with criminal violations resulting from substance abuse, and to address other personal issues either through punishment or rehabilitation.

Included among these courts are: the Bethel, Juneau and Ketchikan therapeutic courts (felonies and misdemeanors); Anchorage Felony DUI Court; the Anchorage Felony Drug Court; for misdemeanors only, the Anchorage Wellness Court; mental health courts such as the Anchorage Coordinated Resources Project and Palmer Coordinated Resources Project; and, for child-in-need-of-aid cases, the Family CARE Court of Anchorage.

Other useful online tools permit Alaska residents to: pay traffic tickets via computer; search for trial court cases online; conduct a search for wills; find a way to pursue mediation rather than filing cases in court; use the Family Law Help Center to research legal matters; and, even apply for the right to perform an individual wedding through becoming, for a single couple only, court-appointed marriage commissioner.