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On Friday, Governor Sean Parnell appointed Judge Joel Bolger to the Alaska Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Walter “Bud” Carpeneti.
Judge Bolger served on the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage and will be the 23rd justice to the state’s highest court.
Bolger was appointed as a district court judge in Valdez in 1997 and a stint to the Kodiak Superior Court.
Bolger moved to the state in the late 70’s and began a legal career in Dillingham as a VISTA volunteer attorney after receiving his education from the University of Iowa. He also supervised the Alaska Legal Services Corporation in Kodiak, then became an assistant public defender in Barrow, and then joined the private practice firm of Jamin Ebell Bolger & Gentry in Kodiak.
Thirteen attorneys and judges applied for Justice Carpeneti’s seat last summer after he announced plans to retire in January.
Governor Parnell praised Judge Bolger in an news release saying “[Bolger’s] service at each level of the Alaska Court System has prepared him to serve Alaskans with humility, thoughtfulness, legal expertise, and discernment.”