4th Judicial District County Court judge finalists selected

The 4th Judicial District Nominating Commission has nominated two candidates for a county court judgeship created by the retirement of Honorable Theresa L. Kilgore, effective March 1, 2026.

Elizabeth Ann McClintock of Colorado Springs and Ryan John Skajewski of Woodland Park were selected by the commission on Feb. 2, 2026.

Under the Colorado Constitution, the governor has 15 days from today, within which to appoint one of the nominees as a county court judge for the 4th Judicial District (Teller County).

Comments regarding any of the nominees may be sent via e-mail to the governor at:

gov_judicialappointments@state.co.us

Editor’s Note: Contact information for the two nominees:

• Elizabeth Ann McClintock: 301 South Weber Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. 719-375-0112.
• Ryan John Skajewski: 112 N. A St., Cripple Creek, CO 80813. 719-520-7128.

For questions about this announcement, please contact the Colorado Supreme Court Clerk's Office at: 720-625-5150. 

Colorado Supreme Court justice finalists selected

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission has nominated three candidates for a vacancy on the Colorado Supreme Court. The vacancy was created by the retirement of the Honorable Melissa Hart, effective Jan. 5, 2026.

Honorable Susan Blanco of Fort Collins, Andrea S. Wang of Denver, and Honorable Christopher Clayton Zenisek of Golden were selected by the commission on Feb. 2, 2026.

Under the Colorado Constitution, the governor has 15 days from Feb. 3, 2026, to appoint one of the nominees as a justice on the Colorado Supreme Court. 

Comments regarding any nominee may be emailed to the governor at: gov_judicialappointments@state.co.us. 

Editor’s Note: Contact information for the three nominees: 

• Honorable Susan Blanco. 201 LaPorte Avenue, Ste. 100, Fort Collins, CO 80521. 970-494-3500.
• Andrea S. Wang. 1300 Broadway, 10th floor, Denver, CO 80203. 720-879-2169.
• Honorable Christopher Clayton Zenisek. 100 Jefferson County Parkway, Division 6, Golden, CO 80401. 720-772-2676.  

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DENVER - The Colorado Judicial Department announces the release of its Judicial Officer Outreach Program 2025 Annual Legislative Report, a comprehensive document detailing how the program continues to advance its mission to promote judicial transparency, belonging, and public trust through targeted outreach, pipeline-building, and education on judicial vacancies and the nomination process.

This year’s report includes new data points that highlight the path judicial officers take to reach the bench. These additions underscore the department’s commitment to understanding the path that current judicial officers have taken to the bench and to providing resources that make that path accessible to all.

Key insights found in the report include:

Judicial Officer Demographics and Statewide Trends: The report presents FY 2025 data on judicial appointments and demographics, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and numerous additional background data points of judicial officers statewide. Demographic data are provided both at the statewide level and separately for each of the twenty-three judicial districts.

Findings on Statewide Listening Sessions: This year’s statewide listening sessions, conducted across judicial districts, offered region-specific perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in judicial recruitment.

New Initiatives: Leveraging insights from statewide listening sessions, the Judicial Officer Outreach Program has launched Your Honor: Journey to the Bench, a seven-week virtual webinar series designed for attorneys and aspiring judges. The series aims to foster meaningful dialogue and clarify the judicial pathway to judgeship. This initiative was inspired by and is an extension of a similar in-person symposium held last spring.

"The Judicial Officer Outreach Program is grounded in the belief that meaningful community engagement and partnership build a strong and representative judiciary,” said Nga Vương-Sandoval, judicial officer outreach program lead. “By working closely with judicial officers, court staff, attorneys, government agencies, and community leaders across the state, we deliver programming and engagement that’s intentional, responsive, and impactful.”

The report is available on the Colorado Judicial Department’s website at: www.coloradojudicial.gov/human-resources/judicial-officer-outreach

About the Judicial Officer Outreach Program:

Through its educational and outreach efforts, the Judicial Officer Outreach Program seeks to further the mission of the Colorado Judicial Department to provide the community with a fair and impartial system of justice by ensuring that our courts reflect the communities we serve. This program was established under Colorado SB 19-043 to provide outreach on judicial office vacancies and to create and deliver educational programming on the judicial application process. This is the first program of its kind both in Colorado and in the nation.

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 4th Judicial District is now accepting applications for the appointment of a public administrator.

A public administrator is a private individual appointed by the Chief Judge to collect, protect, and manage the assets of certain living individuals, typically through conservatorship, and to administer the estates of certain decedents, when the decedent does not have a person willing and/or able to administer the estate.

A public administrator is not an employee of any city, county, or state government entity or agency, including the appointing district.

