Alaska News covers the state court system's operations, judicial decisions, staffing changes, and facility improvements across Alaska's courts.
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Gray Jackson
“we will then go into executive session to consider the award of a contract for the Department of Corrections cost driver study, the final release of 2 sunset audits, the preliminary release of 3 audits, and to receive an update on the Department of Natural Resources land conveyances”Alaska Legislature: Joint Budget & Audit - October 7, 2026 10:00am · Oct 7, 2026
Gray Jackson
“The operating budget, House Bill 263, including— included the following intent language. It is the intent of the legislature that the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee issue a request for proposals, RFP, to procure an independent third-party study to identify, evaluate, and analyze the primary cost drivers within the Department of Corrections. This action seeks to fulfill the intent of HB 263.”Alaska Legislature: Joint Budget & Audit - October 7, 2026 10:00am · Oct 7, 2026
Gray Jackson
“then the award of the contract for the Department of Corrections cost driver study is approved.”Alaska Legislature: Joint Budget & Audit - October 7, 2026 10:00am · Oct 7, 2026
Gray Jackson
“I appreciate your comments, and I agree. The contracts that we had expired before we had an opportunity to even talk about renewing them, but that's something that we can definitely look at.”Alaska Legislature: Joint Budget & Audit - October 7, 2026 10:00am · Oct 7, 2026
Gray Jackson
“We will— and we say we will certainly have another gas pipeline project on our table, so it'd be very prudent to secure a consultant. No, I just agree with both of you 100%, and as a matter of fact, we're planning on holding our next meeting in December, followed by final meeting on Monday, January 18th. But before that, we'll So we'll figure out how to, you know, get another contract on board.”Alaska Legislature: Joint Budget & Audit - October 7, 2026 10:00am · Oct 7, 2026
Speaker A
“The husband also implied the daughter, now an adult, was capable of caring for herself, so future child support was unwarranted.”Alaska Court System: Alaska Supreme Court Opinion No.7817, S-19197 Property division & child support in divorce & custody · Sep 10, 2026
Alaska Supreme Court rules early ICWA errors don't undo a later termination that followed the law
Alaska Supreme Court rules ICWA violations in a foster care placement do not invalidate a later, separate termination of parental rights, upholding a Palmer order.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4d ago3 min read
Alaska Supreme Court hears Valdez redistricting fee dispute
The Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in Anchorage on whether Valdez and Mark Detter can recover attorney's fees and costs from their challenge to the 2021 legislative map.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago1 min read
Former Anchorage defense attorney Justin Facey sentenced to 20 years for drug trafficking
Former Anchorage defense attorney Justin Facey sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for fentanyl and meth trafficking tied to the Sanchez-Rodriguez organization.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago3 min read
Alaska Court of Appeals rules 2013 sex-offense sentencing law can't be applied to earlier crimes
Alaska Court of Appeals rules in Collins v. State that a 2013 law limiting sentencing panel referrals for sex offenses can't apply retroactively under the ex post facto clause.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Judicial Council seeks dismissal of DC group's suit over scoring records
The Alaska Judicial Council has moved to dismiss a public records lawsuit from Washington, D.C.-based America First Legal
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Wasilla pot shop near Knik Charter School surrenders its state license
Shoreline Cannabis near Knik Charter School surrenders Wasilla marijuana license after losing Mat-Su Borough 1,000-foot school buffer case in court.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska courts now send free text reminders before hearings to anyone with a case number
The Alaska Court System's free Court Guide Text Hearing Reminders let anyone text a state case number to 575-222-8484 for a 4 pm reminder the day before a hearing.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska Supreme Court: spouse's word alone cannot shield inheritance in divorce
Alaska Supreme Court Dickerson ruling: inherited money mixed into a marital home is presumed marital property in divorce, and a spouse's word alone can't rebut it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Alaska must appoint lawyers for people jailed on other states' warrants, appeals court rules
Alaska Court of Appeals rules people held on out-of-state extradition warrants have a right to appointed counsel in habeas cases; McNeely case returns to Kenai.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Alaska Supreme Court takes up Sitka assault where a woman owes $104,000 to the doctor who pleaded guilty to assaulting her
The Alaska Supreme Court will hear Breanna Wampler's appeal Nov. 20 after a Sitka jury, never told of Dr. Richard McGrath's guilty plea, ruled against her civil claims.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
The Alaska Court System awarded a $5.25 million contract to expand the Palmer Courthouse
The Alaska Court System awarded a $5.25 million contract to expand the Palmer Courthouse, weeks before the Legislature added a fifth superior court judge.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min read
The Supreme Court will rule on Dunleavy's agriculture department after he's gone
The Alaska Supreme Court hears Gov. Dunleavy's appeal Nov. 19 over whether he could create a Department of Agriculture by executive order during a special session.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska's new judicial ethics code changes reporting of incapacity and misconduct
A revised Alaska judicial ethics code takes effect Oct. 15 and clarifies when senior judges in assistance programs may disclose a referred judge's incapacity or misconduct.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
An appeals court reopens a McLaughlin Youth Center abuse conviction
The Alaska Court of Appeals withdrew its ruling upholding a former McLaughlin Youth Center officer's abuse conviction, ordering a hearing on withheld records.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
A Big Lake man was killed in Houston. A 72-year-old faces murder charges.
