Jo Ann Chung

District Court Judge Jo-Ann Chung was appointed by Governor Sean Parnell in 2011.  Judge Chung was the first Asian American woman to be appointed to the bench in Alaska. Jo-Ann Chung grew up in the Boston area and attended Fairfield University in Connecticut, receiving a B.A. in psychology. After college, Judge Chung joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corp in northern California.  She obtained her J.D. from Northeastern University, School of Law, in 1994, after doing co-ops in San Francisco, Albuequerque, Hong Kong, and Anchorage at the Office of Public Advocacy. After law school, Jo-Ann Chung clerked for Judge Robert Coates with the Alaska Court of Appeals, and then joined the Public Defender Agency in Kenai. She also worked for the Attorney General’s Officer for four years in the consumer protection division and the CINA (Child in Need of Aid) unit. In 2001, Jo-Ann joined the Municipal Prosecutor’s Office where she served as a trial attorney, supervisor of the domestic violence unit, supervisor of the trial division, and Chief Assistant Municipal Prosecutor.