16 attorneys apply for six Alaska superior court seats, 7 for public defender

The Alaska Judicial Council received 20 applications from 16 attorneys for six superior court seats in Anchorage, Palmer, Fairbanks, Kotzebue and Nome, the council announced Oct. 30. The same day, it announced seven applicants for Alaska Public Defender, who leads an agency that handled about 19,000 new cases in fiscal year 2026 and oversees 14 offices statewide.

Kotzebue and Nome have been without their only superior court judge since Judges Paul A. Roetman and Romano DiBenedetto retired. In September the council advertised both seats again, Kotzebue's for the third time. It postponed Kotzebue in July because two applications did not arrive by the deadline. In August, after a public hearing and two interviews in Nome, it nominated no one there, saying its vote "did not result in at least two sufficiently qualified nominees."

This round, each Arctic seat drew two applicants. Daniel DalleMolle, the Public Defender Agency's supervising attorney in Kotzebue, applied for the Kotzebue seat. Molly Banas, an assistant public defender in Nome, applied for the Nome seat. Liz Mering, an assistant public advocate in Anchorage, applied for both.

Anchorage's two seats, opening with the planned retirements of Judges Una Gandbhir and Herman G. Walker, drew five applicants: Seth Beausang, Ryan Bravo, Mark Clark, Sam Laffey and Ben Muse. Muse was one of the council's four nominees for an Anchorage District Court seat in August.

Palmer's seat, a new judgeship the Legislature authorized in 2026, drew six: Beausang, Clark, Laffey, Windy Hannaman, Brittany Occhipinti and Judge Patrick McKay Jr. of the Palmer District Court. Beausang, Clark and Laffey applied for both Anchorage and Palmer.

The Fairbanks seat opened when Judge Haines was appointed to the Court of Appeals. It drew five applicants: Heather M. Brown, Jennifer Page Hite, Anna Elizabeth Ralph and two Fairbanks magistrate judges, Risa Leonard and Spenser Ruppert.

The public defender applicants are Banas, Lars Johnson, Erika S. Kahill, Cait McFadden, Renee McFarland, Julia Moudy and Chong Min Yim. Six work in the public defender system now, and Moudy is in private practice in Anchorage. Banas is the only attorney who applied for both a judgeship and the public defender job.

The council will interview applicants and hold public hearings in February 2027, then nominate at least two people for each seat. The governor has 45 days to appoint judges from its lists. For public defender, the council also nominates two or more, the governor appoints one and the Legislature confirms the choice for a four-year term.

Applicants may withdraw until Dec. 24. The council invites public comment on applicants' qualifications during its evaluation through its comment page. The page says a commenter's name is not given to the applicant, and unsigned comments are not considered unless corroborated, independently substantiated or acknowledged by the applicant.