Judges appointed by John Hickenlooper

	Judicial selection in Colorado
	Colorado Supreme Court
Method:	Assisted appointment
Term:	2 or 10 years
	Colorado Court of Appeals
Method:	Assisted appointment
Term:	2 or 8 years
	Colorado District Courts
Method:	Assisted appointment
Term:	2 or 6 years
	Colorado County Courts
Method:	Assisted appointment
Term:	2 or 4 years

	Judicial Appointments
	Governor John Hickenlooper
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This page lists judges appointed by John Hickenlooper (D) during his term as Governor of Colorado. As of today, the total number of Hickenlooper appointees was 151. For the full profile of Hickenlooper, click here.

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population. Some Colorado judges are outside of that coverage scope. As a result, this page does not provide an exhaustive list of all judges appointed by Gov. Hickenlooper.

Appointment process

In Colorado, the governor makes a judicial appointment after candidates are recommended by a judicial nominating commission. After the governor appoints a judge, she or he must serve at least two years in office before running for election.^[1]

For more information, see: Judicial selection in Colorado

Appointed judges

The tables below list the governor's appointees to the courts across the state.

State Courts

Supreme Court

Name	Court	Active
Melissa Hart	Colorado Supreme Court	2017 - Present
Carlos Armando Samour Jr.	Colorado Supreme Court	2018 - Present
Brian Boatright	Colorado Supreme Court	2011 - Present
William W. Hood	Colorado Supreme Court	January 13, 2014 - Present
Richard Gabriel	Colorado Supreme Court	2015 - Present

Court of Appeals

Name	Court	Active
Anthony Navarro	Colorado Court of Appeals	January 21, 2013 - January 13, 2025
Elizabeth Harris	Colorado Court of Appeals	July 1, 2015 - Present
Stephanie Dunn	Colorado Court of Appeals	November 23, 2012 - Present
Rebecca Rankin Freyre	Colorado Court of Appeals	September 21, 2015 - Present
Ted C. Tow	Colorado Court of Appeals	February 12, 2018 - Present
Craig Welling	Colorado Court of Appeals	January 16, 2017 - Present
Matthew Grove	Colorado Court of Appeals	January 9, 2019 - Present
Michael Berger	Colorado Court of Appeals	December 18, 2013 - October 29, 2022
Karen M. Ashby	Colorado Court of Appeals	October 1, 2013 - May 31, 2019
Lino Lipinsky de Orlov	Colorado Court of Appeals	January 9, 2019 - Present

