From 2008 to 2013, Kindred served as an assistant district attorney and violent unit supervisor for Alaska.

President Trump nominated Kindred to the seat vacated by Judge Ralph Beistline, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2015.

[5] Alaska's Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski praised Kindred’s nomination.

[6] On January 3, 2020, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.

[12] On the day of his resignation, the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit released a report finding that Kindred had engaged in judicial misconduct by creating a sexually hostile workplace environment for clerks employed in his chambers, by having an inappropriate sexualized relationship with a clerk during and after her time working for Kindred, and for having "deliberately lied" to investigators.

[15] An impeachment and subsequent conviction would bar Kindred from holding office in the future.