Alaska House votes to add additional state court judge in Palmer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (ALASKA BEACON) - The Alaska House of Representatives advanced a bill Wednesday to add a fifth superior court judge in the third judicial district in an effort to lower judge’s caseloads and provide justice to Alaskans in the state’s busiest court, as reported by Haley Lehman with the Alaska Beacon.

If the bill becomes law, the number of superior court judges statewide would increase from 45 to 46. It would bring the number of superior court judges in the third judicial district to 29. The third judicial district includes Anchorage, Cordova, Dillingham, Glennallen, Homer, Kenai, Kodiak, Naknek, Palmer, Sand Point, St. Paul Island, Seward, Unalaska and Valdez.

Alaska Court System General Counsel Nancy Meade wrote to legislators in January with the request from the Alaska Supreme Court for one new superior court judge to handle a mix of civil and criminal cases in Palmer.

Meade called the current workload of the four superior court judges in Palmer unsustainable, citing that each judge is assigned 225 cases more than the state average of 458 cases per superior court judge.

The population of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough has increased by 40% and the number of cases filed in the Palmer superior court has increased by 55% since the last time a judge was added in 2006, according to Meade.

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage and Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday: “We need to fix this problem so that we can better provide basic justice to all Alaskans.”

According to a fiscal note, the additional judge will cost the state $268,000 annually.

The bill passed with 37 yes votes in the House of Representatives. Three legislators were absent. It has been transmitted to the Senate for consideration.

This story has been republished with permission from the Alaska Beacon.

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