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Colorado Judicial Branch
Mary J. Mullarkey, Chief Justice
Gerald Marroney, State Court Administrator
______
Dec. 8, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact:Karen Salaz
303/837-3633
1-800-888-0001 Ext. 633
Chief Judge Hiatt recognized by Colorado Judicial Branch as
Outstanding Judicial Officer
DENVER, Colo. – The Honorable James H. Hiatt, Eighth Judicial District chief judge, has been recognized as the Colorado Judicial Branch’s Outstanding Judicial Officer. The award recognizes exemplary work by a judge or magistrate in the state’s judicial system.
The Colorado Judicial Department annually recognizes a handful of outstanding employees who are singled out for their exemplary work contributing to the high quality of service provided throughout the state’s 22 judicial districts making up the Coloradojudicial system. This is the seventeenth year of the recognition and incentive program.
Judge Hiattbegan his judicial career in 1984 serving as a juvenile referee. He became a district court judge in 1986 and was appointed chief judge in 2000.
“As chief judge, Judge Hiatt is a strong leader who doesn’t micromanage but instead empowers other judicial officers and court staff,” notes Division Clerk Andrea Shahmardian and Assistant Division Clerk Sarah Esparza, Eighth Judicial District, in their nomination of Hiatt for the award. “As a supervisor Judge Hiatt sincerely cares about his staff and is active in creating a positive working environment.”
During his tenure as chief judge, Hiatt has worked with LarimerCounty to build two courthouses. It was through his leadership that technology was incorporated into the facilities to maximize efficiencies. These includedincorporating cameras and audio systems in every courtroom linked to the sheriff’s monitors and implementation of digital real time court recorders in the courtrooms.
“The new LarimerCountyJusticeCenter enjoys the newest advances in electronic technology thanks to the efforts and direction of Chief Judge Hiatt,” says Shahmardian and Esparaza. “Judge Hiatt realizes that with budget constraints and staff cutstechnology is becoming more and more important.”
Also cited in the nomination is Hiatt’s compassion for those who appear before him. “Judge Hiatt treats everyone that appears before him with respect,” notes the nomination. “The comment that we hear most often is that regardless of whether a person prevails in their case or not, they always feel that they were given their day in court and that Judge Hiatt took the time to really consider their side of the argument.”
The Colorado State Judicial Branch includes the state’s county and district courts, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. A total of 2,848* judicial employees including 257 judges and justices work to resolve cases in a fair, timely manner and ensure that probationers are supervised appropriately. In Fiscal Year 2004, 514,096 cases were filed statewide at the county court level, 177,369 in district court, 1,285 in water court, 2,558 in the Court of Appeals, and 1,317 in the Supreme Court. The number of total active adult probation cases was 39,207. There were 7,869 active juvenile cases.
* This is the total Full Time Equivalent (FTE) allocated in the Judicial Branch. One FTE in some cases is divided between two or more people.
Editor’s note: The Eighth Judicial District includes Larimer and Jackson counties.
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