Third Judicial District - District Court Judge
Honorable Claude W. Appel
Retention Year: 1994
Recommendation: Retain
Judge Appel has served as a District Judge in the Third Judicial District, sitting in Huerfano County since 1986. He graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Il, in 1974 with a major in English. He received this law degree from the University of Colorado in 1978. Later that same year he was admitted to the practice of law in Colorado.
From 1978 to 1980 Judge Appel was in private practice. He then served two years as a full-time deputy district attorney in the Third Judicial District. In 1982 he became a part-time deputy district attorney and opened a private practice in Walsenburg, Colorado. In 1985 he was appointed County Judge for Huerfano County. In March 1986 he was appointed to his current position as a District Judge in the Third Judicial District.
Judge Appel serves on the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee and lectures frequently on legal ethics. In addition to his concern about legal ethics he is interested in juvenile problems and has organized symposiums on juveniles for law enforcement and other concerned professionals. Judge Appel also teaches the Constitution of the United States to both teachers and students in Huerfano County.
The Commission recommends that Judge Claude Appel BE RETAINED.