News Colorado Judicial Branch s1

news Colorado Judicial Branch Mary J. Mullarkey, Chief Justice Gerald Marroney, State Court Administrator

Jan. 7, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Karen Salaz 303/837-3633 1-800-888-0001 Ext. 633

Judges retained during November elections to be sworn in Judges Lyman, Wilson and Risberg to begin new terms in office

Three Sixth Judicial District judges will be sworn in on Jan. 11, 2005. District Court Judge, Chief Judge Gregory Lyman; District Court Judge Jeffrey Wilson; and San Juan County, County Court Judge Todd Risberg will each take the oath of office after voters retained the judges for full terms during the November 2004 general election. The public is invited to attend the ceremonies. Judge Denvir of Archuleta County will swear in Chief Judge Lyman at 8:30 a.m. at the Archuleta County Courthouse in Pagosa Springs. Lyman was originally appointed to the district court in June 1996. He handles primarily civil, criminal, probate and domestic relations matters. Prior to his appointment, he was the district attorney for the Sixth Judicial District (Archuleta, La Plata and San Juan counties). He has been instrumental in establishing an alternative dispute resolution program in the district and has assisted the court administrator in obtaining state funding for a coordinator to implement the program. Judge Wilson will be sworn in by District Court Judge David Dickinson at 8:00 a.m. in the La Plata Combined Courthouse in Durango. Wilson was appointed as district court judge in July 2002. Prior to his appointment he was in private practice and served as an assistant district attorney in the Fourth (El Paso and Teller counties), Sixth and Twenty-Second (Dolores and Montezuma counties). San Juan County Clerk of Court Charlie Schmalz will be presiding in County Court Judge Todd Risberg’s ceremony at the San Juan County Courthouse in Silverton. (The time of this ceremony has not been announced) Risberg was appointed to the San Juan County bench in December 2001. Prior to joining the bench he worked for a private law firm and was a special prosecutor for the Southern Ute Tribal Prosecutor’s Office. Risberg also served as deputy district attorney in the Sixth Judicial District. He has experience in both civil and criminal litigation. Colorado state judges are nominated by local citizen commissions. This commission evaluates and interviews applicants then nominates two to three for appointment by the Governor. After selection, every judge serves a provisional two-year term. During the provisional term and during each judge’s regular term of office, he/she is evaluated by the local judicial performance commission. This commission’s recommendations are made available in the Blue Book sent to all registered voters and on the internet (http://www.courts.state.co.us/panda/judicialperformance/judperfindex.htm). Judges then stand for “retention” election. If retained by the voters, county court judges serve a four-year term and district court judges a six-year term. The evaluation process repeats itself at the end of each term if and when the judge decides to stand for retention. In the November 2004 election, all three of these judges were retained by a vote of the people. As a result, Judges Lyman and Wilson will be sworn in for six-year terms and Judge Risberg for a four-year term. The Sixth Judicial District includes three district judges, one county judge in each of the three counties making up the district, and one magistrate. In Fiscal Year 2004 there were 1,976 filings in district court which includes domestic relations, civil, probate, juvenile, mental health and criminal cases. During the same time period, 6,822 cases were filed in county court. County court filings include civil, infractions, misdemeanors, small claims, traffic and felony complaints. Additional information regarding filings is available in the FY 2004 Colorado Judicial Department annual statistical report available at http://www.courts.state.co.us/panda/statrep/ar2004/ar2004toc.htm. For any questions, you may contact District Administrator Steve Brittain at the La Plata Combined Courts at 970-382-9375.

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