Judge Hosack was appointed by Governor Phil Batt in 1997 to serve in the newly created district judge position in Coeur d’Alene, and took office on January 1, 1998. Judge Hosack was then elected to his district judge position in the next three general elections.

In the 12 years he served as District Judge, Judge Hosack’s assigned caseload consisted of civil and criminal cases in all 5 counties in the First District, but his caseload consisted principally of cases in Kootenai County. Judge Hosack was the trial judge for the civil trial held in Coeur d’Alene involving a personal injury claim against the Aryan Nations, which resulted in a jury verdict that bankrupted the Aryan Nations and forced the sale of their compound. Hosack retired from his position in 2010, and then went on to serve as a Senior Judge through 2020.

Hosack was born and raised in Moscow, Idaho, where his father, Robert Hosack was a professor of political science at the University of Idaho. After graduating from Moscow High School in 1964, Hosack attend the University of Oregon, and went on to law school at the University of Colorado. He graduated from law school in 1972 and moved to Boise to practice in a large law firm. In 1978 he moved to Couer d’Alene to practice with, among others, Sid Smith, who had been a member of the Idaho bar for more than 60 years and who served as United States Attorney for Idaho. Hosack continued in private practice until his appointment in 1997.

Hosack and his wife, Kathy, married in 1973 and have two sons.