Nineteenth Judicial District - Weld County Court Judge
Honorable Michele Meyer
Retention Year: 2022
Recommendation: Meets Performance Standard
The Nineteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance finds that the Honorable Michele Meyer MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. Six Commissioners voted Judge Meyer meets performance standards, one voted does not meet, with three members absent. The Colorado statutory judicial performance standards are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the legal profession and the public.
Judge Meyer is the Presiding County Court Judge and handles a County Court docket made up largely of misdemeanor criminal and traffic offenses, with a small percentage of civil matters. The Commission interviewed Judge Meyer, reviewed samples of her work, observed her in the courtroom, and assessed feedback from attorneys and non-attorneys who appeared before her. She is smart, diligent, very knowledgeable on the areas of law that arise in the cases before her and exceeds the average of all other County Court judges in every area for which she was rated. Overall, Judge Meyer is doing a great job and the Commission finds that she meets performance standards.
Surveys were sent to people who appeared before Judge Meyer, both attorneys and non-attorneys, including the parties whose cases she presided over. Overall, both attorneys and non-attorneys rated Judge Meyer higher than the average of all County Court judges, with 95 percent of attorney survey respondents and 94 percent of non-attorney survey respondents stating that Judge Meyer meets performance standards. Judge Meyer was consistently rated higher than the average of all County Court judges in the areas of case management, application and knowledge of law, communications, diligence, demeanor, and fairness. One of Judge Meyer’s biggest strengths is her ability to effectively and efficiently manage the volume of cases that come before her. This was clearly reflected in her ratings by survey recipients, receiving a rating of 3.7 (of a total maximum score of 4.0) from both attorneys and non-attorneys for Case Management. The value of her ability to efficiently manage a large volume of cases and parties cannot be understated; this skill is hugely important to the success of any County Court judge. Perhaps the drawback of moving her docket so efficiently is that Judge Meyer can be viewed as being cold or disinterested. A number of survey respondents noted a perception that Judge Meyer is impatient and disrespectful, and members of the Commission made similar observations of Judge Meyer on the bench. It is important that Judge Meyer not let her preoccupation with speed and daily docket management occur to the detriment of the parties before her. Just as important as running a timely docket is making sure that litigants feel respected and ensuring that they are treated as people, rather than just cases. The Commission is hopeful that Judge Meyer will be mindful of this.
Judge Meyer lives in Weld County with her family and has been a County Court Judge in Weld County since 2007. Prior to her appointment as a County Court Judge, she was a Chief Deputy District Attorney with the Weld County District Attorney’s Office. Judge Meyer earned her undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and earned her law degree from the University of Denver.