Seventh Judicial District - Ouray County Court Judge
Honorable David S. Westfall
Retention Year: 2002
Recommendation: Retain
Reports:
The Seventh Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge David S. Westfall BE RETAINED.
Judge Westfall is a graduate of Colorado State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received his law degree from the Oklahoma City University School of Law. Judge Westfall was admitted to the practice of law in Colorado in 1983. He was appointed Ouray County Court Judge in January of 2000. The position of Ouray County Court Judge is part-time.
Judge Westfall’s workload consists of 15% civil, 35% traffic, 1% felony preliminary hearings, 19% criminal, 20% misdemeanor and 10% traffic. The Commission found Judge Westfall to be fair and impartial. He manages his docket in an efficient and accommodating manner.
Judge Westfall states his strengths as being a proficient legal writer and believes he has good legal reasoning abilities. He describes his weaknesses as having a tendency to draft and redraft written decisions and permitting continuances more often then he would like. Judge Westfall’s goals for the next year consist of taking the necessary time at the conclusion of trials to better organize his thoughts and set out in writing his findings of fact and conclusions of law. He would like to explore methods of improving the efficiency of the court.
Judge Westfall believes community service activities are important, but has yet to discover the proper forum for such service. He serves as the Municipal Court Judge in Ouray, Ridgeway and Telluride. He co-owns, with his wife, a title insurance agency in Ouray, but does not take part in the day-to-day operations.
The Commission conducted public hearings, interviews with attorneys and non-attorneys, a personal interview with Judge Westfall and reviewed his self-evaluation. Eighty-eight percent of attorneys responding to the evaluation recommended that Judge Westfall be retained. Of the non-attorneys, 72% recommended retention.
The Commission recommends that Ouray County Court Judge Westfall be retained.