The 6th Judicial District Nominating Commission will meet August 4, 2025, at La Plata County Courthouse, 1060 East Second Ave., Durango, CO 81301 to interview and select nominees for appointment by the governor to the office of district judge for the 6th Judicial District (Archuleta, La Plata, and San Juan counties). The vacancy will be created by the retirement of the Honorable Suzanne F. Carlson. The vacancy will occur on October 1, 2025.
To be eligible, the applicant must be a qualified elector of the 6th Judicial District at the time of investiture and must have been admitted to the practice of law in Colorado for five years. The current annual salary for this position is $198,798. The initial term of office of a district judge is a provisional term of two years; thereafter, the incumbent district judge, if approved by the voters, has a term of six years.
Application forms are available from the office of the ex officio chair of the nominating commission, Justice Maria Berkenkotter, 2 E. 14th Ave., Denver, CO 80203, and the office of the court executive, Eric Hogue, 970-247-2304. Applications are also available on the court’s home page at coloradojudicial.gov/careers/
The completed application must be e-mailed to the address listed in the instructions below no later than July 23, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. 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 July 16, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. Under the rules of the 6th Judicial District Judicial Nominating Commission, the names of the applicants shall be made public once the application period is closed. The Commission will meet on August 4, 2025, to choose applicants to interview and would appreciate receiving any public feedback about applicants before that date.
The members of the nominating commission for the 6th Judicial District are:
James Garrett of Pagosa Springs; Sarah Moore of Silverton; and Maya Kane, Barrie Newberger King, James Cross, and Paul DeBell, all of Durango.
Editor’s Note: Contact information for the nominating commission members.
- Maya Kane, mkane@swpropertylaw.com
- James Garrett, jyg44law@gmail.com
- Sarah Moore, smoore@sanjuandevelopment.com
- Barrie Newberger King, barrie@newbergerkinglaw.com
- James Cross, cross_j@fortlewis.edu
- Paul DeBell, padebell@fortlewis.edu
1. The application form for a Colorado state court judgeship can be found on the Judicial Branch website at coloradojudicial.gov/careers/
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 6th JD District Court in the subject line with your materials attached as outlined above no later than 4 p.m. on July 23, 2025 to the following email address:
judicial.applicants@judicial.
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 July 23, 2025.
5. Call the Colorado Supreme Court Clerk’s office with questions: 720-625-5150