Springs judge ranked no. 1 of those facing retention
A Colorado Springs district judge came out on top of the first ranking of state trial judges facing retention in the November election.
Fourth Judicial District Judge David Prince, who was appointed to the bench in April 2006, was ranked No. 1 in the state out of the 89 trial judges up for retention, according to the Colorado Commission on Judicial Performance.
The rankings and evaluations of all 104 judges and justices up for retention Nov. 4 were released Tuesday.
"I've got mixed feelings," Prince said Tuesday. "It's obviously a very kind comment by people asked to rank the judges. ... But the idea of rankings is troubling. It doesn't indicate the true ranking of the quality of the judges."
The rankings were based on surveys of attorneys and nonattorneys. Prince pointed out that the list is based on statistical data in the survey but doesn't include all the "extensive evaluation of substantive information" commission members perform.
The commission also evaluated, but did not rank, two Colorado Supreme Court justices and six Court of Appeals judges who are up for retention. Six trial judges were not ranked because the survey sample size was too small.
The seven other 4th Judicial District judges were recommended to be retained: Chief District Judge Kirk Samelson, Thomas Kane, Edward Colt, Ronald Crowder, Jann DuBois, Thomas Kennedy and Gregory Werner.
DuBois, who is presiding over the Castle West Apartments arson murder trial, was ranked No. 2 in the state by attorneys surveyed. Crowder was ranked third by attorneys.
Two El Paso County Court judges earned "retain" rankings: Karla Hansen and Daniel Wilson, as did Teller County Court Judge Jackson Peters.
Only one judge in the state received a "do not retain" evaluation, Jefferson County Court Judge Judy Archuleta.
"We wanted the process to be more comprehensive," commission Executive Director Jane Howell said. "Not just surveys, but really looking at the overall performance of judges."
Sub-commissions of 10 people, four attorneys and six nonattorneys, were established in each of the state's 22 judicial districts. Those commissions sent out surveys to attorneys, litigants, jurors, crime victims, law enforcement officers and probation officers. They held public hearings to take comments, as well as soliciting written comments from the public. They reviewed written opinions of the judges, caseload management statistics, self-evaluations and observations from courtroom watchers. Commission members also interviewed each judge.
"In terms of the whole survey, what's more important is the comments they give you rather than the raw numbers," Prince said. "Really, we're lucky to be in Colorado, where there's merit selection and substantive feedback for the judges. They look for problems and where they can improve."
Prince, for example, admits he has to quickly familiarize himself with criminal law. He was a partner in the regional law firm Holland and Hart before being appointed and primarily handled civil litigation.
"With all due humility, I appreciate the feedback," he said.
"Colorado's judicial performance process tries to strike an extremely difficult balance by making judges accountable to the public without becoming involved in politics," said commission Chairman Paul Farley in a release.
