United States District Court for the District of Alaska

United States District Court for the District of Alaska
(D. Alaska)
Appeals to:	Ninth Circuit
Established:	July 7, 1958
Judges assigned:	3
Chief Judge:	Timothy Mark Burgess
http://www.akd.uscourts.gov/

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska (in case citations, D. Alaska) is a federal court in 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.^[1]

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is Karen L. Loeffler, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 15, 2009.

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska is the sole federal judicial district in Alaska.^[2] Court for the District is held at Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Nome.

Anchorage Division comprises the following borough/census areas: Aleutians East, Aleutians West, Anchorage, Bethel, Bristol Bay, Dillingham, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Lake and Peninsula, Matanuska-Susitna, and Valdez-Cordova.

Fairbanks Division comprises the following borough/census areas: Denali, Fairbanks North Star, North Slope, Southeast Fairbanks, and Yukon-Koyukuk.

Juneau Division comprises the following borough/census areas: Haines, Hoonah-Angoon, Juneau, Petersburg, Sitka, Skagway, and Yakutat.

Ketchikan Division comprises the following borough/census areas: Ketchikan Gateway, Prince of Wales, and Wrangell.

Nome Division comprises the following borough/census areas: Nome, Northwest Arctic, and Kusilvak.

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
10	Chief Judge	Timothy Mark Burgess	Anchorage	1956	2006–present	2015–present	—	G.W. Bush
11	District Judge	Sharon L. Gleason	Anchorage	1957	2012–present	—	—	Obama
12	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Senior Judge	Hezekiah Russel Holland	Anchorage	1936	1984–2001	1989–1995	2001–present	Reagan
7	Senior Judge	James Keith Singleton, Jr.	Anchorage	1939	1990–2005	1995–2002	2005–present	G.H.W. Bush
8	Senior Judge	John W. Sedwick	Anchorage	1946	1992–2011	2002–2009	2011–present	G.H.W. Bush
9	Senior Judge	Ralph R. Beistline	Anchorage	1948	2002–2015	2009–2015	2015–present	G.W. Bush

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
1	Ralph R. Beistline	Senior Status	December 31, 2015	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Hodge, Walter HartmanWalter Hartman Hodge	AK	1896–1975	1960–1966	1961–1966	1966–1975	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	death
2	Plummer, Raymond EugeneRaymond Eugene Plummer	AK	1913–1987	1961–1973	1966–1973	1973–1987	Kennedy, Kennedy	death
3	von der Heydt, JamesJames von der Heydt	AK	1919–2013	1966–1984	1973–1984	1984–2013	L. Johnson	death
4	James Martin Fitzgerald	AK	1920–2011	1974–1989	1984–1989	1989–2011	Ford	death
6	Kleinfeld, AndrewAndrew Kleinfeld	AK	1945–present	1986–1991	—	—	Reagan, Reagan	reappointment

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat established on January 3, 1959 by 72 Stat. 339 Hodge 1960–1966 von der Heydt 1966–1984 Holland 1984–2001 Beistline 2002–2015 vacant 2015–present

Seat 2 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Plummer 1961–1973 Fitzgerald 1974–1989 Singleton, Jr. 1990–2005 Burgess 2006–present

Seat 3 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 Kleinfeld 1986–1991 Sedwick 1992–2011 Gleason 2012–present

See also

• Courts of Alaska
• List of United States federal courthouses in Alaska

References

1. http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/courts_district_ak.html U.S. District Courts of Alaska, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
2. 28 U.S.C. § 81A

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Alaska
• United States Attorney for the District of Alaska