Alaska Court System

Under Alaska Statute 25.05.261(a)(2) ¹, anyone can perform your marriage ceremony, including a friend or relative, if they first obtain a marriage commissioner appointment from an Alaskan court as authorized by AS 25.05.081.² The person should be 18 years of age or older, and does not need to be a resident of Alaska or the United States in order to perform the ceremony.

1. Contact (by phone, by mail or fax, or in person) the court nearest to where the wedding will be performed. The online court system directory has a complete listing of court locations and contact information. You may also contact the office which handles requests for marriage commissioner appointments in the judicial district of the court nearest to where the wedding will be performed. See Alaska courts listed by judicial district to determine the district. Procedures vary by judicial district; there is no online application form.

   First Judicial District	Contact the court nearest to where the wedding will be performed: Angoon Haines Hoonah Juneau Kake Ketchikan Petersburg Prince of Wales Sitka Skagway Wrangell Yakutat
   Second Judicial District	Contact the court nearest to where the wedding will be performed: Barrow Kotzebue Nome Unalakleet
   Third Judicial District	Anchorage Trial Courts Customer Service Division 825 West 4th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501-2004 (907) 264-0514 FAX (907) 264-0610
   Fourth Judicial District	Fairbanks Trial Courts Court Services Department 101 Lacey Street Fairbanks, AK 99701 (907) 452-9277 FAX (907) 452-9330

2. The court will need the following information:
   • The full name of the intended marriage commissioner, including middle name.
   • The address of the intended marriage commissioner.
   • The full names of the couple to be married, including middle name.
   • The month, day and year marriage is to occur.
   • The town or physical location where the marriage ceremony will be performed.
   • In the First Judicial District the intended marriage commissioner must also provide his or her date of birth.
   • In the Fourth Judicial District the marriage license must accompany the marriage commissioner application.
3. There is a $25 fee for processing a marriage commissioner appointment application.
4. There is no waiting period for this appointment. However, in the Fourth Judicial District, applications should be submitted at least one week before the wedding.
5. The court will issue a written order appointing the marriage commissioner together with instructions. The marriage commissioner is responsible for ensuring that the marriage is performed in compliance with the law and that the marriage certificate is filed with the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
6. The marriage should not be performed until the marriage commissioner has a copy of the written order in hand.
7. If the marriage is not performed on the date stated in the order, a new marriage commissioner appointment order must be obtained.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: It is the responsibility of the couple to be married to apply for and pick up a marriage license. A marriage commissioner does not have the authority to obtain the marriage license for the couple.

1 Sec. 25.05.261. Who may solemnize.

(a) Marriages may be solemnized

(1) by a minister, priest, or rabbi of any church or congregation in the state, or by a commissioned officer of the Salvation Army, or by the principal officer or elder of recognized churches or congregations that traditionally do not have regular ministers, priests, or rabbis, anywhere within the state;

(2) by a marriage commissioner or judicial officer of the state anywhere within the jurisdiction of the commissioner or officer; or

(3) before or in any religious organization or congregation according to the established ritual or form commonly practiced in the organization or congregation.

(b) This section may not be construed to waive the requirements for obtaining a marriage license.

2 Sec. 25.05.081. Marriage commissioners.

The presiding judge in each judicial district may, if the public interest requires, appoint one or more suitable persons as marriage commissioners. The presiding judge shall describe the marriage commissioner's area of jurisdiction in the order of appointment. A marriage commissioner may, within that jurisdiction, solemnize marriages in the same manner as a district judge or magistrate judge and may exercise any power, other than the power to issue marriage licenses, necessarily incident to the duties of a marriage commissioner. The clerk of court shall issue to the marriage commissioner a certified copy of the order of appointment and send a copy of it to the bureau.

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Legal Notices

* updated weekly on Monday

The court maintains attorney addresses in CourtView using the "business" address on file with the Alaska Bar Association. This is the address that courts use when distributing notices, orders and judgments. If there is no business address on file with the Bar, CourtView will reflect "Address not provided" in the address field.

