United States District Court for the District of Alaska

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska (in case citations, D. Alaska) is a federal court that appeals to the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was established on July 7, 1958, pending Alaska statehood on January 3, 1959.

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States attorney is Michael J. Heyman.

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska is the sole federal judicial district in Alaska. Court for the district is held at Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. In 2021, the court discontinued the use of courthouses in Ketchikan and Nome.

Current judges

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Vacancies and pending nominations

{| class=wikitable sortable

! Seat

! Prior judge's duty station

! Seat last held by

! Vacancy reason

! Date of vacancy

! Nominee

! Date of nomination

| 1

| Anchorage

| Joshua Kindred

| Resignation

| July 8, 2024

| align="center" |

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

Territorial District Court

From 1884 through 1959, the highest court in Alaska was a United States territorial court. In 1900, the court was enlarged from one to three judges, with each judge having a district. From 1900 till 1909, the districts were Juneau (First), Nome (Second), and Fairbanks (Third). In 1909, a fourth district and judge was added. From 1909 till 1959, the districts were Juneau (First), Nome (Second), Valdez and Anchorage (Third), and Fairbanks (Fourth).

{| class="sortable wikitable"

! #

! District

! Seat

! Judge

! State

! Born–died

! Active service

! Appointed by

! Reason for termination

| style=text-align:right | 1 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || Ward McAllister Jr. || CA || 1855–1908 || 1884–1885 || Arthur || dismissal

| style=text-align:right | 2 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || E. J. Dawne || OR || 1844–? || 1885 || Cleveland || dismissal

| style=text-align:right | 3 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || Lafayette Dawson || MO || 1839–1897 || 1885–1888 || Cleveland || resignation

| style=text-align:right | 4 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || John H. Keatley || IA || 1838–1905 || 1888–1889 || Cleveland || resignation

| style=text-align:right | 5 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || John S. Bugbee || || 1840–1896 || 1889–1892 || B. Harrison ||

| style=text-align:right | 6 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || Warren Truitt || || 1849–1935 || 1892–1897 || B. Harrison ||

| style=text-align:right | 7 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || Arthur Delaney || || 1841–1905 || 1895–1897 || Cleveland || dismissal

| style=text-align:right | 8 || style=text-align:right | — || Sitka and Wrangell || Charles S. Johnson || || 1854–1906 || 1897–1900 || McKinley ||

| style=text-align:right | 9 || style=text-align:right | — 1 || Sitka and Wrangell || Melville C. Brown || || 1838–1928 || 1900 1900–1904 || McKinley ||

| style=text-align:right | 10 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || Arthur H. Noyes || || 1853–1915 || 1900–1902 || McKinley ||

| style=text-align:right | 11 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Fairbanks || James Wickersham || || 1857–1939 || 1900–1907 || McKinley ||

| style=text-align:right | 12 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || Alfred S. Moore || || 1846–1920 || 1902–1910 || T. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 13 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Sitka and Wrangell (to 1906) Juneau (from 1906) || Royal Arch Gunnison || || 1873–1918 || 1904–1909 || T. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 14 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Fairbanks || Silas H. Reid || || 1870–1911 || 1908–1909 || T. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 15 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Juneau || Thomas R. Lyons || || 1867–1941 || 1909–1913 || Taft ||

| style=text-align:right | 16 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Valdez and Anchorage || Edward E. Cushman || || 1865–1944 || 1909–1912 || Taft ||

| style=text-align:right | 17 || style=text-align:right | 4 3 || Fairbanks Valdez and Anchorage || Pete Overfield || || 1874–1959 || 1909–1912 1912–1913 || Taft ||

| style=text-align:right | 18 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || Cornelius D. Murane || || 1867–1951 || 1910–1913 || Taft ||

| style=text-align:right | 19 || style=text-align:right | 4 || Fairbanks || Frederic E. Fuller || || 1868–1953 || 1912–1914 || Taft ||