Local Courts

Name	Court	Active
Martin Flaum II	Adams County Court
Cindy Hoang-Ha Thi Dang	Adams County Court	July 1, 2016 - June 25, 2022
Daniel A. Walzl	Alamosa County Court
Joshua Williford	Arapahoe County Court
Cheryl Rowles-Stokes	Arapahoe County Court
Michael Roche	Arapahoe County Court	2016 - Present
Chantel Contiguglia	Arapahoe County Court	August 30, 2018 - January 1, 2024
Kelly LaFave	Arapahoe County Court	2016 - Present
Colleen Clark	Arapahoe County Court	September 30, 2016 - Present
Justin Fay	Archuleta County Court
Sam Cassidy	Archuleta County Court
Samuel S. Vigil	Bent County Court	2013 - 2022
J.P. Martin	Boulder County Court
Gerald Keefe	Cheyenne County Court
William D. Alexander	Colorado 10th District Court
Allison Ernst	Colorado 10th District Court
Patrick Murphy	Colorado 11th Judicial District
Ramsey Lama	Colorado 11th Judicial District
Lynette Wenner	Colorado 11th Judicial District
Amanda Hunter	Colorado 11th Judicial District
Michael A. Gonzales	Colorado 12th Judicial District
Patrick H. Hayes	Colorado 12th Judicial District
Patrick Henry Hayes Jr.	Colorado 12th Judicial District	2015 - May 29, 2018
Carl S. McGuire	Colorado 13th Judicial District	July 1, 2016 - Present
Michael Davidson	Colorado 15th Judicial District
Mark MacDonnell	Colorado 16th Judicial District
Tomee Crespin	Colorado 17th Judicial District	January 10, 2017 - January 12, 2021
Caryn Datz	Colorado 17th Judicial District	September 28, 2018 - Present
Jaclyn Casey Brown	Colorado 17th Judicial District	2016 - 2019
Roberto Ramirez	Colorado 17th Judicial District
Don Quick	Colorado 17th Judicial District
Priscilla Loew	Colorado 17th Judicial District	May 31, 2017 - Present
Sean Finn	Colorado 17th Judicial District	February 13, 2018 - Present
Sharon Holbrook	Colorado 17th Judicial District	October 17, 2016 - Present
Emily Anderson	Colorado 17th Judicial District	2014 - January 23, 2021
Theresa Slade	Colorado 18th Judicial District
Darren Vahle	Colorado 18th Judicial District	July 1, 2018 - Present
Frederick Martinez	Colorado 18th Judicial District
John Scipione	Colorado 18th Judicial District	September 29, 2018 - January 20, 2023
Michelle Amico	Colorado 18th Judicial District
Gary Kramer	Colorado 18th Judicial District
Robert Lung	Colorado 18th Judicial District	July 1, 2016 - Present
Cynthia Mares	Colorado 18th Judicial District	July 2, 2018 - Present
Phillip Douglass	Colorado 18th Judicial District	July 1, 2015 - 2018
Ben Leutwyler III	Colorado 18th Judicial District	July 1, 2016 - Present
Andrew Baum	Colorado 18th Judicial District	August 1, 2017 - Present
Bonnie McLean	Colorado 18th Judicial District
Natalie Chase	Colorado 18th Judicial District
David J. Stevens	Colorado 18th Judicial District
Patricia Herron	Colorado 18th Judicial District
Ryan J. Stuart	Colorado 18th Judicial District	2019 - Present
W. Troy Hause	Colorado 19th Judicial District
Shannon Douglas Lyons	Colorado 19th Judicial District
Diego Hunt	Colorado 1st Judicial District
Chris Zenisek	Colorado 1st Judicial District
Ann Gail Meinster	Colorado 1st Judicial District
Laura A. Tighe	Colorado 1st Judicial District
Jeffrey R. Pilkington	Colorado 1st Judicial District
Todd L. Vriesman	Colorado 1st Judicial District
Andrew Macdonald	Colorado 20th Judicial District
Judith LaBuda	Colorado 20th Judicial District
Norma A. Sierra	Colorado 20th Judicial District
Patrick Butler	Colorado 20th Judicial District
Andrew Hartman	Colorado 20th Judicial District
Bruce Langer	Colorado 20th Judicial District
Lance Timbreza	Colorado 21st Judicial District
Gretchen Larson	Colorado 21st Judicial District
Jennifer Torrington	Colorado 2nd Judicial District	2016 - January 14, 2025
Christopher Baumann	Colorado 2nd Judicial District	December 31, 2017 - Present
David Goldberg	Colorado 2nd Judicial District	June 1, 2015 - January 14, 2025
Karen L. Brody	Colorado 2nd Judicial District	April 18, 2014 - Present
Elizabeth Anne Starrs	Colorado 2nd Judicial District
Andrew McCallin	Colorado 2nd Judicial District
Jay Grant	Colorado 2nd Judicial District	2016 - Present
Ross Buchanan	Colorado 2nd Judicial District
Darryl Shockley	Colorado 2nd Judicial District	December 31, 2018 - Present
Kandace Gerdes	Colorado 2nd Judicial District
Erin Sokol	Colorado 4th Judicial District	August 1, 2017 - Present
Linda Billings-Vela	Colorado 4th Judicial District
Chad Miller	Colorado 4th Judicial District	2019 - Present
Robin Chittum	Colorado 4th Judicial District
Eric Bentley	Colorado 4th Judicial District	October 1, 2016 - Present
Marla Prudek	Colorado 4th Judicial District
Jill Brady	Colorado 4th Judicial District
Paul R. Dunkelman	Colorado 5th Judicial District
Paul Dunkelman	Colorado 5th Judicial District
William L. Herringer	Colorado 6th Judicial District
Suzanne Carlson	Colorado 6th Judicial District
Todd Norvell	Colorado 6th Judicial District
David S. Westfall	Colorado 7th Judicial District
Keri Yoder	Colorado 7th Judicial District
Mary Deganhart	Colorado 7th Judicial District
Steven Schultz	Colorado 7th Judicial District
Michelle Brinegar	Colorado 8th Judicial District
Susan Blanco	Colorado 8th Judicial District
Stephen Jouard	Colorado 8th Judicial District
Anne Norrdin	Colorado 9th Judicial District
Chris Seldin	Colorado 9th Judicial District
Susan Broyles	Conejos County Court
Kimberly Cortez-Rodriguez	Conejos County Court
Jin Ho Pack	Delta County Court
Laurie Clark	Denver Juvenile Court
Elizabeth Leith	Denver Probate Court	2011 - Present
Laura Findorff	El Paso County Court
Denise Peacock	El Paso County Court	January 7, 2019 - Present
Meredith Patrick Cord	El Paso County Court	January 7, 2019 - Present
Samuel Albert Evig	El Paso County Court	January 8, 2019 - October 8, 2021
Shannon Gerhart	El Paso County Court
David Cooper Taylor	Gilpin County Court
Nicholas Catanzarite	Grand County Court
Ashley Burgemeister	Gunnison County Court
John McKisson III	Huerfano County Court
Ryan J. Stuart	Jefferson County Court Division A
Harold Sargent	Jefferson County Court Division D	2017 - May 31, 2022
Jean Woodford	Jefferson County Court Division J
Joshua B. Lehman	Larimer County Court
Mary Joan Berenato	Larimer County Court
Kraig Ecton	Larimer County Court
Ray Ann Brammer	Logan County Court
Ruth M. Acheson	Mineral County Court
Bennett A. Morris	Montrose County Court
Julie J. Huffman	Montrose County Court
Donald Jackson	Ouray County Court
Kimbra Killin	Phillips County Court
Curtis Porter	Prowers County Court
Roberto Silva	Pueblo County Court	October 15, 2018 - Present
Valerie V. Haynes	Pueblo County Court
David Lobato	Pueblo County Court
Ann Ulrich	Saguache County Court
Anthony Edwards	San Juan County Court
Scott T. Erickson	San Miguel County Court
Susanne Ross	San Miguel County Court
Tera Neugebauer	Sedgwick County Court
Tawna Holmstedt	Sedgwick County Court
Theresa Kilgore	Teller County Court
Kelly Hansen	Washington County Court

