Nathaniel Peters
Bethel Superior Court | Fourth Judicial District
Judge Peters was appointed to the Bethel Superior Court in February of 2017. This is his second judicial retention election in this position. Before he was appointed to the superior court, he was a district court judge in Bethel.
Performance Summary
The Alaska Judicial Council finds that Judge Peters met or exceeded performance standards and recommends a "YES" vote for his retention in office.
This conclusion is based on surveys and reviews from attorneys, court employees, jurors, and other user groups familiar with the judge's work, analysis of the judge's financial disclosure documents, analysis of how often the judge's decisions were affirmed on appeal, whether their pay was withheld for untimely decisions, how often the judge was disqualified from a case, whether the judge followed standards of ethical conduct and continuing education, input from the public, and the judge's demonstrated commitment to the administration of justice and the community.
The Council's evaluation process included an interview with Judge Peters, and an opportunity for Judge Peters to comment on his own performance.
"I try to treat everyone who appears before me with a high level of dignity and respect. I try to explain what each hearing will be about and then listen to the parties."
- Judge Peters
Detailed Performance Findings
The Council evaluated Judge Peters’s performance on legal ability, integrity, impartiality and fairness, judicial temperament, and diligence and administrative skills. Judge Peters met or exceeded the standard in each of these areas.
A summary of the Council’s findings on Judge Peters's performance is presented here. Complete reports are posted in the source documents below.
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▼ Legal Ability
Did the judge demonstrate knowledge of substantive law, evidence and procedure, and clarity and precision in their work?
Attorneys familiar with Judge Peters’s work rated his legal ability as excellent. See chart below for numerical ratings. Attorneys who appeared in cases before him gave positive reviews.
Jurors who served in Judge Peters’s courtroom rated his attentiveness, intelligence and skill as excellent.
In Alaska, a party who disagrees with a trial judge’s decision can appeal to a higher court. The appeal court analyzes the judge’s decision and issues an opinion. The Council reviews all the opinions and analyzes how often and why individual judges are affirmed or reversed as one measure of the judge’s legal ability. Judge Peters had 42 cases appealed and decided in the evaluation period, with an affirmance rate of 82% (Good). A review of the opinions raised no concerns about his legal ability. For more details, see the Appellate Affirmance Report, linked below.
Judge Peters met or exceeded educational requirements set by the Alaska Supreme Court.
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▼ Impartiality & Fairness
Did the judge demonstrate a sense of fairness and justice and treat all parties equally?
Attorneys and court employees rated Judge Peters’s impartiality and fairness as excellent. Social service professionals rated his impartiality and fairness as acceptable. See chart below for numerical ratings.
Jurors who served in Judge Peters’s courtroom rated his impartiality as excellent. See chart below for numerical ratings.
Court rules allow a litigant at the beginning of a case to file a request for change of judge. Parties whose cases were assigned to Judge Peters seldom asked for a different judge.
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▼ Integrity
Was the judge's conduct free from impropriety or the appearance of impropriety, and did the judge make decisions without regard to possible public criticism?
Attorneys and court employees rated Judge Peters’s integrity as excellent. Social service professionals rated his integrity as good. See chart below for numerical ratings.
Judge Peters filed financial disclosure statements with the Alaska Public Offices Commission and separate conflict-of-interest forms with the court system as required, and the Council found no items of concern in these disclosures.
The Council confirmed that Judge Peters was not the subject of any public disciplinary proceedings before the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct, and that he followed standards of ethical conduct for judges.
Judges must disqualify themselves from cases where they have a conflict of interest or their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. The Council found no concern about Judge Peters’s performance on this requirement.
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▼ Judicial Temperament
Was the judge courteous and free from arrogance, and did the judge manifest human understanding and compassion?
Attorneys and court employees rated Judge Peters’s judicial temperament as excellent. Social service professionals rated his temperament as acceptable. See chart below for numerical ratings.
Jurors who served in Judge Peters’s courtroom rated him as excellent on respectful and courteous behavior.
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▼ Diligence & Administrative Skills
Was the judge prepared for court proceedings, did the judge work diligently, and was the judge reasonably prompt in making decisions?
Attorneys and court employees rated Judge Peters’s diligence and administrative skills as excellent. Social service professionals rated his diligence and administrative skills as good. See chart below for numerical ratings.
Under Alaska law, a judge cannot receive a paycheck if they have any decision undecided or uncompleted for more than six months. Each pay cycle, judges must sign an affidavit declaring that no matter referred to them has remained undecided or uncompleted for more than six months. The Council verified that Judge Peters was paid on schedule, and he certified that he had no untimely decisions.
Judge Peters demonstrated commitment to improving the administration of justice and to community outreach. Judge Peters:
- Co-chairs the court system’s Court Improvement Project, a group focused on improving outcomes in child welfare cases;
- Serves as the Administrative Head of the Three-Judge Sentencing Panel, which reviews criminal sentences in certain cases;
- Serves as a Training Judge for magistrate judges;
- Chairs the Statewide Magistrate Judge Evaluation Panel reviewing the performance of magistrate judges;
- Serves on the Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Committee, a group that updates criminal case jury instructions;
- Serves on the Access to Justice Committee to improve Alaskans’ access to civil justice;
- Attended community meetings about local courts in the YK Delta area.
See Judge Peters's retention questionnaire for more information.
The Judicial Council distributed electronic surveys to attorneys, court employees, jurors, and social service professionals asking them to rate Judge Peters’s performance on key skills. Survey ratings from these groups are shown in the charts below.
