Comment period opens on judge finalists

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Staff Writer

The Sixth Judicial District Nominating Commission has nominated three candidates for a district court judgeship to Gov. John Hickenlooper, including current Archuleta County Attorney Todd Starr, who is also currently serving as interim county administrator.

The vacant judgeship was created by the retirement of the Honorable David L. Dickinson, effective Feb. 28.

The three nominees — William Herringer and Todd Norvell, both of Durango, and Starr — were selected by the commission on Feb. 26.

Per the Colorado Constitution, the governor has 15 days from Feb. 27, within which to appoint one of the nominees as district court judge for the Sixth Judicial District (Archuleta, La Plata and San Juan counties).

According to his application, Herringer holds a B.A. from Colorado College and a J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School.

Herringer was admitted to the Colorado State Bar in 1993, and to the U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, and U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit in 1999. He was admitted to Southern Ute Tribal Court in 2006.

He is currently a partner and owner of Greenberg and Herringer, LLC, which primarily deals with criminal defense.

According to Norvell’s application, he holds a B.A. from Texas Tech University and J.D. from Southern Methodist University.

Norvell was admitted to the bar in Texas in 1991, in New Mexico in 1993, in Colorado in 1998, to the U.S. District Court, District of Colorado in 2007, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2011.

Norvell currently serves as assistant United States attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, where he prosecutes criminal cases.

According to Starr’s application, he holds a B.S. from Graceland College, a J.D. from Creighton University, and an LL.M. from Boston University.

Starr was admitted to the Nebraska Supreme Court and U.S. District Court for Nebraska in 1989, to the Colorado Supreme Court in 1996, to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Court in 1997, to the Southwest Inter-Tribal Court of Appeals in 1998, to the Southern Ute Tribal Court in 2002, and to the U.S. District Court for Colorado in 2003.

He currently serves as Archuleta County Attorney and divides his time between the practice areas of real property, litigation, business transactions, labor and employment, and municipal.

Starr, the only local nominee for the position, said, “It’s an honor to have my peers and my community put my name forward from such a list of qualified candidates and, going forward, I think it’s important to have someone on the bench with a broad background in civil litigation, such as mine, and to have a judge from outside of Durango to ensure that the judiciary is representative of the district.”

Comments regarding any of the nominees may be sent via e-mail to the governor at judicial.appointments@state.co.us.

randi@pagosasun.com