The appointee must be a qualified elector over 21 years of age and must be a resident or maintain a principal place of business in the 4th Judicial District (El Paso and Teller counties).

Applications must be submitted via email to Scott Sosebee, 4th Judicial District court executive, at scott.sosebee@judicial.state.co.us, and include a cover letter detailing the applicant's qualifications, a resume, and three professional references.

Applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2026. 

To learn more about the public administrator position, visit coloradojudicial.gov/media/19343. 

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DENVER— Chief Justice Monica Márquez today announced her appointments to the Colorado Supreme Court’s newly established Legal Technology Advisory Committee. The Committee will play a central role in helping the Colorado judiciary and legal community navigate emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure that justice, integrity, and innovation remain at the forefront of Colorado’s legal system.

Chief Justice Márquez charged the Committee with a clear mandate to draft and recommend guidance materials on the use of technology, including AI, for attorneys, licensed legal paraprofessionals, judicial officers, other legal professionals, and members of the public who interact with Colorado’s courts. The Committee will present its recommendations annually, with the first guidance materials due by Oct. 1, 2026.

“Members of the Committee bring significant and wide-ranging experience and expertise in technology, legal ethics, and various substantive areas of law,” said Chief Justice Márquez. “They will assist the Supreme Court in ensuring that legal professionals, judicial officers, and members of the public who interface with the courts employ AI tools responsibly and effectively. I look forward to reviewing the Committee’s recommendations.”

Committee Appointments

The following individuals have been appointed to the Legal Technology Advisory Committee:

Lino Lipinsky, Chair: Judge Lipinsky has served on the Colorado Court of Appeals since 2019 and chairs the Standing Committee on the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct, as well as serves on a variety of other judicial committees and commissions. He is recognized for his leadership in legal ethics, access to justice, and artificial intelligence, and received the Denver Bar Association’s Judicial Excellence Award in 2025.

Katina Banks:A knowledge attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, Ms. Banks brings extensive experience in intellectual property, technology transactions, and corporate law. She has held positions in private practice, in-house, and academia, and is an alumna of Capital University Law School and the University of Pennsylvania.

Jill D. Dorancy:Judge Dorancy serves on Denver’s District Court, where she handles civil matters. Her background includes regulatory and litigation work in the energy sector, as well as extensive client service across diverse backgrounds.

Stacy Guillon:Judge Guillon, of the 23rd Judicial District, manages a civil docket and has notable experience as an arbitrator, mediator, and early adopter of AI tools in alternative dispute resolution. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Dartmouth College.

April Jones:Founder and CEO of Jones Law Firm, PC, Ms. Jones is a leader in complex domestic relations matters and has served as a judicial nomination commissioner for the state appellate courts. She is recognized for her practical approach to the responsible use of AI and is Senior Vice President of the Colorado Bar Association.

Margot Kaminski:Professor Kaminski is the Moses Lasky Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School and the Director of the Privacy Initiative at Silicon Flatirons. She specializes in new technologies, privacy, and AI law, and is a leading scholar in AI regulation.

Lois R. Lupica:Director of the Legal Innovation Lab at the Community Economic Defense Project and the Maine Foundation Professor of Law, Professor Lupica is a national figure in access to justice and legal technology and serves as Chair of the Colorado Access to Justice Commission Technology Committee.

Julia Martinez:Julia Martinez, a former federal prosecutor and Chief of Cybercrime and National Security for the District of Colorado, is an expert in cybercrime, national security, and AI in legal practice. She teaches at the University of Colorado Law School.

Colin Moriarty:A partner at Moriarty Underhill LLC, Mr. Moriarty focuses on business and commercial litigation and is an author and educator on generative AI in legal practice. Mr. Moriarty received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Damien Riehl:Mr. Riehl is a lawyer and technologist known for his leadership in legal data standards, AI-backed legal software, and advancing technology to improve legal workflows. He is Chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s AI Committee.

Michael Siebecker: Professor Siebecker of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law is a scholar whose research intersects with AI, corporate law, and political theory. His work is widely published in leading legal journals, treatises, and books.

Thomas Ward:Magistrate Ward, serving the 20th Judicial District, is recognized for his work in civil and domestic relations and his dedication to access to justice for underserved communities. He also teaches legal ethics and professionalism at the University of Colorado Law School.

Justice Maria Berkenkotter will serve as the Supreme Court’s liaison to the Committee. Justice Berkenkotter is a frequent speaker on legal and judicial ethics and generative artificial intelligence.

The full bios of the committee members are available at coloradojudicial.gov/media/19274.

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The term of office of United States Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, expires on August 13, 2026.

The United States District Court is required by law to establish a panel of citizens to consider the reappointment of a magistrate judge to a new eight-year term.

