Hesperus resident Reid Stewart was sworn in Friday as La Plata County Court judge in the 6th Judicial District.

Stewart was sworn in by the district’s Chief Judge Jeffrey Wilson, who joked with the nearly 60 people in attendance, including Stewart’s wife and two children, before beginning.

“This is kind of getting to be a habit, swearing in judges,” he said to laughter. “Hopefully this is the last one I have to do.”

Gov. Jared Polis appointed Stewart on Feb. 17, perhaps proving that the third time is a charm.

It was the third time Stewart’s name had been put before a governor for consideration as a judge. The first time was in front of former Gov. John Hickenlooper, and the last two were with Polis. Stewart said Polis did not say anything to him about why he was chosen or his hopes for Stewart.

“He just said you got it and you'll get a call from somebody else,” Stewart said.

Stewart has been a licensed lawyer since 1999. He worked as a criminal prosecutor in the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office from 2009-2022, and also worked as a defense attorney for a short time. He also did some complex civil litigation he said by way of leading into his aspiration to be on the bench.

“And at this stage, I was really looking forward to serving the community and trying to do something that I hope that the participants of county court will appreciate,” Stewart said. “It's a high-volume court, but I'm pretty excited about the opportunities to try to make it more efficient.”

Stewart was preparing to open a private law practice when he received word of his appointment.

“I was actually in the process and working on some documents to finalize that the day before the governor called,” he said and laughed. “That’s how confident I was in receiving this appointment.”

Judge Stewart said he is excited and anxious about starting work Monday.

“I'm excited about the opportunity, but obviously anxious about learning what happens on that side of the bench, and anxious about can I do the job that I want to do for the community?”

Stewart then addressed the governor’s past expressed opinion, as well as the La Plata County Jail supervisor’s recently expressed opinion for a desire to get more people who are convicted of crimes into rehabilitative situations as opposed to behind bars.

“It's something I support,” Stewart said. “As a prosecutor, I worked with some different organizations trying to get defendants into long-term inpatient treatment. It's something that works, but the problem is we need more funding. So if there's something (The Durango Herald) can do to get La Plata County Court more funding for treatment, we will definitely use it.”

Stewart summed up his judicial philosophy as matching his personal philosophy.

“I don't take myself very seriously,” he said. “But I take the process very seriously. I have been a zealous advocate as a prosecutor for my client, which would be the state of Colorado. When I was a defense attorney, I was a zealous advocate for my client. And I'm really hoping to be a zealous advocate now for the process. I'm hoping to make it an even playing field for both defense and prosecution.

“And I hope that anyone who appears before the court, whether it's a defendant pro se litigant, a victim or witness, that they feel respected by the court and they feel that their time was well valued.”

gjaros@durangoherald.com