Fourth Judicial District - El Paso County Court Judge
Honorable Barney Iuppa
Retention Year: 2006
Recommendation: Retain
Reports:
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The Fourth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance, in a 9 to 1 vote from all members, recommends Judge Barney Iuppa BE RETAINED.
Judge Iuppa was appointed to the 4th Judicial District County Court bench in July, 1995. A graduate of the University of Denver, College of Law, Judge Iuppa previously served as a Deputy Public Defender from 1973 to 1977 and as the Fourth Judicial District, District Attorney from 1985 to 1989. He then served in private practice until his appointment to the bench in 1995. Judge Iuppa currently is the presiding County Court Judge.
Judge Iuppa is involved in a number of community activities like the Multiple Sclerosis Alliance of Southern Colorado and coaching a high school mock trial team.
Not withstanding the Commission's recommendation that Judge Iuppa be retained, the Commission is concerned with Judge Iuppa's courtroom demeanor. Many survey responses from attorneys noted Judge Iuppa was moody and rude at times. These concerns regarding his demeanor were evident in the 2002 survey. Consequently, together the Commission and Judge Iuppa developed a performance improvement plan to address his courtroom demeanor.
The Commission considered 171 written evaluations of Judge Iuppa from attorneys and non-attorneys, a self-evaluation completed by Judge Iuppa, a courtroom observation and conducted two personal interviews. Written survey results showed 65% of attorneys recommended retention and 35% recommending non-retention. The survey results also showed 89% of non-attorneys recommended retention and 10% recommending non-retention.