United States District Court for the District of Alaska

• Court
• Judges

District of Alaska Ninth Circuit Chief: Ralph Beistline Judges: 3 Posts: 3 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Burgess • Gleason Senior Judges von der Heydt • Holland • Sedwick • Singleton Magistrate Judges Roberts • Smith • Oravec • Longenbaugh • Thompson • Jamin Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska is the United States district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Alaska. Offices are located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Nome.

The United States Attorney for the District of Alaska represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has no vacancies with all three posts filled. The last confirmation was on November 15, 2011.

Jurisdiction

The Boroughs of Alaska (click for larger map)

The jurisdiction of the District of Alaska consists of all the boroughs in the state of Alaska.

Offices are located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Nome.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but hears initial appeals at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, OR.

Cases heard

The District of Alaska has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	507	501	1008	510	498	10.1	8.7	35(9.3%)	.0	10
2009	529	524	1053	546	507	9.2	7.2	26(6.9%)	.0	11
2008	528	514	1042	532	510	7.6	9.9	42(10.7%)	.0	10
2007	483	501	984	460	524	7.8	9.1	30(7.3%)	.0	12
2006	450	528	978	528	450	6.6	9.2	38(9.4%)	2.7	10

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The District of Alaska has five separate courthouses. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number	Hours
Anchorage Division	U.S. District Court 222 W. 7th Avenue, #4 Anchorage, AK 99513	(866) 243-3814 toll free (907) 677-6100	M-F, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM, 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM (office closed 12:30 -1:30 PM)
Fairbanks Division	U.S. District Court 101 12th Avenue Room 332 Fairbanks, AK 99701	(866) 243-3813 toll free (907) 451-5791	M-F 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon, 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Juneau Division	U.S. District Court PO Box 020349 Juneau, AK 99802	(866) 243-3812 toll free (907) 586-7458	M-F 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Ketchikan Division	U.S. District Court 648 Mission Street Room 507 Ketchikan, AK 99901	(907) 247-7576	M-F 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Nome Division	U.S. District Court PO Box 130 Nome, AK 99762	(907) 443-5216	M-F 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

History

Federal building and courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska

Court history

The District of Alaska was established by Congress on July 7th, 1958 with one post to cover the entire state. Over time 2 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 3 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of Alaska:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
July 7th, 1958	72 Stat. 339	1
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	2
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	3

Notable cases

For cases in the District of Alaska, see Justia.com or the Alaska Court System.

• Temporary injunction against Greenpeace  Judge(s):Sharon Gleason

In March 2012, Anchorage Judge Sharon Gleason ruled in favor of Shell Oil, granting a temporary injunction creating a 500-meter safety zone for offshore drilling vessels. This injunction prevented Greenpeace activists from entering within 500-meters of drilling ships. The injunction request came after Greenpeace activists boarded the Shell drilling ship Noble Discoverer in February. Update On May 29, Judge Gleason extended previous restrictions against Greenpeace activists, preventing them from coming within a kilometer of Shell Oil's drilling ships. The original restriction applied only to ships within 12 miles of the coast while the newer restriction extended to cover ships up to 200 miles off the coast.

• Joshua Wade case  Judge(s):Ralph Beistline      *Alaska v. Joshua Wade

Judge Judge Ralph Beistline was the presiding judge in the trial of Joshua Wade. Wade was charged with murder and carjacking which is considered a federal offense. On January 4, 2010, the judge ordered the trial delayed until August of 2010 to make sure DNA evidence was gathered. However, in February 2010, Wade confessed to two murders in a plea deal. The confession spared him the death penalty, which is the punishment for a murder conviction in federal court.

Federal courthouse

Five separate courthouses serve the District of Alaska.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Alaska judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Alaska Official Website
• US Attorney's Office District of Alaska
• Federal Judicial Center-U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska Website
• Judges of the District of Alaska
• List of all Article III federal judges for the District of Alaska
• Opinions of the District of Alaska

References

District of Alaska Ninth Circuit Chief: Ralph Beistline Judges: 3 Posts: 3 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Burgess • Gleason Senior Judges von der Heydt • Holland • Sedwick • Singleton Magistrate Judges Roberts • Smith • Oravec • Longenbaugh • Thompson • Jamin Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Since the court was established, 10 Article III federal judges have served on it. The court currently includes three U.S. district judges and four senior district judges. The district judges are assisted by two full-time magistrate judges. Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan and Kodiak each have a resident part-time magistrate judge.

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the District of Alaska has 3 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Ralph Beistline. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Chief Judge Ralph Beistline	1948	Fairbanks, AK	W. Bush	3/19/2002 - Present	2009 - Present	Russel Holland	U. of Alaska, B.A., 1972	U. of Puget Sound School of Law, J.D., 1974
Judge Timothy Burgess	1956	San Francisco, CA	W. Bush	1/23/2006 - Present		James Singleton	U. of Alaska, B.A., 1978	Northeastern U. Law School, J.D., 1987
Judge Sharon L. Gleason	1957	Rochester, NY	Obama	11/15/2011 - Present		John Sedwick	Washington U., St. Louis, B.A., 1979	U. of California, Davis Law, J.D., 1983

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the District of Alaska has 4 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge John Sedwick	H.W. Bush	10/9/1992 - 3/13/2011	2002 - 2009	3/13/2011 - Present	Dartmouth College, B.A., 1968	Harvard Law School, J.D., 1972
Senior Judge James Singleton	H.W. Bush	5/14/1990 - 1/27/2005	1995 - 2002	1/27/2005 - Present	U. of California, Berkeley, A.B., 1961	U. of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, LL.B., 1964
Senior Judge Russel Holland	Reagan	7/16/1984 - 9/18/2001	1989 - 1995	9/18/2001 - Present	U. of Michigan, B.B.A., 1958	U. of Michigan Law School, LL.B., 1961
Senior Judge James von der Heydt	L.B. Johnson	11/3/1966 - 7/15/1984	1973 - 1984	7/15/1984 - Present	Albion College, B.A., 1942	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1951

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Leslie Longenbaugh	7/10/2008 - Present	Vassar Gollege	U. of California, Hastings College of Law
Magistrate Judge Michael A. Thompson	11/14/2008 - Present	U. of Arkansas, 1971	U. of Arkansas, J.D., 1974
Magistrate Judge John D. Roberts
Magistrate Judge Deborah M. Smith	2/5/2007 - Present

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Raymond Plummer	1966 - 1973
James von der Heydt	1973 - 1984
James Martin Fitzgerald	1984 - 1989
Russel Holland	1989 - 1995
James Singleton	1995 - 2002
John Sedwick	2002 - 2009
Walter Hodge	1961 - 1966

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. Walter Hodge
2. James Martin Fitzgerald
3. Andrew Kleinfeld
4. Raymond Plummer
5. James A. Wickersham