Alaska Court Records
Alaska Court Records
Major Alaska courts that kept records of genealogical value were established as follows:District Courts had jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters before statehood. Federal District judges were appointed as early as 1884. The entire territory had only one district, administered by a judge in Sitka, until 1903, when three districts were created with judges at Juneau, Saint Michael, and Eagle City. The fourth district was added in 1909.
The areas served by these districts are as follows:
- Juneau, District 1: Southeastern Alexander Archipelago and the cities of Ketchikan, Wrangell, Sitka, and Juneau
- Nome, District 2: North, including Nome and Barrow
- Anchorage (moved from Valdez in 1943), District 3: South, including Anchorage, Kodiak, and the Aleutian Islands
- Fairbanks, District 4: Central, including Fairbanks, Bethel, and Toksook Bay
Since 1959, District Court jurisdiction has been limited to minor civil and criminal matters such as issuing marriage licenses and arrest warrants, hearing misdemeanor cases, and acting as the temporary custodian of the property of deceased persons.
A Superior Court, a Supreme Court, and Magistrate Courts have also served Alaska since 1959.
The Alaska State Archives has most of the territorial court records (except probate records) for the first district and some for the second and fourth districts. The archives has the court journals but not the complete case files for the first district. The case files of the first district, the records of the third district (1900-59), and some miscellaneous records of the other districts are at the National Archives—Alaska Region. Copies of documents not at these two archives can be obtained by writing to the appropriate local clerk's office.
For district divorce records, contact the Clerk of Superior Court in judicial district where divorce was granted. Probate records were kept by the district courts prior to statehood. The superior court now has jurisdiction over probate matters.
Check out the following website to read about and share experiences from courthouse research.
http://www.bcpl.net/%7Edmg/courthouse.htm#Alaska
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