Anchorage Superior Court Judge Patrick McKay has been charged with drunk driving.
An Anchorage police officer pulled over McKay's Toyota Camry Thursday at 9:30 p.m. for a traffic infraction on the outbound Glenn Highway, police said. When the officer made contact with him, McKay was found to be under the influence, according to police Lt. Dave Parker.
The officer put the 56-year-old judge under arrest and took him to the Anchorage Jail where he was later released on $500 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.
McKay has been removed from handling criminal cases, his supervisor said Saturday.
This is the second time McKay has been charged with drunk driving. In 1988, he was convicted and served the mandatory three days in jail.
On his application for the judgeship he currently holds, McKay called the driving incident "a life changing event -- and one that I would not be shy from sharing with others for their benefit."
McKay has been a Superior Court judge since 2005 when he was appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski. Before being appointed, he had a private legal practice in Anchorage.
According to a database of public records, he lives in Palmer.
As a Superior Court judge, McKay normally presides over the state's most serious felony cases, including murders. But effective Friday, he was taken off all criminal cases and will be handling only civil matters until his drunk driving case is resolved, said Superior Court Judge Philip Volland, deputy presiding judge of the Third Judicial District, in charge of criminal matters.
"You can see that it would be awkward having a judge who has a pending charge against him also sitting as a judge of other people who have pending charges against them," Volland said.
"Just to make sure people have confidence in the criminal justice system, we did it and we did it immediately."
Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.
By MEGAN HOLLAND
mholland@adn.com