The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices.
Powers and duties
Appellate jurisdiction
Discretionary appeals
The Court principally handles certiorari petitions. Certiorari petitions ask the Supreme Court to grant an additional review of a case. The primary review [appeal of right] was either done by: Colorado Court of Appeals in appeals from courts of general jurisdiction [District Courts], or Courts of general jurisdiction [District Courts] in appeals from courts of limited jurisdiction [County or Municipal Courts].
Only a small fraction of certiorari petitions are granted by the Colorado Supreme Court. From petitions filed in 2015 and 2016, only 6% of all cases were granted an additional review. It takes three of the seven justices to vote in favor of a certiorari petition for it to be granted.
Appeals of right
In addition, the Colorado Supreme Court has jurisdiction over direct appeals in cases where a trial court finds a law unconstitutional, in death penalty cases, in water law cases, in certain election cases, in interlocutory appeals (i.e., appeals in the middle of a case) in certain matters of exceptional importance for which an ordinary appeal is not a sufficient remedy, and in certain other cases.
Original jurisdiction and supervisory powers
The Colorado Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction over attorney discipline proceedings, over advisory questions presented by the state legislature or the state attorney general, and questions referred to it by the federal courts. Furthermore, the Colorado Supreme Court has general supervisory and budget authority over the judicial branch, the court rule making process, and the regulation of attorneys. Finally, the Colorado Supreme Court makes appointments to a number of boards and commissions, which often has the effect of providing a tie breaking member in situations where the other appointees are equally divided on partisan lines.
Membership
Current makeup
The current Colorado Supreme Court's membership, and the date each Justice was appointed, is as follows:
Appointment process
When a vacancy on the court occurs, a commission established by the state constitution reviews submitted applications. The commission submits three names to the Governor. The Governor of Colorado then has 15 days to select the next justice from that list.
The justice selected serves a provisional two-year term before facing a retention election. The voters then chose whether to retain or not retain the justice. If the justice is retained, they go on to serve a full 10-year term before the next retention election.
If a justice is not retained, the appointment process starts again. However, no appellate judge has ever lost a retention election since the system was put in place in 1966. The Justices are not elected as partisan officials, although they are initially appointed by a partisan elected official.
In 2006, an effort to change this system of retaining judges by initiative was rejected by voters, in part due to a campaign against the initiative which had strong support from both Democratic and Republican members of the Colorado Bar Association.
The chief justice is selected by the justices from amongst themselves.
Yearly pay
The pay is set by the legislature in the yearly budget. The budget year in Colorado starts on July 1.
2006
Chief Justice – $125,656
Associate Justice -$122,972
2016
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court earned $176,799 per year.
2017 – 2018
Chief Justice – $181,219
Associate Justice – $177,350
2018 – 2019
Chief Justice – $186,656
Associate Justice – $182,671
2019 – 2020
Chief Justice – $192,256
Associate Justice – $188,151
Court building
While there is a chamber originally dedicated to the Colorado Supreme Court in the state capitol building, the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals were located in their own building across the street from the state capitol from 1977 to 2010. In August 2010 the building was imploded to make way for a larger court building. Construction of the new building began in September 2010. That new building, dubbed the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, opened in early 2013. Named for a former governor of Colorado, the building is located at 2 East 14th Avenue in Denver.