Chief Justice of Alaska Supreme Court selected

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Justice Peter Maassen has been selected to serve as Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.

A release from the Alaska Court System said that Maassen was selected by the current members of the Alaska Supreme Court, and will begin his term as Chief Justice on Feb. 7, 2023.

“The Chief Justice serves as the administrative head of the judicial branch of government, presides over Supreme Court arguments and conferences, appoints presiding judges for Alaska’s four judicial districts, and serves as the chair of the Alaska Judicial Council,” the release said. “A justice may serve more than one term as Chief Justice but not consecutively.”

The release said that Maassen was born and raised in western Michigan, and received his JD from the University of Michigan in 1980 after attending Hope College and Wayne State University Law School. Maasen and his wife, Kay Gouwens arrived in Alaska in 1981.

“Other than a two-year stint in Washington, D.C. — where he worked in the General Counsel’s Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce and for a law firm with a federal administrative practice — Justice Maassen spent most of his legal career in private practice in Anchorage,” the release said.

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