| style=text-align:right | 20 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Juneau || Robert W. Jennings || || 1864–1937 || 1913–1921 || Wilson ||

| style=text-align:right | 21 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Valdez and Anchorage || Frederick M. Brown || || 1864–1946 || 1913–1921 || Wilson ||

| style=text-align:right | 22 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || John Randolph Tucker || || 1854–1926 || 1913–1917 || Wilson ||

| style=text-align:right | 23 || style=text-align:right | 4 || Fairbanks || Charles E. Bunnell || || 1878–1956 || 1915–1921 || Wilson ||

| style=text-align:right | 24 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || William A. Holzheimer || || 1870–1948 || 1917–1921 || Wilson ||

| style=text-align:right | 25 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Valdez and Anchorage || Elmer E. Ritchie || || 1861–1941 || 1921–1927 || Harding ||

| style=text-align:right | 26 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || Gudbrand J. Lomen || || 1854–1934 || 1921–1932 || Harding ||

| style=text-align:right | 27 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Juneau || Thomas M. Reed Jr. || || 1857–1928 || 1921–1928 || Harding ||

| style=text-align:right | 28 || style=text-align:right | 4 3 || Fairbanks Valdez and Anchorage || Cecil H. Clegg || || 1873–1956 || 1921–1932 1932–1934 || Harding ||

| style=text-align:right | 29 || style=text-align:right | 3 4 || Valdez and Anchorage Fairbanks || E. Coke Hill || || 1866–1961 || 1927–1932 1932–1935 || Coolidge ||

| style=text-align:right | 30 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Juneau || Justin Woodward Harding || || 1888–1976 || 1929–1934 || Coolidge ||

| style=text-align:right | 31 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || Lester O. Gore || || 1890–1965 || 1932–1934 || Hoover ||

| style=text-align:right | 32 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Juneau || George F. Alexander || || 1882–1948 || 1933–1947 || F. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 33 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Valdez and Anchorage || Simon Hellenthal || || 1877–1955 || 1935–1945 || F. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 34 || style=text-align:right | 4 || Fairbanks || Harry Emerson Pratt || || 1884–1957 || 1935–1954 || F. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 35 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || J. H. S. Morison || || 1864–1952 || 1935–1944 || F. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 36 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || Joseph W. Kehoe || || 1890–1959 || 1944–1951 || F. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 37 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Valdez and Anchorage || Anthony Dimond || || 1881–1953 || 1945–1953 || F. Roosevelt ||

| style=text-align:right | 38 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Juneau || George W. Folta || || 1893–1955 || 1947–1955 || Truman || death

| style=text-align:right | 39 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || J. Earl Cooper || || 1907–1964 || 1952–1953 || Truman ||

| style=text-align:right | 40 || style=text-align:right | 3 || Valdez and Anchorage || J. L. McCarrey Jr. || || 1906–1992 || 1953–1959 || Eisenhower || court dissolution

| style=text-align:right | 41 || style=text-align:right | 2 || Nome || Walter Hartman Hodge || || 1896–1975 || 1954–1959 || Eisenhower || court dissolution

| style=text-align:right | 42 || style=text-align:right | 4 || Fairbanks || Vernon D. Forbes || || 1905–1990 || 1954–1959 || Eisenhower || court dissolution

| style=text-align:right | 43 || style=text-align:right | 1 || Juneau || Raymond J. Kelly || || 1894–1979 || 1955–1959 || Eisenhower || court dissolution

U.S. Attorney

Source:

DISTRICT OF ALASKA, SITKA (1884–1898)

E. W. Haskett (1884–1885)

Mottrone D. Ball (1885–1887)

Whitaker M. Grant (1887–1889)

John C. Watson (1889)

Charles S. Johnson (1889–1894)

Lytton Taylor (1894–1895)

Burton E. Bennett (1895–1898)

