Fourth Judicial District - El Paso County Court Judge
Honorable Sylvia A. Manzanares
Retention Year: 2006
Recommendation: Retain
Reports:
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The Fourth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously recommends, in a vote of 10 to 0 from all members, Judge Sylvia A. Manzanares BE RETAINED.
Judge Manzanares was appointed to the El Paso County Court bench in 1995. Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Manzanares was a small claims magistrate, a Colorado Springs Municipal Judge and an Administrative Law Judge for the State Personnel Board.
Judge Manzanares grew up in the Trinidad, Colorado area. She attended the University of Colorado Law School at Boulder, from which she graduated in 1977. Judge Manzanares hears civil cases involving amounts of $15,000 and under and miscellaneous traffic offenses and misdemeanors.
Judge Manzanares was a member of various non-profit organizations board of directors. She participates in community charitable events and sits on two state court committees.
The Commission considered written evaluations of Judge Manzanares from attorneys and non-attorneys, including written verbatim comments attached to the evaluation questionnaires. The Commission also considered a written self-evaluation completed by Judge Manzanares, conducted a personal interview Judge Manzanares and observed her in courtroom sessions.
On the evaluation questionnaires received from 139 survey respondents, Judge Manzanares received high ratings from both attorneys and non-attorneys in almost every category. Of the attorneys responding to the questionnaire, 78% recommended that Judge Manzanares be retained, 17% recommended that she not be retained, and 4% had no opinion. Of the non-attorneys responding to the questionnaire, 83% recommended that Judge Manzanares be retained, 8% recommended that she not be retained, and 9% had no opinion.