The duties of a magistrate judge in this court include the following: (1) conduct preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge; and (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 40.1(c), all full-time magistrate judges are included in the assignment of civil cases by random draw. Parties in cases assigned directly to a magistrate judge are required to indicate, through the filing of a consent form by a date certain, whether they accept or decline consent to magistrate judge jurisdiction. The basic authority of a United States magistrate judge is specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636.

Written comments from members of the bar and the public are invited as to whether the incumbent magistrate judge should be recommended by the panel for reappointment by the court.

All comments should be submitted electronically by email, or as a PDF attachment to an email, directly to the Merit Selection Panel at: MJComments@usdccolorado.net.

Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on January 23, 2026.

The members of the Merit Selection Panel are:

Marilyn S. Chappell, Esq. – Chairperson

Matthew K. Belcher, Esq.

Daniella C. Correa Shively, Esq.

Yvonne M. Davis

Anna Holland Edwards, Esq.

Adam Grayson, Ph.D.

Dr. Kimberle Jackson-Butler

Chad T. Nitta, Esq.

Leslie C. Schulze, Esq

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact our office.

Sayre Deane | Human Resources Generalist III

US District Court, District of Colorado

(303) 335-2491

The 4th Judicial District, consisting of the counties of El Paso and Teller, is accepting applications for the appointment of a Public Administrator. A Public Administrator is a person appointed by the court in the judicial district who is available to serve as a personal representative, conservator, trustee, or other fiduciary. A Public Administrator may be appointed in some probate cases when no person is willing or able to serve as a fiduciary, or when the current fiduciary is not performing adequately and must be removed. To be eligible to serve as a Public Administrator, the statute requires a person to be a qualified elector at least 21 years old and to reside or maintain a principal business in the judicial district to which they are appointed. A Public Administrator is not an employee of either the State of Colorado or of the judicial district or the city or county in which the person has been appointed. The person appointed as the Public Administrator shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing district until discharged by the district or until such person’s resignation is accepted by the appointing district.

See flyer for full details

Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart Retires 

Application process to begin in January to select the next justice of the Colorado Supreme Court

DENVER – On Dec. 19, 2025, Justice Melissa Hart announced her retirement from the Colorado Supreme Court, effective Jan. 5, 2026. The process to select the next Colorado Supreme Court Justice will commence soon. Qualified attorneys are invited to apply, and more details will be released in the coming two weeks. 

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission will have 30 days from Jan. 5, 2026, to submit the names of three nominees to the Governor for consideration. Once the Governor receives the three nominees, he will then have 15 days to select the next Supreme Court Justice. It is anticipated that the application process will open in early January and that the Nominating Commission will conduct interviews in early February. 

To be eligible for appointment, the applicant must be a qualified elector of the State of Colorado and must have been admitted to the practice of law in Colorado for five years. The annual salary for a Supreme Court Justice is currently $221,301.96. A Supreme Court Justice’s initial term of office is a provisional term of two years. Thereafter, the incumbent justice, if retained by the voters, has a term of ten years.

Application forms are available from the office of the ex-officio chair of the nominating commission, Chief Justice Monica Márquez, 2 E. 14th Ave., Denver, CO 80203, and on the court’s website at: https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/careers/judge-opportunities

Information about the Supreme Court Nominating Commission is available on the court’s website at: https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2025-12/SC_Roster.pdf

Justice Melissa Hart announces retirement from Colorado Supreme Court

DENVER—Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart has announced her retirement from the bench, effective Jan. 5, 2026. After a temporary leave of absence, Justice Hart submitted her retirement notice to Chief Justice Monica Márquez today, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. She will remain on leave through her retirement. In a statement about her decision, Justice Hart said she plans to focus on “access to civil justice for low and middle-income Coloradans and making the family law system work for unrepresented litigants.”

“I remain deeply committed to the work that is central to Colorado’s Judicial Branch - preserving the rule of law and serving the public,” said Justice Melissa Hart in her letter to the Chief Justice. “Colorado, like every other state in the country, is struggling to serve the public in these areas [of access to justice and family law systems]. I joined the bench because I felt called to address these issues, and I plan to continue this work after retirement.”

To ensure the Court’s work continues without interruption, all cases are being handled in accordance with established procedures to provide timely and fair resolutions. Consistent with court rules, adjustments will be made to the case-assignment process to ensure a smooth transition.

“Justice Hart has devoted the past eight years to serving both the judiciary and the people of Colorado,” said Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez. “Her unwavering commitment, energy, and efforts to expand access to justice have significantly benefited our state. Justice Hart’s absence will be deeply felt throughout the branch. Her legal expertise, steadfast dedication to the rule of law, and significant work on numerous committees will leave a lasting legacy.”

