then, in 1977, republican governor jay hammond appointed matthews as an associate justice of the alaska supreme court. the other supreme court justices elected matthews to be the 8th chief justice from 1987 to 1990 and as the 12th chief justice from 1997 to 2000. as chief justice, he also served concurrently as chairman of the alaska judicial council. the nation's other chief justices elected matthews as second vice president of the conference of chief justices.