Law Week Colorado - by Hannah Garcia

The Judicial nomination process in Colorado relies on a "merit selection" plan and has since 1966, designed to remove political motives by avoiding elections.  Although it's not a democratic system, it strives to be a pluralistic one.

Specialty bars in the state have added another layer of scrutiny to the judge selection process for years.  When a district or state judicial vacancy opens, the applications of interested attorneys are forwarded to a nomination commission within the district, which whittles the list down and typically sends three final nominees to the governor's office.  The nomination commissions comprise three attorneys and four non-attorneys with no more than four members belonging to one political party.

The process is similar for Denver county judgeships, except nominees go to Mayor Michael Hancock.

After receiving the final nominees, the governor then has 15 days to investigate and make an appointment.  Within those 15 days, specialty bars including the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado, the Colorado Women's Bar Association, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and the Colorado GLBT Bar Association aid in that investigatory phase with their own due diligence.  Each has their own review process, differing in scope and intensity, but all say it's a vital part of the process.

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