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NEW MEXICO JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION COMMISSION RECOMMENDS RETAINING ONE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, THREE COURT OF APPEALS JUDGES, 24 DISTRICT COURT JUDGES AND SEVEN METROPOLITAN COURT JUDGES IN 2024 GENERAL ELECTION
Commission also releases biographical information on District Court judges it has not had sufficient time to evaluate.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 13, 2024
ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) today recommended voters retain 35 of 39 judges who are standing for retention on the 2024 General Election ballot. The other four judicial retention candidates have not served sufficient time for JPEC to make a recommendation to voters. Under state law, the judges must receive at least 57 percent approval to remain on the bench.
"We are pleased that all the judges we evaluated earned retain recommendations this year, due to mostly positive evaluations from those they interact with including other judges, lawyers, resource staff such as law enforcement and probation/parole officers, CASA volunteers, CYFD, interpreters and, in some cases, jurors. A number of judges had improved their survey scores since their previous evaluations," said Denise Torres, chair of JPEC.
Lee Hunt, vice chair of JPEC, added, "Some judicial candidates expressed a willingness to address any weaknesses and a sincere desire to continue improving their performance during our personal interviews with them."
This year, JPEC’s recommendations to voters statewide are:
Retain Honorable Briana H. Zamora, Supreme Court of New Mexico
Retain Honorable Jennifer L. Attrep, Megan P. Duffy and Shammara H. Henderson of the New Mexico Court of Appeals
For the District Court, JPEC’s recommendations are:
First Judicial District Court – Serving Los Alamos, Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties
Retain Honorable Bryan Paul Biedscheid, Shannon Broderick Bulman and Matthew Justin Wilson.
Second Judicial District Court – Serving Bernalillo County
Retain Honorable Denise Barela-Shepherd, Cindy Leos, Victor S. Lopez, Brett R. Loveless, Elaine P. Lujan, Daniel E. "Dan" Ramczyk and Courtney Bryn Weaks. Insufficient time to evaluate Honorable David Allen Murphy and Emeterio L. Rudolfo.
Third Judicial District Court – Serving Doña Ana County
Retain Honorable Richard M. Jacquez, James T. Martin and Conrad F. Perea.
Fourth Judicial District Court – Serving Guadalupe, Mora and San Miguel counties
Retain Honorable Floripa "Flora" Gallegos.
Fifth Judicial District Court – Serving Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties
Retain Honorable James M. "Jim" Hudson and Lisa B. Riley. Insufficient time to evaluate Honorable Ann Marie Cherokee Lewis.
Sixth Judicial District Court – Serving Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties
Retain Honorable James B. "Jim" Foy.
Seventh Judicial District Court – Serving Catron, Sierra, Socorro and Torrance counties
Retain Honorable Shannon L. Murdock-Poff.
Eighth Judicial District Court – Serving Colfax, Taos and Union counties
Retain Honorable Jeffrey B. "Jeff" Shannon.
Ninth Judicial District Court – Serving Curry and Roosevelt counties
Retain Honorable Fred Travis Van Soelen.
Eleventh Judicial District Court – Serving McKinley and San Juan counties
Retain Honorable Sarah V. Weaver.
Twelfth Judicial District Court – Serving Lincoln and Otero counties
Retain Honorable Daniel A. "Dan" Bryant.
Thirteenth Judicial District Court – Serving Cibola, Sandoval and Valencia counties
Retain Honorable Cindy M. Mercer and Allen R. Smith. Insufficient time to evaluate Honorable Allison P. Martinez.
For the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, JPEC’s recommendations are:
Retain Honorable Felicia Blea-Rivera, Rosemary Cosgrove-Aguilar, Michelle Castillo Dowler, Asra I. Elliott, Yvette K. Gonzales, Nina Aviva Safier and Renée Torres.
Judges are evaluated on their overall performance in four main areas: 1) legal ability; 2) fairness; 3) communication skills; and 4) preparation, attentiveness, temperament and control over proceedings.
JPEC also reviews statistics from the Administrative Office of the Courts for each judge including caseloads, excusals (reasons a judge is excused from hearing a case) and the time it takes to get cases resolved.
In addition, JPEC meets one-on-one with each judge being evaluated to review the survey results as well as his or her self-assessment of performance.
JPEC has posted evaluations in English and Spanish on its website, www.nmjpec.org. Individuals may download voter’s guides for their judicial district or call 1-800-687-3417 to request information by mail. In addition, JPEC will inform voters about its evaluations through advertising and social media.
"We encourage each individual to vote in all elections for which they are eligible – including the judicial retention elections. These elections are near the end of the ballot, so please take the time to go all the way through the ballot. Your vote does matter," Torres concluded.
JPEC has 15 volunteer members, including seven lawyers and eight non-lawyers who are appointed to staggered terms. Members are appointed to represent diverse professions, backgrounds and geographical areas of the state.
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