Heath will be next Superior Court judge

PALMER — Judge Beverly Cutler’s replacement on the Superior Court bench in Palmer won’t have to move far when he takes his new job.

Gov. Sarah Palin announced she has chosen Gregory Heath to fill Cutler’s spot. Heath has been a District Court judge in Palmer since 2003, hearing cases just down the hall from Cutler.

Heath was one of three judges Palin appointed Friday; the other two will fill vacancies on the bench in Fairbanks.

“It is a real pleasure to appoint these judges, and I have every confidence they will serve our state with distinction and honor,” she says in a press release.

On June 17, the Alaska Judicial Council sent Palin three names to choose from for Cutler’s replacement. The names were culled from a list of seven applicants. Heath’s promotion opens a spot on the District Court, which will be filled in a similar fashion.

In 1982, Cutler was the first Superior Court Judge appointed to serve in Palmer. Like Heath, she came to the position from a stint as a District Court Judge.

In Cutler’s time in Palmer the court has grown dramatically expanding from one Superior Court judge to four. When she arrived in Palmer, there was no district court judge. Now there are three.

According to the biographical statement he included with his application, Heath was born and raised in San Diego, Calif., and worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Montana before going to the University of Montana and earning a bachelor’s and then a law degree.

Heath and his family moved to Alaska in 1993. He worked as a public defender in Palmer until his appointment to the District Court bench.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.