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. 14th 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:
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.
