King, Paul 2002 Evaluation

Reports:

2002 Retention Survey Report

The Eighteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously recommends that Judge Paul A. King BE RETAINED.

Judge King received his B.A. in Political Science from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois in December 1974. He graduated from the University of Denver College of Law in June 1978. Following law school, Judge King served as a Deputy District Attorney in the Eighteenth Judicial District. For ten years prior to assuming the bench, he was the Chief Deputy District Attorney for Douglas County, where he became expert in the fields of criminal law, criminal procedure and constitutional law. Since being appointed as a District Court Judge in August 2000, Judge King’s workload has been approximately 75% civil, 20% domestic relations and 5% criminal felonies. Judge King presently conducts, and will in the future, approximately one-half of the felony criminal trials in Douglas County.

The Commission reviewed evaluations of Judge King from attorneys and non-attorneys, including administrative staff, jurors and governmental agencies with frequent court contact. Written verbatim comments are attached to the evaluation questionnaires. The Commission also considered a written self-evaluation completed by Judge King and conducted a personal interview with him.

Judge King received high ratings from both attorneys and non-attorneys in virtually every category surveyed. Ninety-five percent of the attorneys recommended that he be retained in office with only 5% recommending that he not be retained. The majority of the non-attorney comments described Judge King as respectful, patient, highly professional, precise and decisive with good communication skills. One individual believed that Judge King has appeared "short and preoccupied" and another non-attorney believed his knowledge of civil law and procedure to be poor. Most of the attorney respondents believed Judge King to be very fair, totally qualified, professional, courteous and efficient.
Judge King has lived in Douglas County for ten years and has been active in his church, civic and community affairs, coaching boy’s baseball and basketball and is a member of the Kiwanis Club. He was president of the Douglas-Elbert County Bar Association in 1995 and received the Professionalism Award from the Bar Association in 2000.

Judge King’s goal for future development is to further utilize technology in the courtroom and in his legal research. He desires to continue to develop an appreciation and understanding of all areas of substantive law, and to hone his legal writing skills.