An Anchorage attorney has been appointed as a judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Alaska.

Forty-nine-year-old Gary Allan Spraker will fill an opening that's been vacant since Judge Herbert Ross retired and was recalled 12 years ago.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced Spraker's appointment in a release Tuesday. Spraker will be sworn in Thursday and will be based in Anchorage.

Since 2002, Spraker has been a partner at the Anchorage law firm Christianson and Spraker.

It wasn't immediately clear why the judgeship has been open since 2000, and a spokesman for the San Francisco-based court didn't immediately return a message.