AJC Home > Retention Election Information > Marjorie K. Allard
VOTE YES
Marjorie K. Allard
Alaska Court of Appeals
Judge Allard was appointed to the Alaska Court of Appeals in November of 2012. This is her second retention election.
Performance Summary
After conducting its performance review, the Judicial Council determined that Judge Allard met or exceeded performance standards on all criteria, including professional competence and legal ability, integrity, impartiality and fairness, temperament, diligence, and administrative skills.
The Council also determined that Judge Allard met or exceeded educational requirements set by the Alaska Supreme Court, complied with judicial ethics requirements, and made significant contributions to the community and to the administration of justice.
Because Judge Allard met or exceeded all performance and professional development standards, the Alaska Judicial Council recommends a “yes” vote on retention in office.
Performance Findings
The Council conducts a thorough performance review of each judge standing for retention. Key findings for Judge Allard include:
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Ratings by justice system professionals: Attorneys who appeared before Judge Allard gave her excellent reviews (4.3 overall), as did court employees (4.8 overall). The chart provided summarizes Judge Allard's survey ratings.
- Detailed survey ratings can be viewed here.
Professional activities: Judge Allard made significant contributions to the administration of justice and the community during her term in office.
- Judge Allard has served since 2016 on the court system's Judicial Conference Planning Committee, a group responsible for planning annual training for all judges.
- She has served since 2016 on the Alaska Supreme Court Committee on Fairness, Diversity, and Equality.
- Since 2019, Judge Allard has served as Chief Judge of the court of appeals, a position responsible for administrative workings of the court, including supervision of attorney employees, as well as regular coordination with administrative staff and other presiding judges.
- She is a member of the National Association of Women Judges.
- She participated in a mentoring program for young people, and participated in Color of Justice, a law-related education program designed to promote diversity in the legal profession and judiciary by encouraging diverse youth to consider careers as lawyers and judges.
- She participated in Success Inside and Out, a program that helps incarcerated women re-enter the community.
- More information about Judge Allard's professional, educational, and outreach activites can be found here.
Other performance indicators: A review of Judge Allard’s financial and conflict of interest statements showed she complied with all disclosure requirements.
Timeliness: Alaska law requires judges’ pay be withheld when a decision has been pending longer than six months. The Council found that Judge Allard’s salary was withheld several times between 2016 and 2018, but she has had no salary warrants withheld since October of 2018. The Council found that the circumstances that led to the salary witholdings arose from a combination of factors outside the judge’s control, including increased case filings, and vacancies in the membership of the court which caused a significant backlog to develop. Since then, the Legislature authorized a fourth judge to the membership of the court of appeals, and Chief Judge Allard instituted a number of administrative reforms that have helped decrease case delay. Thus, the circumstances that caused the salary withholdings are unlikely to recur in the future.
Ethics: There were no public disciplinary proceedings against Judge Allard, and the Council’s review found no ethical concerns.
