Assistant DA appointed to bench

PALMER -- Gov. Frank Murkowski announced the appointment of Palmer Assistant District Attorney Jack Smith to fill a judicial vacancy in the Anchorage District Court. Smith has been appointed as a District Court judge and will preside over civil cases with claims up to $50,000 and misdemeanor criminal trials.

Smith, an Eagle River resident, said Wednesday that he expects to be in Anchorage sometime in February after finishing work on some prosecutions he is involved with at the Palmer DA's office.

"I've got a number of cases, and I'm going to resolve as many of them as I can," Smith said.

Smith will become a district court judge for the Third Judicial District. The Alaska Judicial Council is currently seeking applicants to fill a similar vacancy at the Palmer courthouse left open by the resignation of District Court Judge Suzanne Lombardi. The judicial council reviews applicants for judicial appointments and forwards nominees names to the governor's office.

Although the two judgeships are both in the same judicial district, there isn't any practical way for Smith to apply for the Palmer vacancy. Lombardi announced her resignation last month, and Smith was already well into the selection process for the Anchorage vacancy.

"I like working out here. I like the people. If there was a chance to become a judge out here in the future I might apply. But the process is the same, I would have to put in an application to the council and be considered along with everyone else who applies," Smith said.

Smith has been an assistant DA in Palmer for about three years, a position he held in Kotzebue prior to that. The bulk of his legal experience comes from a 25-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He retired as a colonel and served as a staff judge advocate for about 13 years of his career, Smith said.

As an Air Force staff judge advocate, he said he worked on a variety of civil cases in areas such as civilian Air Force employee issues and environmental law. Staff judge advocates also prosecute misdemeanor and felony crimes.

"We would only prosecute active-duty personnel. Civilians would be prosecuted by the state courts. But the crimes are pretty much the same," Smith said. "The best analogy is that [as a staff judge advocate] you are a combination of a city attorney and a prosecutor."

Murkowski announced the appointment in a press release last week. Murkowski also appointed Brian K. Clark to fill another vacancy in the Anchorage District Court. Clark currently serves as chief special prosecutor for the Alaska Department of Law, and in the past has served as an assistant district attorney in Barrow, Palmer and Anchorage.

"This administration has promised to take a tough stance on crime," Murkowski said in the release. "These two men have served Alaska as excellent prosecutors. I am certain they will continue to serve us well as excellent judges."

The Alaska Judicial Council is currently receiving applicants for the vacancy left by Lombardi in the Third Judicial District at Palmer. Applications will be received up until 3 p.m. Feb. 7.

The judicial council's review process includes interviews with applicants, a background check, a survey of the Alaska Bar Association members, comments for the public, and a council staff investigation of each applicant's qualifications. After the review process the council forwards two or more names from the pool of applicants to the governor. The governor then has 45 days to fill the vacancy from the list of nominees.

The judicial council is a panel of seven people created by the Alaska constitution. The council is made up of three private citizens, three attorneys and the chief justice of the state supreme court, Justice Dana Fabe. The chief justice acts as chair, ex officio, of the council and only votes in council matters in order to break a tie.