Maria Encarnacion Berkenkotter, former chief judge in Boulder County, will be the next justice on the Colorado Supreme Court.

“Throughout her career, she has shown a keen ability to render sound and wise decisions on a broad range of issues,” said Gov. Jared Polis, who appointed Berkenkotter on Friday. “She has deftly presided over high-profile, complicated, and often emotional cases, and has implemented beneficial operational changes within the Judicial Branch.”

This is Polis’s first appointment to the seven-member court. A citizen-led nominating commission screened applicants, and earlier this month forwarded the governor the names of Berkenkotter as well as civil litigator Timothy R. Macdonald and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Wang.

Berkenkotter will succeed Chief Justice Nathan B. Coats, who is retiring in January. Justice Brian D. Boatright will serve as the next chief.

In a statement, Coats said he knows Berkenkotter “will treat this duty with the deliberation and care that she has shown throughout her career.”

Currently, Berkenkotter works for the Judicial Arbiter Group, Inc., providing arbitration and mediation services. Since leaving the bench in Boulder County in 2017, she has also served as a coach for judges. She was previously a finalist for the seat that Justice Carlos A. Samour, Jr. now occupies.

Berkenkotter, who turns 58 this year, graduated from the University of Denver’s law school and worked at the attorney general’s office prior to her 2006 appointment as a District Court Judge.

“I’m honored to be selected by Governor Polis for this important position,” she said. “It is essential for the foundations of our democracy, including our courts, to remain strong during these unprecedented times.”

Norma A. Sierra, a district judge in Boulder County since 2015, said that Berkenkotter will be a “thoughtful and inclusive member of the bench.”

“For those of us who are trial judges, it means having someone on highest court who is familiar with what it’s like to be making decisions on the fly,” she said. “She has a patience that is amazing to observe in the courtroom. I often had the opportunity to observe her and was impressed by her being able to maintain, in sentences that would have challenged me, a very even keel.”

Sierra added that Berkenkotter had exhibited impressive administrative skills from her time as chief judge, overseeing the budget and employees of the 20th Judicial District. Berkenkotter has also, she indicated, been actively encouraging women to apply to the judiciary.

In her application to the position, Berkenkotter viewed the Supreme Court as handling three types of work. The first was what she termed “the substantive work” of reviewing cases and drafting opinions, which “shapes and defines the rule of law in Colorado.” The second type was the court’s administrative work to guide the judicial branch, and the third was to be “ambassadors for the entire state, from Julesburg to Cortez, not just the Denver metro area.”

Berkenkotter handled civil and criminal appeals from Boulder County Court and also presided over trials. Her cases included that of Dynel Lane, whom Berkenkotter sentenced to 100 years in prison for attacking a pregnant woman and stealing her fetus. She also arbitrated a dispute between the buyer and seller of multiple marijuana stores and a grow operation worth over $2 million.

Tom Downey, a regulatory attorney with Ireland Stapleton, represented one of the parties at the arbitration.

“It was a complicated case substantively and she had to get up to speed,” he recalled. He described the arbitration as being like a trial, which in this instance started before the COVID-19 pandemic and continued despite it.

“It was seamless with her,” Downey said. Berkenkotter “never lost her cool at all despite the games that were being played on the other side and my poor reaction to it.”

Two people who had worked with Berkenkotter over the years – former Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett and former Cabinet Secretary, U.S. Senator and Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, likewise praised her abilities. Salazar called her “one of the stars” of the attorney general’s office and Garnett explained that she was skilled at managing court resources and balancing the needs of prosecutors, defense lawyers and community members.

“I think putting a trial judge on there sends a good message because it respects the daily work that the courts have to do to make sure the lawyers and the judges across the state can do their jobs fairly,” Garnett explained.

Downey said that during the vetting process for a new justice, someone asked him if there was a category – or a group within the legal community – that the appointee should represent.

“My answer was no,” Downey said. “I think that what these times call for is just the best judge possible. Someone who is substantively excellent, procedurally superb, a great writer, level headed. Someone without drama.”

He added: “They speak as a unit and through their writings. You don’t want a justice drawing attention to themselves….You don’t see or hear of drama with our Supreme Court.”