United States District Court for the District of Alaska

United States District Court for the District of Alaska (D. Alaska)
Map
Appeals to	Ninth Circuit
Established	July 7, 1958
Judges assigned	3
Chief judge	Ralph R. Beistline
Official site

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska (in case citations, D. Alaska) is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Alaska. Offices are located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Nome.^[1] Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for 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 United States Congress organized Alaska as one judicial district on July 7, 1958 by 72 Stat. 339, authorizing one judgeship for the U.S. district court, and assigned the district to the Ninth Circuit. A second judgeship was authorized on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80, and a third was authorized on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333.

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The office was officially divided between Civil and Criminal Divisions during the early 1990s. Prior to that, Assistant United States Attorneys working out of Alaska could be expected to work on both types of cases.^[2] The current United States Attorney is Karen Loeffler.^[3]

Current judges

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

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born/Died	Active service	Term as 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	James Arnold von der Heydt	AK	1919-present	1966–1984	1973–1984	1984–2006	L. Johnson	retirement
4	James Martin Fitzgerald	AK	1920–2011	1974–1989	1984–1989	1989–2011	Ford	retirement
6	Kleinfeld, AndrewAndrew Kleinfeld	AK	1945–present	1986–1991	(none)	(none)	Reagan, Reagan	appointment to 9th Cir.

From left to right: Fitzgerald, Magistrate Judge John D. Roberts, Holland, Singleton, Sedwick, Magistrate Judge Deborah M. Smith, Burgess, Beistline, von der Heydt. Photo taken ca. 2009-2010

See also

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

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ The United States District Court for the District of Alaska - Our First Fifty Years. Anchorage: Clerk of Court, District of Alaska. 2010. p. 34. 
3. ^ The United States District Court for the District of Alaska - Our First Fifty Years, p. 35

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Alaska Official Website
• U.S. District Courts of Alaska, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center