Judges’ Corner, 1116 COBJ, Vol. 45 No. 11

AuthorGordon P. Gallagher, David L. West, J.

45 Colo.Law 10

Judges’ Corner

Vol. 45, No. 11 [Page XX]

The Colorado Lawyer

November, 2016

Gordon P. Gallagher, David L. West, J.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado Makes Operational Changes on the Western Slope

This article explains significant operational changes underway in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado at its two locations on the Western Slope.

Overview

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado encompasses the entire state of Colorado. As such, it has the second largest territory of any U. S. district court, behind the District of Alaska. With the exception of the two authors of this article, all judicial officers for the District of Colorado, which include seven Article III judges, five senior Article III judges, and six (soon to be seven) full-time magistrate judges, are stationed in Denver. The Denver magistrate judges hear criminal cases in Colorado Springs on a rotating basis.

For a number of reasons, including distance, geography, weather, federal land, and tribal land, magistrate judges have long been stationed on the Western Slope in both Durango and Grand Junction. Over the past several years, a significant and concerted effort has been made by the court to better serve the Western Slope communities. This is in keeping with the court’s mission: to serve the public by providing a fair and impartial forum that ensures equal access to justice in accordance with the rule of law, protects rights and liberties of all persons, and resolves cases in a timely and efficient manner. This article addresses operational changes that have already been made, and some that may be forthcoming to further the court’s mission

The court is aware that while we are all Americans and all Coloradans, we tend to look first to our local communities for common values and beliefs. For the court system, this means that cases in both civil and criminal actions are most appropriately handled in the area where the controversy or criminal action arose. Although the federal courts do not have the resources to hold court in each and every community, cases can come before a judge much closer to home than Denver by using regional centers such as Grand Junction and Durango. To be clear, the magistrate judges in both Durango and Grand Junction hear cases not only from those communities, but also from the entire jury division1 to which they are assigned. Ultimately, when a case goes to trial, the presumption is that the case will be tried in the jury division from which it arose. This gives local juries the opportunity to make crucial determinations in federal legal actions that come from their own communities.

Criminal Cases

The court implemented two major changes for criminal cases in the Western Slope. These are described below.

Grand Juries

The first significant change was the empanelment of grand juries in the Western Slope, beginning in Durango and followed by Grand Junction. Most felonies charged in federal court include indictment by the grand jury. Now Western Slope communities have a group of 16 to 23 local citizens who make the critical decision whether to indict. As with petit juries, the Grand Junction and Durango grand juries are drawn from the respective jury divisions.

As with all stages of a criminal case, the grand jury placement has effects beyond just direct citizen involvement. In the Western Slope communities, it allows witnesses, the assistant U.S. attorney, law enforcement, and other participants to avoid the time and expense of travel to Denver. For some, such travel is merely an inconvenience. For others, particularly those from far-flung areas of...

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