The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska tribal court has announced the hiring of Debra O’Gara as the new presiding judge for the court.
The hiring was announced by email Monday afternoon.
O’Gara has been the court’s chief justice since 2012 and before that served as a court magistrate. As presiding judge, she will oversee child welfare and juvenile justice alternative sentencing, according to an email from the Central Council. She will hear and decide judicial matters and enter judgments and orders in paternity, child support, domestic violence, as well as generalized family law matters under tribal, federal, and state law.