Baker v. University of Alaska

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court held that the superior court erred by dismissing Grant Baker’s administrative appeal for failure to prepay the costs of preparing the administrative record. The court interpreted Alaska Appellate Rule 604(b)(1)(B)(iv) to permit relief from prepayment upon a showing of good cause and substantial hardship, reversed the dismissal, and remanded for proceedings on the merits.

Holdings

1. Rule 604(b)(1)(B)(iv) gives the superior court broad discretion to enter an order contrary to the ordinary advance-payment arrangement and permits relief from prepayment upon a showing of good cause; strict indigence is not required.
2. Baker established good cause because he made a factual showing of substantial financial hardship that prevented him from prepaying the record-preparation costs, and the University did not rebut that showing.
3. Jordan v. Jordan did not control because Baker sought only relief from prepayment of record-preparation costs, and his financial circumstances differed materially from those of the Jordan appellant.
4. The dismissal was improper because it resulted from the superior court's erroneous denial of Baker's request for relief from the prepayment requirement.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Alaska Appellate Rule 604(b)(1)(B)(iv) permits a superior court to relieve an appellant from the ordinary requirement of prepaying administrative record and transcript preparation costs.
2. Whether Baker demonstrated good cause and substantial financial hardship sufficient to require relief from the prepayment requirement.
3. Whether dismissal of Baker's administrative appeal for failure to prosecute was proper after the superior court denied relief from prepayment.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded