Eleventh Judicial District - Park County Court Judge
Honorable Stanley J. Mayhew
Retention Year: 1998
Recommendation: Retain
The Eleventh Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Stanley J. Mayhew BE RETAINED.
Judge Mayhew graduated from the University of Colorado law school at Boulder in 1971. He was appointed to the Park County Court Bench in July of 1975. Judge Mayhew is a part-time county court judge and continues to maintain his private law practice in Fairplay. Judge Mayhew currently presides over misdemeanor criminal matters, traffic cases, and civil cases.
Questionnaires for evaluation of Judge Mayhew were sent to numerous people, including attorneys who have appeared in his court, court and probation employees, litigants who have had cases in his court, law enforcement personnel and jurors who have served on juries in his court. The responses to the questionnaires rated Judge Mayhew highly overall. It should be noted that the data from those groups with only one response may be subject to instability because of the low response rate. Those persons who responded to the questionnaires made the following recommendations concerning retention of Judge Mayhew: Attorneys (11 responses) Retain: 81.8% - Do Not Retain: 18.2%, Court employees (4 responses) Retain: 75% - Do Not Retain 25%, Litigants (1 response) Retain: 100%, Law Enforcement Personnel (16 responses) Retain: 61.5% - Do Not Retain: 38.5%, Crime Victims (1 response) Retain: 100% and Jurors (11 responses) Retain: 90% - Do Not Retain 10%.
The Commission bases its findings upon information supplied to the commission through the questionnaires, public hearings, and a personal interview with Judge Mayhew. The Commission finds that Judge Mayhew presides over a very heavy docket. The caseload in his court has almost tripled over the past four years and Judge Mayhew has kept pace with the increase in case filings. He has also made strides toward clearing up the backlog in cases. Judge Mayhew is dedicated to his judgeship, and the work involved. He has indicated that he intends to forfeit his private practice of law to enable him to devote more time to his judicial duties. He is hard working, committed, patient and thorough. Judge Mayhew has 23 years of experience on the bench and understands and respects all aspects of his judicial responsibilities.
The primary concern of the Commission is docket control and courtroom control, both of which have been issues in past evaluations. The Commission recognizes that Judge Mayhew demonstrated considerable improvement in this area in 1994. The information gathered by the Commission indicates that weakness still exists still exists in this area. The Commission recognizes that several significant factors, beyond the judge's control, contribute to this problem. The increased caseload and under staffing of courtroom personnel (Judge Mayhew has not been provided a bailiff) are definitely factors that contribute to courtroom congestion. However, the Commission also finds that Judge Mayhew must devote more time to the county court judgeship, delegate more tasks to staff, and exercise more control over the activities in the courtroom. Judge Mayhew's indication that he plans to leave private practice of law to enable him to devote additional time to the court is a statement of his intention to work on these weak areas. The Commission is hopeful that positive, constructive improvements will occur in the Park County Court. The decision of the Commission to recommend retention of Judge Mayhew is largely based upon the expressed intention of Judge Mayhew to abandon his private law practice and devote more time to his judicial duties.