Justice Hart was appointed to the Colorado Supreme Court on Dec. 14, 2017, by Governor John Hickenlooper. During her tenure on the bench, she served as the court’s liaison to the Colorado Access to Justice Commission, the Pathways to Access Standing Committee, the Standing Committee on Family Issues, the Ralph Carr Judicial Learning Center, and as the co-Chair of the Judicial Department’s Workplace Culture Initiative Steering Committee. Justice Hart served as the Chair-Elect of the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar and as an Adviser to the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law, High-Volume Civil Adjudication project.

While serving on the Court, Justice Hart was an adjunct professor at both the University of Colorado Law School and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Prior to joining the Court, Justice Hart was a professor at the University of Colorado Law School, where she directed the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law. Throughout her years as a professor, Justice Hart maintained an active pro bono practice, writing amicus briefs in appellate courts and representing clients through Metro Volunteer Lawyers in family law cases. Her teaching and scholarship focused on access to justice, constitutional law, judicial decision-making, legal ethics, employment discrimination, and civil procedure.

When a judicial officer position becomes vacant, the vacancy is announced publicly, the application process is initiated, and details about the nomination commission are provided.

The court will issue this information in a forthcoming, separate announcement in accordance with the procedures for judicial vacancies.

The Supreme Court thanks Justice Melissa Hart for her tenure on the Court and dedication to the rule of law.

4th Judicial District announces County Court Vacancy

Commission sets date to select nominees

The 4th Judicial District Nominating Commission will meet on Feb 2, 2026, at the Teller County Courthouse, 101 W. Bennett Avenue, Cripple Creek, CO 80813, to interview and select nominees for appointment by the governor to the office of county judge for the 4th Judicial District (Teller County). The vacancy will occur due to the retirement of the Honorable Theresa L. Kilgore, effective March 1, 2026.

To be eligible, the applicant must be a qualified elector of Teller County at the time of investiture and have graduated high school or attained the equivalent of a high school education as indicated by the Department of Education, based upon the record made on the General Education Development test. The annual salary for this position is $185,251.19, and it is a 95 percent position. The initial term of office of a county judge is a provisional term of two years; thereafter, the incumbent county judge, if approved by the voters, has a term of four years.

Application forms are available from the office of the ex officio chair of the nominating commission, Justice Brian Boatright, 2 E. 14^th Ave., Denver, CO 80203, and the office of the Court Executive, Scott Sosebee, 270 S. Tejon St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903. Applications are also available on the court’s home page at https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/careers/judge-opportunities.

The completed application must be emailed to the address listed in the instructions below no later than 4:00 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2026. Late applications will not be considered. Any person wishing to suggest a candidate to fill the vacancy may do so by letter to be submitted to any member of the nominating commission, with a copy to the ex officio chair, no later than Jan. 5, 2026, by 4:00 p.m.

The members of the nominating commission for the 4th Judicial District are:

Michael Allen of Monument; Paul Hurcomb, Roland Rainey, and Misty Plowright, all of Colorado Springs.

Editor’s Note: Contact information for the nominating commission members: 

• Paul Hurcomb, pwh@sparkswillson.com
• Roland Rainey, rojune28@yahoo.com
•  Misty Plowright, misty.plowright@gmail.com
• Michael Allen, mtallen@mikemoranlaw.com

JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION

APPLICATION FOR COLORADO STATE COURT JUDGESHIP

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

Instructions

1.   The application form for a Colorado state court judgeship can be found on the Judicial Branch website at https://www.courts.state.co.us/Careers/Judge.cfm

Please be complete and thorough in answering the questions. If an answer to any question requires more space than provided, attach a separate page for the question(s). Do not change the margins or font size on the application.

2.   Your application materials should be prepared in the following manner:

The application and any attachments must be submitted as a single PDF file with reference letters attached last. The application should be in text searchable format. 

You may submit letters of reference from not less than three and no more than five individuals who are able to comment upon your qualifications for a judicial position. 

It is preferred that reference letters are included with your application submission. However, if they are submitted directly by the author, they must be submitted by email as described below in paragraph 3.  All letters of reference are due by the filing deadline listed in paragraph 4. 

3.   Your application materials compiled as outlined above should be sent via email with your name and 4th JD Teller County Court in the subject line with your materials attached as outlined above no later than 4 p.m. on January 12, 2026 to the following email address:

judicial.applicants@judicial.state.co.us

You should receive an automatic response to your email submission. If you do not, please call the supreme court at the telephone number listed below. Please add this email address to your contacts so that email does not get filtered into your spam.

4.   Your application must be received no later than: 4 p.m. on January 12, 2026.

5.   Call the Colorado Supreme Court Clerk’s office with questions: 720-625-5150.