Gov. Jared Polis has appointed Brett Martin and Teri Vasquez as district judges in Adams and Broomfield counties, filling two vacancies on the 17th Judicial District’s bench.

Martin’s appointment takes effect immediately, as he will succeed Judge Tomee Crespin, who was the only judge in the state not retained in the 2020 general election. Martin is a chief trial deputy in the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, where he has worked since 2010. Prior to that, Martin was a case manager with the Department of Youth Services .

Vasquez’s appointment begins on Jan. 23. She will succeed Emily E. Anderson, who announced her retirement in December. Anderson is currently the chief judge in the district, and Don Quick will assume the chief’s role when Anderson leaves office.

Vasquez has been a shareholder with Bayer & Carey, PC since 2015 and primarily litigates insurance defense and personal injury cases. She has been admitted to the Colorado Bar since 1998.

The judicial vacancies followed a series of revelations throughout the fall of dysfunction in the district. Crespin took the uncommon step of requesting Anderson be removed from her retention process, and multiple people alleged that Anderson retaliated against those judges who did not support her elevation to the chief’s role. The Denver Post also reported last year that a district laptop containing pornography was never investigated by law enforcement during the tenure of Anderson’s predecessor.