DENVER–Colorado voters rejected three judges in Tuesday’s judicial retention elections, while a fourth judge who received a negative performance evaluation resigned before Election Day — an unusually large number of departures in a system where sitting judges are rarely rejected by voters.
State and judicial district commissions evaluate judges on six performance standards: legal knowledge, communication, administrative performance, integrity, judicial temperament and service to the legal profession and the public, before recommending whether voters should retain them.
Over 120 judges across Colorado were up for retention after receiving their performance evaluations. Among those only two were labeled as “does not meet performance standards.” Both failed to win retention, although one had already resigned.
Judge William David Alexander of the 10th Judicial District (Pueblo County) lost by 18 points (41 to 59 percent) and Crowley County Court Judge Jeremy P. Boyce also lost by double-digits (43 to 57 percent).
“While Judge Alexander’s courtroom demeanor is generally friendly and professional, there have been reports of occasional rude and disrespectful conduct directed at professionals appearing before the court,” Alexander’s report said. “In criminal cases there seems to be general knowledge by the attorneys who appear in front of him that he tends to treat defense more favorable in sentencing decisions, which inhibits the prosecution in negotiating what they feel is a more appropriate disposition.”
Commissioners also reported allegations that Alexander engaged in ex parte communications, meaning he communicated about a pending case outside the presence of the other parties, without proper notice or opportunity to participate.
Greeley attorney and Crowley County Court Judge Jeremy P. Boyce received the harshest evaluation and was the only judge the commission recommended voters not retain. Boyce resigned in October, before the election, but remained on the ballot and lost his retention bid.
Evaluators found Boyce “highly inefficient, failed to issue orders in a timely manner, improperly involved himself in plea negotiations, and disregarded established law. Moreover, when the Commission interviewed Judge Boyce and provided feedback during the interim period, he made only one minor adjustment and, rather than demonstrating improvement, appeared to regress,” the report said.
“The Commission also learned that Judge Boyce had exhausted the support of two mentors without meaningful improvement in his judicial performance, by all accounts, his performance had deteriorated.”
The state commission found a third judge, Dina M. Christiansen of the 13th Judicial District (Kit Carson, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington and Yuma counties), to be meeting standards, but its opinion was in stark contrast to the initial opinion of the district commission, which said they “identified significant concerns related to judicial temperament, legal analysis, and courtroom management.
“Multiple attorneys reported that Judge Christiansen can appear rigid, dismissive, or unnecessarily confrontational during hearings, particularly in more contentious matters.” the report said. “Commissioners were also concerned by reports that courtroom interactions take on a personal tone.”
The state commission said in its findings that the district commission failed to complete the required “initial interim evaluation,” and issued its own recommendation, with both evaluations made public.
Christiansen lost by more than 16 percentage points.
And in Mesa County, 21st Judicial District Judge JenniLynn E. Lawrence narrowly lost her retention election, with 50.4 percent voting against retention, according to preliminary results. Lawrence’s performance evaluation commission deadlocked 4-4 on whether she met judicial performance standards. Under state law, the tie resulted in an automatic recommendation that she met standards, despite half the commissioners voting otherwise.
