Presiding Judges appointed for 2023

Superior Court Judge Terrence P. Hass of Bethel.

Chief Justice Daniel E. Winfree of the Alaska Supreme Court announces the re-appointment of three of the four presiding judges: Superior Court Judge Amy Mead for the First Judicial District; Superior Court Judge Paul A. Roetman for the Second Judicial District; and Superior Court Judge Terrence P. Haas for the Fourth Judicial District. The Chief Justice is appointing Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Matthews for the Third Judicial District.

The chief justice annually appoints a presiding judge for each of the four judicial districts. The appointments are for a calendar year, and incumbents are eligible for reappointment. In addition to regular judicial duties, the presiding judge has the administrative responsibility to review the trial court’s operations in the district to assure adherence to statewide court system objectives and policies. The presiding judge works also with the district court administrator to ensure efficient administration of the districts courts including hearing and trial schedules and staffing needs.

Judge Terrence P. Haas was appointed to the superior court in Bethel in 2018. He earned his B.A. in philosophy from Purdue University and his law degree from Roger Williams University. After law school, he clerked for the Rhode Island Supreme Court. He practiced law as a public defender in Bethel for 10 years and as supervisor of a region including the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Bristol Bay. Judge Haas currently serves as a member of the Child in Need of Aid/Delinquency Rules Committee, ICWA Court Improvement Project Subcommittee, and Alaska’s Children’s Justice Act Task Force. The Fourth Judicial District spans from the Canadian border on the east to the Bering Sea on the west, and includes Fairbanks, Tok, Delta Junction, Galena, Nenana, and Fort Yukon in the east and Bethel, Hooper Bay, Aniak, and Emmonak in the west.

Other appointees are as follows:

Judge Amy Mead was appointed to the superior court in Juneau in 2018. She earned her undergraduate degree from Boston University and law degree from Tulane Law School. Originally from the East Coast, she moved to Alaska in 1996 to serve as a superior court law clerk in Ketchikan. She went on to practice law as an assistant district attorney, an assistant attorney general, and in private practice, working in all areas of law. In 2010 Judge Mead joined the City and Borough of Juneau’s Law Department and was appointed a few years later to serve as the CBJ’s Municipal Attorney, continuing in that position until her appointment to the bench. Judge Mead was appointed to the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct as an attorney member in 2012, serving in that capacity until 2018. She was reappointed to the Commission as a judicial member in 2022. The First District covers Angoon, Haines, Hoonah, Juneau, Kake, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Prince of Wales, Sitka, Skagway, Wrangell, and Yakutat.

Judge Paul A. Roetman moved to Alaska in 1972 and has lived in Kotzebue for 16 years. He was appointed to the superior court in 2010. He earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Alaska, Anchorage and received his law degree from Regent University School of Law. Prior to law school he worked out of Valdez as a commercial fisherman and as Executive Director of the Prince William Sound Economic Development Council. After law school, he worked for a civil law firm, the Alaska Legislature, and as a prosecutor for the State of Alaska. Judge Roetman currently serves on the Alaska Fairness and Access Commission, the Statewide Security and Emergency Preparedness Committee, and is Chair of the Alaska Commission on

Judicial Conduct. The Second District covers Kotzebue, Nome, Unalakleet, and Utqiagvik and over 20 villages.

Judge Thomas A. Matthews was appointed to the Anchorage Superior Court by Governor Bill Walker in 2018. He received his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley in 1981, and his law degree from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon in 1985. Judge Matthews enjoyed a long career in private practice focusing primarily on civil litigation and representation of small businesses. Matthews has served for more than 25 years on the Ethics Committee of the Alaska Bar Association. He also served as a member of the Civil Pattern Jury Instruction Committee and serves as a mentor judge to newer judges. He also established and runs a bi-weekly meeting for civil judges around the Third Judicial District. Judge Matthews is grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Alaska, and is excited for the opportunity to expand his responsibility to address the needs of the entire Third Judicial District. The Third District covers Anchorage, Cordova, Dillingham, Glennallen, Homer, Kenai, Kodiak, Naknek, Palmer, Sand Point, Seward, St. Paul, Unalaska, and Valdez.