Judicial Selection in the States: Alaska
Overview
A state panel is asking residents to vote a judge out of his job.
A set of tables that provide detailed information about selection...
The Alaska judiciary is composed of two appellate courts--the supreme court and the court of appeals, and two trial courts--the superior court and the district court. Alaska is one of only two states that has used a merit selection system since gaining statehood to choose its judges. According to minutes from Alaska's constitutional convention, delegates wanted a system that focused on objective qualifications and minimized the influence of politics on judicial selection. Alaska was also the first state to establish an official judicial performance evaluation program to provide information to voters in retention elections. In 2008, the Alaska Judicial Council released a report on the Council's role on the state's judicial selection and evaluation process, Selecting and Evaluating Alaska's Judges, 1984-2007.