Bill offers relief to overloaded Palmer Court

Seeking to address the state's highest judicial workloads, the Alaska House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation to expand the bench at the Palmer Courthouse.

House Bill 262, which passed with a 37-0 vote, would add a fifth Superior Court judge to serve the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Supporters of the bill, including the Alaska Court System, have identified this addition as a top priority for the 34th Legislature.

Easing the Load

The move comes as Palmer’s current four Superior Court judges face the most demanding caseloads in the state. Representative DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, lauded the legislative success of HB 262, which authorizes a new, urgently needed Superior Court judge for Palmer, highlighting that the additional judge will relieve high-pressure, crowded conditions at the Palmer Courthouse, where the lack of judicial resources has led to significant delays in cases without constitutional deadlines, such as family law, divorces, and child custody disputes, and where families and children frequently wait in hallways for resolution in critical Child in Need of Aid cases.

The bill will ease a crisis in the Mat-Su Borough's judicial system, which has the state's highest caseloads. Despite the Mat-Su Borough’s population surging by 58% since 2007—growing from approximately 77,000 to over 122,000 residents—the number of superior court judges in Palmer has remained stagnant for nearly two decades. This resource gap has left Palmer judges carrying an average of 680 cases each, far exceeding the statewide average of 450.

“We need to provide basic justice to all Alaskans,” Rep. Johnson said. “The Palmer Court serves the entire population of the Mat-Su Valley, yet each judge is carrying 230 more cases than the state average. This inaction is bleeding over into other jurisdictions as residents file in Anchorage just to have their cases heard, slowing down the entire system”.

Representative Andrew Gray (D-Anchorage), who carried the bill on the House floor, noted that the addition is "more than justified" to ensure the timely administration of justice in one of Alaska's fastest-growing regions.

Legislative Path

Introduced in January 2026 by the House Rules Committee, the bill moved through the Judiciary and Finance committees with broad support before reaching the floor.

Key milestones in the bill's passage include:

April 21: Advanced to third reading.

April 22: Passed the House unanimously and was transmitted to the Senate for consideration.

If the Senate approves the measure and it is signed by the Governor, the act is scheduled to take effect immediately upon passage.