Whenever an attorney’s business address changes, it is important that the attorney immediately submit an Address Change Form with the Bar Association. This form is available on the Bar’s website: https://www.alaskabar.org/ Attorney addresses in CourtView are updated weekly from a file received from the Alaska Bar Association.

Attorneys must also give notice of the change of address to other parties by filing and serving a notice of change of address in each case in which the attorney appears as required by Civil Rule 5(i).

Attention: These instructions are NOT for persons who have been summoned for petit or grand jury service.

Pattern jury instructions are used by the trial judge to instruct members of the jury on the law applicable in the case before them. Lawyers may also use pattern jury instructions as they prepare for trial to ensure they address all the elements of their case.

The Alaska Civil Pattern Jury Instructions and Alaska Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions are available online on the Court's website. The Alaska Civil Pattern Jury Instructions are also available in print at the Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau Alaska State Court Law Libraries. These instructions have not been approved or promulgated by any court or the Alaska Bar Association.

The Alaska Court System has an open solicitation (ACS-12-005 568 KB) for qualified responders to be added to the list of transcribers contracted with the court.

Solicitation responses may be submitted to the Alaska Court System Purchasing Department at any time but must be received by Friday, September 23, 2011 at 2:00p.m. AKST (Alaska Standard Time) to be included in the initial list of contractors.

Any questions referring to the solicitation process should be directed to the Purchasing Department, contact information provided below. Any questions referring to the transcript process should be directed to Transcript Coordinator, Irma Hernandez, at ihernandez@akcourts.us.

Alaska Court System - Purchasing Department
820 West 4th Avenue
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
ATTN: Jesse Head - Procurement Specialist II

Manual of Transcript Procedures (TF-410) 374 KB

Court proceedings are recorded using CourtSmart and FTR software. CourtSmart recordings include the software required for playback and transcription. For FTR recordings, visit theFTR website and select "Downloads" to get a free copy of FTR Player Plus. Free registration required.

NOTE: The court system does not provide transcription services to the general public. Audio recordings are available through the Clerk's Office at the court location where the hearing took place.

Under Alaska law, a pay check may not be issued to a trial court judge until the judge has filed an affidavit affirming that no matter referred to the judge has been uncompleted or undecided for more than six months. AS 22.10.190(b) & AS 22.15.220(c). This provision is known as "the six-month rule.” The following "rules” or protocols are used to determine when a matter is under advisement and subject to the six-month rule. These protocols were adopted by the presiding trial court judges in 2002 to provide direction to the programmers who were developing management reports for the new trial court case management system (CourtView).

When a Trial Court Matter is Under Advisement
and Subject to the Six-Month Rule

(A) Motions. A motion is under advisement and subject to the six-month rule after the last of the following events:

• (i) a reply has been filed or the final deadline for filing a reply has passed without a reply being filed;
• (ii) any oral argument or hearing on the motion has been held; and
• (iii) any supplemental briefing requested by the court has been filed. If the judge schedules oral argument or a hearing after the filing of supplemental briefing, the six-month rule begins to run after that oral argument or hearing has been held.

(B) Decisions Following Trial. When a matter is taken under advisement following trial, the six-month rule begins to run on the last day of trial. If the judge requests supplemental briefing following trial, the six-month rule begins to run after that briefing has been filed and any oral argument or hearing has been held.

(C) Satisfaction of Six-Month Rule. The six-month rule is satisfied when an order or judgment is signed, or, in the case of an oral order, when the judicial officer enters the order on the electronic record. The six-month rule is satisfied for a master when the master signs the report.

(D) Reassignments and Stays. If a case is reassigned to a judge in the same court location, the six-month rule re-starts at day one for all pending matters on the effective date of the reassignment order. If a case is reassigned to a judge in another court, the six-month rule re-starts at day one when that judge receives a copy of the case file from the original judge. If a case is stayed, the six-month rule re-starts at day one on the effective date of the order lifting the stay.