Alaska State Troopers arrested Michael Pulliam, 72, on murder and assault charges after Devin Blawat, 43, of Big Lake was found dead of a gunshot wound in Houston.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Alaska Supreme Court declines emergency bid to open Fairbanks charter school
The Alaska Supreme Court declined to order the Fairbanks school district to take steps toward opening the Pearl Creek STEAM Charter School in August.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
The court found an obvious error in his commitment and upheld it anyway
The Alaska Supreme Court upheld the involuntary commitment of a homeless Anchorage man despite finding the superior court erred on a statutory safeguard.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago3 min read
A stolen pickup went through the doors of three Tongass Avenue businesses
Dale Withem, 48, was indicted on six felony counts and one misdemeanor stemming from property damage and a vehicle theft in Ketchikan on Sept. 4. He is scheduled for arraignment Thursday before Superior Court Judge Katherine Lybrand.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
State to drop Whittier voter misconduct cases after appeals ruling
Alaska will dismiss voter misconduct prosecutions against Whittier residents after an appeals court found the grand jury got the wrong definition of intent.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago3 min read
Ninth Circuit says tribal law cannot shield employees from federal civil rights suits
The Ninth Circuit ruled that tribal governments cannot use their own codes to immunize police officers and employees from federal civil rights lawsuits, binding Alaska courts.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Alaska justices affirm commitment despite skipped consent inquiry
The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday affirmed a 90-day involuntary commitment and forced medication order for an Anchorage man, finding the superior court made an obvious mistake by never checking whether the Alaska Psychiatric Institute offered him voluntary treatment, but that the mistake was not prejudicial.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska Supreme Court hears appeal over Kotzebue officer's immunity in 2022 shooting
The Alaska Supreme Court heard oral argument Wednesday in Anchorage on whether Luke Outwater's lawsuit over a 2022 Kotzebue police shooting can proceed against Sgt. David Cox, who was dismissed from the case on qualified immunity grounds.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A parent does not lose custody by placing a disabled child in a facility, Alaska court rules
The Alaska Supreme Court held that a father still owes past and future support for the couple's disabled adult daughter, finding the mother kept primary physical custody by visiting, arranging care and paying expenses even though the daughter lived in an assisted care facility.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska Supreme Court says a sleep clinic performs services in the field of health and owes the tax
The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed on July 17 that Alaska Sleep Clinic performs services in the field of health and owes corporate income tax for 2016 through 2018. A court video summary walks through the three arguments the justices rejected.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska Supreme Court says a judge may remove a plaintiff from his own trial, after warnings
The Alaska Supreme Court held for the first time that a trial judge may exclude a disruptive civil plaintiff from his own trial after warnings, ruling in a June 5, 2026 property-line case that the right to be present is weaker in civil cases than in criminal ones.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A conservative group sues Alaska's judicial council for diversity records
America First Legal Foundation is suing the Alaska Judicial Council for records on how it weighs diversity when screening candidates for state judgeships.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska Supreme Court rules: Officers Must Stop at Unclear Lawyer Requests
The Alaska Supreme Court adopted a state constitutional rule requiring police to stop questioning and clarify when a suspect makes an ambiguous request for a lawyer, affirming the reversal of Steven Ridenour's Kodiak murder conviction.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read
Alaska Supreme Court bars Nome from taxing hospital staff housing
