Judge Linn Asper isn’t sure how long he’ll extend his temporary stay at Haines District Court as the Alaska court system remains in limbo.
At a local meeting in September, Alaska court officials said the goal was to hire a fulltime magistrate stationed in Haines who would serve Skagway and Yakutat by phone. The state’s Supreme Court recently mandated a reorganization of rural courts, shrinking the group of sitting magistrates so each will cover two or three communities. For example, Petersburg’s magistrate will be expected to also provide service to Wrangell and Kake, Asper said.
The state plans to make the changes by 2020, but Asper said he’s not sure he can wait that long. “If I were to stop, I don’t know if there would be a person to replace me until 2020,” Asper said. “But that’s my incentive to stay.”
Asper currently works three mornings a week, presiding over district court criminal cases, minor offense and small claims trials, and other pretrial hearings once a month. He started his temporary position in December 2016, coming out of retirement after being dissatisfied with intermittent coverage by a travelling magistrate judge. Asper has agreed to stay on until the end of 2018 and will make a decision then if he will stay for 2019.
The statewide changes come from a decreasing budget and an attempt to increase efficiency. For the last three years the court system faced 3 percent decreases in its budget each year. This is the first year the budget remained consistent, Asper said. Asper said the state is installing better teleconference and videoconference technology in rural courts to decrease travel costs. That technology should be implemented in Haines by the end of the year.
Asper added that rural magistrates are aging, and the court system is essentially waiting for a magistrate in Southeast to retire before finding a replacement.
Although he said he’d like to travel more with his wife Mary, Asper said he likes his job. “Right now, I’m enjoying it,” he said. “It can be challenging but it’s interesting.”