Alaska Court Rules (2026)
We publish 16 sets of Alaska court rules, totaling 819 rules. Alaska has a fully state-funded, unified court system — no counties, four judicial districts — and publishes many standalone rulesets rather than one compilation. Its appeals split by subject: CIVIL appeals go straight to the Supreme Court, because there is no civil intermediate court, while CRIMINAL appeals go to the Court of Appeals first. The rule visiting counsel most need to read is Civil Rule 82: the prevailing party is awarded a schedule-based share of attorney's fees in nearly every civil case, which makes Alaska the only state where routine fee-shifting is the default. Coverage runs from civil, criminal, evidence and appellate procedure through the district court, probate, child in need of aid, delinquency, adoption and minor offense sets, and includes professional conduct, the Code of Judicial Conduct and the Alaska Bar Rules. The Rules of Evidence are published with the court's own official Commentary volume attached to each rule. Each rule includes the full text, a plain-English summary, committee notes, amendment history, and cross-references to related rules.
Alaska Court Rules & Rules of Practice
How this jurisdiction's courts and rules are organized, written for lawyers new to it: the court system, every ruleset a litigator touches, and how a case actually moves. Last verified September 24, 2026. For informational purposes only.
- Court System Overview
- The Ruleset Map
- Civil Litigation Mechanics
- Criminal Practice Mechanics
- Evidence
- Appellate Mechanics
- Rules of Professional Conduct
- Attorney Discipline & Enforcement
- Newcomer Orientation Notes
- Sources & Verification
Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure
Superior court civil practice, Federal Rules-derived on the pre-restyle numbering, with a 20-day answer (40 for the State or service out of the country). The rule out-of-state counsel must read first is RULE 82: the prevailing party is awarded a schedule-based share of attorney's fees in nearly every civil case, which makes Alaska America's only routine fee-shifting state and changes settlement arithmetic in every matter. Pro hac vice is Civil Rule 81 — not a Bar Rule.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Rules of Appellate Procedure
Alaska splits its appeals: CIVIL appeals go straight to the Supreme Court, because there is no civil intermediate court, while CRIMINAL appeals go to the Court of Appeals first and reach the Supreme Court only by discretionary petition for hearing. The filing trap is Rule 204(a)(1): the 30 days run from the date on the clerk's CERTIFICATE OF DISTRIBUTION, not from entry of judgment, and proceedings on costs, interest or attorney's fees do not stop the clock. Briefs are page-limited, not word-counted.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Rules of Evidence
Adopted by SCO 364 effective August 1, 1979, on Federal Rules numbering, and published here WITH the court's official Commentary volume attached to each rule as notes. Alaska's reliability standard is bifurcated rather than straight Daubert: State v. Coon adopted Daubert for scientific evidence, but the court expressly declined to follow Kumho Tire, so experience-based expert testimony stays under a traditional 702–703/403 analysis. Rule 702 also caps each side at three experts per issue absent good cause.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Rules of Criminal Procedure
All criminal practice — misdemeanors in district court, felonies in superior court. Rule 45 is a real 120-day speedy-trial clock for felonies and misdemeanors alike, and it runs from SERVICE OF THE CHARGING DOCUMENT rather than from arraignment, with the excluded periods in 45(d) driving most of the motion practice. Rule 16 discovery is notably broad, and Rule 35.1 replaces all other remedies for challenging a sentence.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Rules of Administration
How the unified court system runs itself: the administrative director, presiding judges of the four judicial districts, the number and location of judges and magistrate judges, court hours and places of sitting, records and their retention, interpreter services, and the bail forfeiture schedules. Alaska has no counties, so these statewide rules do the work local rules do elsewhere.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Bar Rules
A Supreme Court ruleset covering admission and the whole of attorney discipline. Part II is the Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement: a grievance goes to Bar Counsel, then a Hearing Committee, then the Disciplinary Board — which may itself order lesser discipline but must RECOMMEND suspension or disbarment to the Supreme Court. Part V establishes the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Rules of Professional Conduct
ABA Model Rules-based, rescinded and repromulgated by SCO 1680 effective April 15, 2009, cited "Alaska R. Prof. C. 3.3". Published here with the official COMMENT and ALASKA COMMENT blocks as notes — the Alaska-specific comments to Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.5 are where the state diverges from the model text, and Rule 1.2(f) addresses advising clients on marijuana.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseBylaws of the Alaska Bar Association
The Bar Association's own bylaws, adopted by its Board of Governors and published on the court's rules index alongside the Bar Rules. Governance rather than procedure: membership and fees, the Board, sections and committees, and the machinery the Bar Rules assume. Sections are numbered within each Article, so a rule number here carries its Article.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Child in Need of Aid Rules of Procedure
Child-protection cases, from emergency custody through adjudication, disposition, permanency and termination of parental rights. The set is heavily shaped by the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the court prints the federal ICWA regulations as an appendix — those are federal regulations rather than Alaska court rules and are not published here.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Delinquency Rules
Juvenile delinquency proceedings in the superior court sitting as a juvenile court — petition, detention, adjudication, disposition, and waiver of juvenile jurisdiction to adult court.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseDistrict Court Rules of Civil Procedure
A separate, shorter set modifying civil practice before district judges and magistrate judges. Rule 1 is the one to read: it lists which Civil Rules apply, which apply with modifications, and which are inapplicable in their entirety. Small claims is a procedure inside this set rather than a ruleset of its own.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Minor Offense Rules
Procedure for infractions, violations and other minor offenses — the citation, disposition without appearance, bail forfeiture schedules, and trial where one is requested. This is the high-volume docket most Alaskans actually encounter.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Rules of Probate Procedure
Standalone probate practice in the superior court — informal and formal proceedings, the magistrate judge's role, guardianships and conservatorships. Probate is one of the few Alaska dockets still on paper: the court's TrueFiling system does not yet cover probate, adoption or guardianship.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Adoption Rules
A standalone set for adoption petitions: consent and its withdrawal, notice, the investigation and report, the hearing, and the decree. Read with AS 25.23, the Alaska adoption statute.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct
Complaints against Alaska judges: the Commission's composition, screening and investigation, confidentiality, formal hearings, and its recommendations to the Supreme Court, which imposes any discipline.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseAlaska Code of Judicial Conduct
Five Canons, adopted effective July 15, 1998, published here with the Preamble, Terminology and Application sections. Application is the one to read first: it decides how much of the Code binds a full-time judge, a magistrate judge, a judge pro tempore and a judicial candidate, and it carries no rule number of its own.
Updated 2026 Edition
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