Bolger Named to Alaska Supreme Court

Jay Barrett/KMXT
A long-time Kodiak attorney, and then judge, was appointed Friday to the Alaska Supreme Court by Governor Parnell. Joel Bolger, who currently sits as an Alaska Court of Appeals judge, replaces Walter Carpeneti, who has retired.
In 1978, Bolger began his legal career in Alaska as a VISTA volunteer in Dillingham, and later with Alaska Legal Services in Kodiak. After serving as an assistant public defender in Barrow, he returned to Kodiak to join the firm of Jamin Ebell Bolger and Gentry, where he handled both civil and criminal defense cases.
In 1997, Bolger was appointed to the bench as a district court judge in Valdez, followed by an appointment to the Superior Court back in Kodiak. Since 2008, he has served as a Court of Appeals judge in Anchorage.
The five-member Alaska Supreme Court hears cases in Anchorage on a monthly basis and in Fairbanks and Juneau quarterly.