The District of Alaska encompasses 586,400 square miles (more than twice the size of Texas), with 36,000 square miles of coastline. Alaska’s population center is Anchorage, with approximately 270,000 people. The remainder of the state’s 620,000 residents are spread throughout the state in medium and small sized communities. Alaska’s weather and terrain are more extreme than any other state in the country. The interior region experiences temperature ranges from 70 degrees below zero to 90 degrees above.

The district is authorized 15 operational personnel; 13 are assigned to the Anchorage office, and two deputies are assigned to the Fairbanks sub-office. The district has five administrative personnel. Presently, the Juneau, Ketchikan and Nome sub-offices are manned only during scheduled court. These three sub-offices are only accessible by air.

In the last ten years, the district's average daily prisoner population count has grown 288%, from 35 to 101. The district has only 50 beds available in Alaska with the remaining prisoners housed in the Federal Detention Center in Seatac, Washington. The district expects this number to continue to grow as all federal agencies are increasing their efforts to bring criminals to justice.

In March 1999, the Alaska Fugitive Task Force was established to pull together resources of several agencies and concentrate apprehension efforts on state and federal fugitives, especially those wanted for crimes of violence and drug trafficking. With the assistance of the Alaska State Troopers, the Anchorage Police Department, the Alaska National Guard Counter-drug Support, the Alaska State Probation/Parole Office and other federal agencies, the Task Force has arrested over 2339 subjects in Alaska and extradited over 100 subjects to other agencies from the across the United States.

The Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) bases a Piper Cheyenne IIIA aircraft in Anchorage, AK. The Cheyenne IIIA is a twin engine, turbo-prop with capacity to hold six passengers. The aircraft is primarily used to transport prisoners between Anchorage and Seattle and to carry out law enforcement missions within the state.

Due to the uniqueness of Alaska and the broad powers of the United States Marshals Service, deputies in Alaska participate in a variety of special missions.
 

The District is a full time member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The District has established a fugitive tracking team trained in tactical response to rural fugitive investigations. This team specializes in man tracking through the commonly remote and extremely hazardous terrain of Alaska. Additionally, due to their specialized training, the team assists the Alaska State Police with search and rescue operations as requested.