Gov. Mike Dunleavy has picked Chugiak attorney Timothy Terrell for a new seat on Alaska’s Court of Appeals.
Dunleavy’s office announced the pick in a written statement on Friday morning. Terrell will fill the new fourth spot on the state appeals court. The Alaska Legislature approved the creation of that seat in March, after the Alaska Court System said the appeals court was receiving new cases faster than it could hear them.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a question asking why the governor picked Terrell over the other two nominees, Trisha Haines of Fairbanks and Brooke Berens of Anchorage. All three were nominated by the nonpartisan Alaska Judicial Council in mid-November after a series of interviews, public meetings and a survey of Alaska attorneys.
In a survey of Alaska Bar Association members, Terrell was rated highest among seven applicants. (Two others applied but withdrew and were not rated.)
Terrell scored 4.6 out of 5 possible points; the other two nominees, Brooke Berens and Trisha Haines, scored 4.5 and 4.0, respectively.
According to his application, Terrell has lived in Alaska for 49 years and has been practicing law for almost 29 years. A graduate of Pomona College in California and the University of Oregon School of Law, he has worked for the Alaska Department of Law since 1992. Since 2003, he has worked for the division that handles criminal cases that reach the Court of Appeals and the Alaska Supreme Court.
Terrell said in his application that outside of work he enjoys reading, traveling, hiking and cross-country skiing. He is active in his church, St. John Orthodox Cathedral in Eagle River, and he and his wife contribute financially to the United Way, Food Bank of Alaska, Anchorage Gospel Rescue Mission, the Nature Conservancy, KAKM public TV and the Crisis Pregnancy Resource Center.
This was Terrell’s fifth time applying for a position on the Court of Appeals. In 2018 and this year, he was among three attorneys nominated by the Alaska Judicial Council to the governor. In three prior attempts, he was not nominated.