The supreme court, consisting of a chief justice and 4 associate justices, hears appeals for civil matters from the 15 superior courts, whose 40 judges are organized among the four state judicial districts, and for criminal matters from the 3-member court of appeals. The superior court has original jurisdiction in all civil and criminal matters, and it hears appeals from the district court. The lowest court is the district court, of which there are 56 in four districts. All judges are appointed by the governor from nominations made by the Judicial Council, but are thereafter subject to voter approval; supreme court justices serve terms of ten years; court of appeals and superior court judges, eight years; and district judges, four years.
As of June 2001, 4,197 prisoners were held in 20 state and federal prisons in Alaska, an increase of 4.3% from the previous year. Alaska had an incarceration rate of 336 per 100,000 population.
In 2001, the crime rate was 4,236.2 crimes per 100,000 population, including a total of 3,735 violent crimes and 23,160 property crimes in that year. Alaska has no capital punishment statute.