William L. Estelle

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William L. Estelle

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Prior offices
Alaska Third District District Court

Education

Bachelor's

University of Alaska, 1980

Law

Duke University, 1983

William L. Estelle was a judge of the Alaska Third District District Court. He assumed office in 2003. He left office in 2021.

Estelle ran for re-election for judge of the Alaska Third District District Court. He won in the retention election on November 6, 2018.

Estelle was appointed to the court on June 11, 2003, by Governor Frank Murkowski.[1]

Elections

2018

See also: Municipal elections in Anchorage, Alaska (2018)

Alaska Third District District Court, Estelle's seat

William L. Estelle was retained to the Alaska Third District District Court on November 6, 2018 with 58.3% of the vote.

Retention
 Vote
%
Votes
Yes
 
58.3
 
94,610
No
 
41.7
 
67,596
Total Votes
162,206

2014

Estelle was retained to the Third District Court with 54.3 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014. [2] 

2010

Estelle was retained to the district court in 2010. The Alaska Judicial Council supported his retention.[3][4]

Main article: Alaska judicial elections, 2010
See also: Alaska Judges up for Retention Election in 2010

Education

Estelle received his undergraduate degree from the University of Alaska in 1980 and his J.D. degree from Duke University in 1983.[5][6]

Career

  • 2003-2021: Judge, Alaska Third District
  • 1987-2003: Assistant district attorney, Palmer, Alaska
  • 1985-1987: Assistant attorney general, Alaska Department of Law
  • 1984-1985: Associate, Middleton, Timme & McKay
  • 1983-1984: Law clerk to Honorable Victor D. Carlson, Anchorage Superior Court
  • 1982: Summer law clerk, Bradbury, Bliss & Riordan, Inc. [6]

Noteworthy events

Estelle suspended for 45 days

On September 12, 2014, the Alaska Supreme Court approved the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct's recommendation that Estelle be suspended from the bench for 45 days without pay. The commission found that Estelle, from September 2011 to February 2013, had signed pay affidavits incorrectly stating that he had no matters that were undecided for more than six months.[7][8]

Under Alaska law, judges cannot be paid if they have uncompleted cases for more than six months. The court in its opinion noted that Estelle's errors were unintentional, and thus this served as a mitigating factor to reduce the suspension from the warranted six months to a shortened 45 days.[7][8]

Alaska Judicial Council Recommendation

The Alaska Judicial Council did not recommend Estelle for retention in 2014. In a press release, the council stated that Estelle had filed 16 untrue affidavits that claimed he had finished cases within the appropriate time constraints.[9]

See also

External links

Footnotes