Juneau -- Representative Pete Kott, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is urging Governor Tony Knowles to name a woman to the open seat on Superior Court in Anchorage now held by Judge Brian Shortell, who retired February 1.

In a letter to the Governor sent today, Kott said the percentage of women serving as state judges in Alaska has declined during Knowles' tenure. Kott wrote that, according to the National Center for State Courts, a national judges group based in Williamsburg, Virginia, Alaska is barely keeping pace with the national average of 20% women serving on all state courts.

The Alaska Judicial Council, which screens and recommends judicial appointments, this week sent Governor Knowles a list of approved candidates that includes a women. Kott said this presents an opportunity for the Governor to improve his record of appointing women to the state bench.

"During your tenure as Governor of Alaska, the presence of women judges serving on the state bench has declined on a percentage basis. You have made eighteen appointments to the state court bench, but only three, or 16%, have been women. The issue is not a lack qualified candidates, but rather an unwillingness to recognize that putting more women on the state bench needs to be a priority," Kott wrote Knowles.

Kott said any of the recommended candidates would be fine additions to the state bench, but that appointing a woman would reverse the decline in women serving as state judges since Knowles took office, and help make Alaska's judicial ranks more balanced and reflective of the state 's overall population.

Note: Copies of Rep. Kott's letter to the Governor are available from his office.