Judicial selection process

See also: Judicial selection in Colorado

Judicial selection refers to the process used to select judges for courts. At the state level, methods of judicial selection vary substantially in the United States, and in some cases between different court types within a state. There are six primary types of judicial selection: partisan and nonpartisan elections, the Michigan method, assisted appointment, gubernatorial appointment, and legislative elections. To read more about how these selection methods are used across the country, click here.

This article covers how state court judges are selected in Colorado, including:

Colorado Supreme Court,
Colorado Court of Appeals
Colorado District Courts, and
Limited jurisdiction courts

As of April 2025, judges for all courts in the state—except for water courts and municipal courts—were selected through assisted appointment, where the governor selects a nominee from a list provided by a nominating commission. Water court judges were designated by the supreme court and municipal court judges were selected by the municipal governing body.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Click here to notify us of changes to judicial selection methods in this state.

Appellate state court selection in the United States, by general selection method^[9]

State courts and their selection methods across the U.S., including the District of Columbia^[9]
Method	Supreme Court (of 53)^[10]	Courts of Appeal (of 46)	Trial Courts (of 147)
Partisan elections (PE)	8	6	39
Nonpartisan elections (NPE)	13	16	34
Legislative elections (LE)	2	2	5
Gubernatorial appointment of judges (GA)	5	3	6
Assisted appointment (AA)	22	18	46
Combination or other	3^[11]	1^[12]	17^[13]

State profile

Demographic data for Colorado
	Colorado	U.S.
Total population:	5,448,819	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	103,642	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	84.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	4%	12.6%
Asian:	2.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.9%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	3.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	21.1%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.7%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	38.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$60,629	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.5%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Colorado. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Colorado

Colorado voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Colorado, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.^[14]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Colorado had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Colorado coverage on Ballotpedia

External links

Office of the Governor

Footnotes

↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Colorado," archived October 2, 2014
↑ Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 10 years.
↑ Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 8 years.
↑ Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 6 years.
↑ Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 4 years.
↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023
↑ Colorado Judicial Branch, "Water Courts," accessed March 28, 2023
↑ Justia, "2022 Colorado Code Title 13 - Courts and Court Procedure Article 10 - Municipal Courts § 13-10-105. Municipal Judge - Appointment - Removal," accessed March 28, 2023
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," archived February 2, 2015
↑ Both Oklahoma and Texas have two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
↑ Michigan and Ohio use nonpartisan general elections with candidates selected through partisan primaries or conventions. In the District of Columbia, judges are selected in the same manner as federal judges.
↑ Judges of the North Dakota Court of Appeals are appointed on an as-needed basis by the supreme court justices.
↑ Most courts that use combination/alternative methods (for example, mayoral appointment) are local level courts. These courts are often governed by selection guidelines that are unique to their specific region.
↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

Colorado courts

Federal courts:

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Colorado • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Colorado

State courts:

Colorado Supreme Court • Colorado Court of Appeals • Colorado District Courts • Colorado County Courts • Denver Probate Court • Denver Juvenile Court • Colorado Municipal Courts • Colorado Water Courts

State resources:

Courts in Colorado • Colorado judicial elections • Judicial selection in Colorado

[gen-1] American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Colorado," archived October 2, 2014

[Initial-2] Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 10 years.

[3] Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 8 years.

[4] Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 6 years.

[5] Initial terms are two years. Subsequent terms are 4 years.

[6] Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023

[water-7] Colorado Judicial Branch, "Water Courts," accessed March 28, 2023

[muni-8] Justia, "2022 Colorado Code Title 13 - Courts and Court Procedure Article 10 - Municipal Courts § 13-10-105. Municipal Judge - Appointment - Removal," accessed March 28, 2023

[define-9] 9.0 ^9.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," archived February 2, 2015

[10] Both Oklahoma and Texas have two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.

[11] Michigan and Ohio use nonpartisan general elections with candidates selected through partisan primaries or conventions. In the District of Columbia, judges are selected in the same manner as federal judges.

[12] Judges of the North Dakota Court of Appeals are appointed on an as-needed basis by the supreme court justices.

[13] Most courts that use combination/alternative methods (for example, mayoral appointment) are local level courts. These courts are often governed by selection guidelines that are unique to their specific region.

[14] The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

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Colorado	Judicial Selection	More Courts

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Judges appointed by John Hickenlooper

Appointment process

Appointed judges

State Courts

Supreme Court

Court of Appeals

Local Courts

Judicial selection process

State profile

Presidential voting pattern

Pivot Counties (2016)

Pivot Counties (2020)

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Footnotes

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