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The Alaska Legislature approved legislation to add a superior court judge to the state’s third judicial district. The new judge is to be based at the Palmer courthouse where the new position is intended to alleviate rising civil and criminal case workloads.
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The Alaska Court System requested the legislation, House Bill 262, which would bring the total number of superior court judges from 45 to 46. Lawmakers approved the change by a combined vote of 57 to 3, with three House members absent. The bill now heads to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for consideration.
Officials with the court system said the state needs to add a judge because the four current superior court judges in Palmer are grappling with unsustainable workloads. That judicial district has the highest numbers of civil and criminal caseloads in the state – nearly 50% higher than the statewide average, with an average of 683 cases per year. That’s an average of 13 cases per week per judge.
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Officials noted that adding a fifth judge to the Palmer courthouse would only bring average caseloads down to an estimated 546 cases per judge annually. “This would still exceed the statewide average number of cases per judge, and Palmer judges would still have the highest caseload per judge of any court in the state, but it would be a welcome and needed improvement,” said Nancy Meade, General Counsel to the Alaska Court System, in a statement requesting the bill.
The population of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough has grown 40% over the past twenty years, a major contributing factor to the rising need in legal services and case numbers at the Palmer courthouse, Meade said. In the same time period, the number of cases filed has risen by 55%.
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