By SUZANNE DOWNING
July 7, 2026 – Just two attorneys have applied for an opening on the Juneau District Court, a relatively small applicant pool for a judicial vacancy that will now move to the next stage of Alaska’s merit-selection process.
The opening comes as Judge Kirsten L. Swanson prepares to retire from the Juneau District Court.
According to the Alaska Judicial Council, the two applicants are Kevin Andrew Higgins, an assistant attorney general with the Alaska Department of Law in Juneau, and Margaret McWilliams, deputy director of the Office of Public Advocacy in Juneau.
Higgins has been an Alaska resident for 19 years and has practiced law for 19 years. He graduated from Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law in 2007.
McWilliams has been an Alaska resident for approximately 18½ years and has practiced law for 26½ years. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1999.
The Alaska Judicial Council’s seven-member panel, consisting of the chief justice, three attorneys from the Alaska Bar Association, and three public members, will evaluate the applicants through background investigations, surveys of Alaska Bar members, and personal interviews.
Then the council is scheduled to meet in Juneau during the week of Nov. 9, 2026, to interview the candidates and conduct a public hearing. After completing its review, the council is required to nominate at least two qualified applicants for the vacancy and forward those names to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who will have 45 days to appoint one of the nominees. Dunleavy will leave office in early December.
The council is encouraging members of the public to submit comments regarding the qualifications of either applicant during the evaluation process.
Meanwhile, the Alaska Judicial Council announced that it is postponing consideration of a separate vacancy on the Kotzebue Superior Court after receiving fewer than the minimum number of required applications.
Only two applications were received by the filing deadline, preventing the council from moving forward under its selection process. The Kotzebue judgeship will be readvertised, and a new application period will be announced at a later date.
