Durango Municipal Judge Matt Margeson is moving on from the city in July after being appointed to the 7th Judicial District Court bench by Gov. Jared Polis.
City Council accepted Margeson’s resignation, effective July 1, at a regular meeting last month.
Margeson gave City Council notice of his resignation in a May 6 email.
“I could not be more excited and honored to continue to serve Colorado in this capacity. Unfortunately, it does mean that I will be leaving my position here as Durango Municipal Judge at the end of June,” he said.
A May 6 news release from the governor’s office said in addition to serving as Durango’s municipal judge, Margeson is also a magistrate judge for the Court of Indian Offenses for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe with a docket focused on criminal and domestic matters.
He previously served as a county court supervisor for the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office; a Dolores County court judge for the 22nd Judicial District; and district attorney, assistant district attorney and deputy assistant district attorney for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Montezuma County.
City Council selected Margeson’s successor, Beth Padilla, municipal court judge in Cortez who has served as a backup judge in Durango, on Wednesday after interviewing her and another candidate.
Margeson said in an interview being Durango’s municipal judge was “incredibly fulfilling and rewarding” and he hopes his successor will continue forward with the court’s work.
He was sworn into the position of Durango municipal judge in December 2023. He replaced two part-time judges as part of the city’s plan to inject new life into the municipal court, which had struggled with getting people facing charges to show up for their hearings.
He brought with him plans for a specialty court that would aim to hold offenders accountable while giving them a chance to correct their behavior and access resources to address issues with drug use, mental health and homelessness.
Margeson said he is “really proud” of the specialty court program he created two years ago. He has welcomed the perspectives of various community groups to inform how the court can best address substance abuse and other issues faced by community members.
“Having them all in the same room at the same time, sitting down to talk about those things has been incredibly important,” he said.
He said several graduates have completed the specialty court program but there is still room to improve, and the municipal court continues to seek out opportunities to do just that.
Specialty court programs require “out-of-the-box thinking” because they fill a niche, underrepresented role in the state judicial system, Margeson said. Running a specialty court program takes openness to new ideas, flexibility in implementing those ideas and understanding a municipal judge’s role isn’t necessary about finding a punitive sanction but finding community solutions.
In an email to Councilor Kip Koso, who had asked Margeson for advice in finding a replacement municipal judge, Margeson said he encourages City Council to look for candidates with previous experience with specialty court programs. That includes candidates with experience in state programs such as drug, DUI and veterans courts.
He said an ideal candidate would also likely have previous judicial experience and experience “navigating within a bureaucracy and will have interfaced with elected officials in the past.”
A job listing on governmentjobs.com advertised the city’s municipal judge position with an annual salary range between $75,000 and $99,000.
The 7th Judicial District incorporates six counties – Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, San Miguel and Ouray. As a district court judge, Margeson will hear a number of cases and controversies ranging from felony criminal matters to civil proceedings and domestic relations cases, he said in an interview.
“As a judicial officer, I really want to bring open-mindedness and empathy in my perspective to the role,” he said. “One of the most important things that you can do as a judicial officer is make sure that people feel like they have been heard when they appear before you, feel like they’ve had an opportunity to present their case and feel like the person that is overseeing these proceedings recognizes the importance that it has in that individual’s life.”
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