Fifteenth Judicial District - Prowers County Court Judge
Honorable Larry Eugene Stutler
Retention Year: 1998
Recommendation: Retain
The Fifteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Larry Eugene Stutler BE RETAINED.
The Judicial Commission did not receive any compilation of statistics on Judge Stutler and makes the recommendation based on interviews and personal knowledge of Judge Stutler by the members of the Commission.
Judge Stutler has been the Prowers County Court Judge since November 1, 1995. Previous to being appointed as County Judge, Judge Stutler had a private practice in Lamar, Colorado in which he engaged primarily in civil practice.
Judge Stutler received very favorable comments from the Commission members. He is prompt, always being on time for court matters and runs his court in an efficient manner. He is courteous to the parties and attorneys and always strives to be fair to all parties that appear before him.
When Judge Stutler was asked about his weaknesses, he stated he has to work on clarity on both written and oral orders. However, none of the members of the Judicial Performance Commission felt that he had any major shortcomings in these areas.
Judge Stutler stated that he tries to be consistent in his rulings from the bench. He said that he has developed his sentencing patterns based on what he believed was fair treatment of those who appeared before him and has tried to treat similarly placed individuals the same, while allowing for differences in each of their cases.
Judge Stutler stated that one of his greatest challenges was the small claims portion of his docket. He stated that it is a challenge because in small claims court the parties are not represented by attorneys, and it is more difficult for the parties to get their cases before the court in some of these instances.
It was the consensus of the Commission that Judge Stutler performed very high in all categories and it was the unanimous consensus of the Commission that Judge Stutler be retained.