Swift is Colorado Supreme Court finalist

SAN LUIS VALLEY — 12th Judicial Chief District Judge Pattie Swift is one of three finalists for a vacancy on the Colorado Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission has nominated three candidates for the vacancy created by the resignation of the Hon. Allison H. Eid, effective Nov. 3. Eid stepped down to join the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, replacing Neil Gorsuch who was appointed by President Donald Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.

The Colorado Supreme Court nominees were selected during a meeting on Nov. 27-28 at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver. They are Marcy Glenn of Denver, Melissa Hart of Denver and Judge Swift of Alamosa.

“I am very honored that the Supreme Court Nominating Commission selected me as one of the three nominees,” Judge Swift said last Wednesday, Nov. 29. “I believe the governor has three excellent candidates from which to choose.”

Under the Colorado Constitution, the governor has 15 days from Nov. 29 within which to appoint one of the nominees as a justice on the Colorado Supreme Court.

Comments regarding any of the nominees may be sent via e-mail to the governor at [email protected].

Judge Swift has been the Chief Judge of the Twelfth Judicial District and Water Judge of Water Division 3 since October 1, 2011 when Chief Judge O. John Kuenhold retired.

Judge Swift has served on the District Court bench since February 2003. She formerly served as county judge in Costilla County from 1989 to 2003.

A graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law, Judge Swift has served as the chairperson of the Colorado Judicial Ethics Advisory Board, been very active with the Colorado Panel on Multi-District Litigation and Judicial Education and been involved with community service activities and organizations.

Glenn is a partner with Holland & Hart. She has chaired the Colorado Supreme Court's Standing Committee on the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct since its creation in 2003. She is a former chair and current member of the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee, and a former chair of the Committee on Attorney Conduct of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

Hart is a CU law professor and director of the Byron R. White Center for Constitutional Law who unsuccessfully ran for CU regent in 2010 and was among the finalists for state Supreme Court appointments in 2015 when Hickenlooper picked Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Richard Gabriel.