Three Judicial Districts Created: June 6, 1900

First District Juneau

Robert A. Frederick (1898–1902)

Thomas R. Lyons (1902–1903)

John J. Boyce (1903–1910)

John Rustgard (1910–1914

John J. Reagan (1914–1915)

James A. Smiser (1915–1921)

Arthur G. Shoup (1921–1927)

Justin W. Harding (1927–1929)

Howard D. Stabler (1929–1933)

William A. Holzheimer (1933–1944)

Lynn J. Gemmill (1944)

Robert L. Jernberg (1944–1945)

Robert L. Tollefson (1945–1946)

Patrick J. Gilmore, Jr (1946–1954)

Theodore E. Munson (1954–1956)

Roger G. Connor (1956)

C. Donald O’Connor (1956)

Second District Nome

Joseph K. Wood (1900–1901)

John L. McGinn (1901–1902)

Melvin Grigsby (1902–1903)

John L. McGinn (1903–1904)

Henry M. Hoyt (1904–1908)

George B. Grigsby (1908–1910)

Bernard S. Rodey (1910–1913)

F. M. Saxton (1913–1917)

G. B. Mundy (1917–1918)

Gudbrand J. Lomen (1918–1919)

J. M. Clements (1919–1921)

Wm. Frederick Harrison (1921–1929)

Julius H. Hart (1929–1931)

Leroy M. Sullivan (1931–1933)

Hugh O’Neill (1933–1939)

Charles J. Clasky (1939–1944)

Frank C. Bingham (1944–1951)

James A. von der Heydt (1951–1953)

Russell R. Hermann (1953)

THIRD DISTRICT Eagle, Fairbanks, Valdez, Anchorage

Alfred M. Post (1900–1901)

Nathan V. Harlan (1901–1908)

James J. Crossley (1908–1909)

Corneilus D. Murane (1909–1910)

George R. Walker (1910–1914)

William N. Spence (1914–1917)

William A. Munly (1917–1921)

Sherman Duggan (1921–1925)

Frank H. Foster (1925–1926)

William D. Coppernoll (1926–1928)

Warren N. Cuddy (1928–1933)

Joseph W. Kehoe (1933–1942)

Noel K. Wennblom (1942–1946)

Raymond E. Plummer .... 1946–1949

Joseph E. Cooper (1949–1952)

Seaborn J. Buckalew, Jr. (1952–1953)

William J. Plummer (1953–1960)

Fourth District, Fairbanks

James J. Crossley (1909–1914)

Rhinehart F. Roth (1914–1921)

Guy B. Erwin (1921–1924)

Julien A. Hurley (1924–1933)

Ralph J. Rivers (1933–1944)

Harry O. Arend (1944–1949)

Everett W. Hepp (1950–1952)

Robert J. McNealy (1952–1953)

Theodore F. Stevens (1954–1956)

George M. Yeager (1956–1960)

ALASKA ADMITTED TO STATEHOOD JANUARY 2, 1959

William T. Plummer (1960)
George M. Yeager (1960–1961)
Warren C. Colver (1961–1964)
Joseph J. Cella, Jr (1964)
Richard L. McVeigh (1964–1968)
Marvin S. Frankel (1968–1969)
A. Lee Preston (1969)
Douglas B. Bailey 1969–1971
G. Kent Edwards (1971–1977)
James L. Swartz (1977)
Alexander O. Bryner (1977–1980)
Rene J. Gonzalez (1980–1981)
Michael R. Spaan (1981–1989)
Mark R. Davis (1989–1990)
Wesley William Shea (1990–1993)
Joseph W. Bottini (1993)
Robert Charles Bundy (1994–?)
Timothy Mark Burgess (2001–2005)
Nelson P Cohen (2006–2009)
Karen Louise Loeffler (2009–2017)
Bryan Schroder (2017–2021)
E. Bryan Wilson (2021–2022)
S. Lane Tucker (2022–2025)
Michael J. Heyman (2025–Present)

References

External links