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Nome cannot tax a seven-unit apartment building Norton Sound Health Corporation uses to house doctors and nurses, finding the housing 'vitally necessary' because Nome has no feasible short-term rentals. The ruling binds any Alaska borough with a tribal health facility, which is why the Kenai Peninsula, Ketchikan Gateway and Kodiak Island boroughs and the State of Alaska filed to support Nome, and Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, a tribal health coalition and the United States filed to support the hospital.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read
Alaska prosecutors must prove a voter knew a registration form was false
The Alaska Court of Appeals held Friday that first-degree voter misconduct based on a false sworn statement requires proof the defendant acted with a consciousness of wrongdoing.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fourteen states weighed in on whether an Alaskan belonged on Alaska's ballot
The Alaska Supreme Court decided an election-administration appeal by summary order on June 29, 2026, and 66 days later has not published the promised opinion, leaving the reasoning and the ruling's effect undisclosed.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska Supreme Court upholds rule requiring rent on expired oil leases during appeals
The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday upheld a DNR rule requiring oil and gas lessees to keep paying rent on expired leases while they appeal, making final the termination of five Badami Unit leases on the North Slope in which Daniel Donkel claimed an interest.
by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read
Alaska court: guardian, not child's lawyer, waives therapy privilege
The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday upheld the release of a 10-year-old Hooper Bay boy's psychotherapy records to his tribe, holding that a guardian ad litem's waiver of confidentiality for a child under 12 cannot be canceled by an objection from the child's own attorney.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska Supreme Court upholds termination of Valdez mother's parental rights
The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday affirmed a Valdez superior court order ending a mother's parental rights, finding she neglected her three-year-old son by leaving him with a father who drank to unconsciousness and never remedied the conduct.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Supreme Court lets Trump's mail-voting order advance, but Alaska's rules are unchanged for now
The U.S.The Supreme Court lifted an injunction on Trump's mail-voting order but didn't decide its legality. Alaska's rules are unchanged; a separate order blocks the key provision.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
A Kenai man is sentenced to 60 years for sexually assaulting a child in his home
Superior Court Judge Jason Gist sentenced Darold Greg Love, 67, to 77 years with 17 suspended, or 60 years to serve with no parole eligibility, after finding aggravating factors that allowed a sentence above the 35 to 45 year presumptive range.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Alaska's ranked-choice fight returns to the Supreme Court, months before a repeat repeal vote
The Alaska Supreme Court hears a challenge to ranked-choice voting next week, a week after the primary and months before a repeal vote on the November ballot.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Valdez lost its fight not to be lumped in with Mat-Su. All that's left is an $11,000 bill.
Valdez lost its fight against sharing a House district with Mat-Su, and all that remains is an $11,000 costs judgment now headed to the Alaska Supreme Court on Oct. 8.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Court says a tribe can't sue its health consortium in state court
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Tanana Chiefs Conference holds tribal sovereign immunity as an arm of its 42 member villages, affirming dismissal of Dot Lake Village's bylaws lawsuit and an $11,888 attorney's fee award against the tribe.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
The Alaska Supreme Court sent a 14-year Willow property fight back to Palmer, with the trail's path still undecided
The Alaska Supreme Court vacated the judgment mapping the Jigliotti Family Trust's access route around a Willow home, sending a 14-year Mat-Su property dispute back to the Palmer court.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Stebbins man arrested after armed standoff with troopers
Alaska State Troopers arrested Tristan Thrasher, 25, of Stebbins on Monday after a standoff on a bluff ended without gunfire. He faces two counts of Assault in the 3rd Degree and two counts of Assault in the Presence of a Minor, with more charges pending.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read