Sixth Judicial District - Archuleta County Court Judge
Honorable James E. Denvir
Retention Year: 2010
Recommendation: Retain
Reports:
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The Sixth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously recommends that Judge James E. Denvir BE RETAINED, with one Commissioner absent.
Judge Denvir was appointed to the Archuleta County Court for the Sixth Judicial District in August 1995. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Denvir was in private law practice. Judge Denvir received his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame in 1969 and his law degree from the University of Southern California in 1973. Judge Denvir hears approximately 35% civil and 65% criminal cases.
The Commission reviewed court generated statistics, documentation from interested parties, surveys from both attorneys and non-attorneys, as well as a written self-evaluation completed by Judge Denvir. Public notice of written commentary was published in the newspapers in the judicial district. In addition, Commission members observed Judge Denvir in his courtroom to evaluate his judicial demeanor. The Commission was pleased with the manner in which Judge Denvir handled his cases and treated the parties, lawyers, and witnesses with respect. Since his last retention vote Judge Denvir has instituted a DUI court which addresses the issues of repeat and first time DUI offenders. He has also imposed more constructive standards for sentencing of the repeat offenders and has been publicly praised for his work by the participants and offender’s families. He is courteous to those appearing before him, has excellent communication skills, renders well-reasoned, fair and impartial decisions and has a judicial demeanor that commands respect without demanding it.
His position as a part-time County Court Judge (55%) and his position as part-time District Court Magistrate (25%) require a broad knowledge of the law and an ability to handle a diverse and complicated caseload. With limited resources from the District Attorneys' Office and the Public Defenders' Office available to Archuleta County, he has had to work efficiently to minimize delays.
Judge Denvir's survey results were extremely positive – 90% of attorneys responding strongly recommended retention and 91% of non-attorneys responding recommended retention. His performance evaluation exceeded the average grade for all county court judges and all trial court judges in Colorado on questions posed in the surveys regarding his performance in six different areas. Archuleta County is well served with Judge James E. Denvir on the bench.