Colorado Court of Appeals
Honorable Claus J. Hume
Retention Year: 1998
Recommendation: Retain
The State Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Claus J. Hume BE RETAINED.
Judge Hume was appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals in 1988, and became Chief Judge for that Court in February of 1998. Prior to his appointment to the appellate bench Judge Hume was appointed to the District Court for the 14th Judicial District in 1974, and served as Chief Judge for that district and Water Judge for Water Division 6, 1978-1988. He was the elected District Attorney for the 14th Judicial District, 1972-1974, Deputy and Assistant District Attorney for that district, 1966-1971, and was in private practice in Craig, Colorado, 1965-1972. Judge Hume was admitted to the Bar of Colorado in 1965.
Judge Hume has been active in his community and his profession. He is past president of the Northwest Colorado Bar Association and a past member of the Colorado Board of Governors for the Colorado Bar Association. He has served on the Colorado Civil Pattern Jury Instructions Committee for nearly fifteen years and co-chaired the Supreme Court Committee on the effective and efficient use of juries. He is presently serving on the Implementation Committee for the Jury Reform Project in Colorado.
The State Commission appreciates his goal to produce opinions that are user friendly. He strives for brevity and clarity and to improve his time management and issue his opinions as quickly as possible. As Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, he is responsible for the overall operation of the Court. His goal is to increase the efficiency of the court, even given the extremely heavy caseload. At the same time, he is concerned that quality of the decisions be maintained for the benefit of both litigants and the trial courts. The State Commission believes that Judge Hume is a valuable member of the Court of Appeals and recommends that he be retained in office.
Attorney questionnaires received by the State Commission gave Judge Hume overall high marks. 89.6% recommended retention of Judge Hume while 10.4% recommended do not retain.