Maes, Dennis 2002 Evaluation

Reports:

2002 Retention Survey Report

The Tenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge C. Dennis Maes BE RETAINED.

Judge Maes was appointed to the Pueblo District Court Bench in April 1988. He became Chief District Judge of the Tenth Judicial District on September 1, 1995. Prior to this appointment to the bench, Judge Maes was director of the Pueblo County Legal Services and a Deputy State Public Defender. He was in private practice from November of 1979 through April 1988. Judge Maes received his undergraduate degree from Southern Colorado State College and his law degree from the University Colorado School of Law in 1972. Judge Maes presently hears civil, criminal, domestic relations, water and juvenile cases and county court appeals.

Judge Maes is a member of the Pueblo County Hispanic and Pueblo County Bar Associations. He was voted Outstanding Young Lawyer in 1981 and was president of the Pueblo County Young Lawyers. He was president of the Pueblo County Bar Association, a member of the Colorado Board of Law Examiners and a member of the Commission on Judicial Discipline. He has been a delegate to the House of Delegates with the American Bar Association, a member of the Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors, a member of Colorado Hispanic Bar Association Board of Directors, chairman of the Colorado Bar Foundation and a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Civil Justice Reform.

His community service in numerous civic organizations spans almost two and one-half decades. Judge Maes was a past member of the Pueblo Regional Planning Commission, the board of trustees of the Sangre De Cristo Arts and Conference Center, the board of directors for the Eastside Child Care Center, the Pueblo County Legal Services board of directors, the Tenth Judicial District Board to Certify and Monitor Domestic Violence Treatment Facilities,
the John Neumann Catholic Guild and was a board member of the David and Lucile Packard Advisory Board. Judge Maes also mentors an at-risk child.

The Commission reviewed written evaluations of Judge Maes from attorneys and non-attorneys. The Commission also considered a written self-evaluation completed by Judge Maes and conducted a personal interview with the judge and interviews with individuals from the Probation Department, Hispanic Bar, Colorado Legal Services, Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, Pueblo Bar Association and court personnel.

Judge Maes received high ratings from both non-attorneys and attorneys in the categories surveyed. Eighty-six percent of the non-attorneys responding to the questionnaire recommended retention, 7% recommended do not retain and 6% had no opinion. Ninety-one percent of the attorneys responding to the questionnaire recommended that he be retained and 9% recommended that he not be retained.