Hon. James Patrick Hanley

James Hanley has served as a judge on the Alaska Third District District Court since his appointment in 2005. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Arts in Education (1988) and the University of Utah College of Law (J.D., 1996), Hanley began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Robert Coats of the Alaska Court of Appeals. He then worked as a staff attorney for the Court of Appeals in 1998, followed by a role as Assistant Municipal Prosecutor for the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor's Office from 1998 to 2000. From 2000 to 2005, he represented the State of Alaska in criminal prosecutions for the Anchorage District Attorney's Office. In 2005, Governor Frank Murkowski appointed him to the Alaska Third District District Court, where he has presided over cases for over 18 years. Hanley has been retained by voters in successive retention elections in 2012, 2016, and 2020, reflecting public confidence in his judicial performance.