Today is Aug. 21, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

Colorado’s Commission on Judicial Discipline is compiling “in-depth” information on more than 120 judges who The Denver Gazette recently revealed had not filed personal financial disclosure reports to the state this year despite a law requiring it, according to emails obtained by the newspaper.

More than two dozen of the judges haven’t had a disclosure on file as mandated with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office in several years, and dozens more senior judges haven’t done so either, some for more than a decade, The Denver Gazette investigation found.

The Denver Gazette found that about one in every six of the state’s full-time judges did not have the disclosures on file this year. Senior judges instead have been filing the disclosures with the Judicial Department as part of a contract they sign to remain on the bench in a limited manner, the investigation found.

The list includes chief judges – one was named to the position the day after The Denver Gazette’s story was published – members of the Colorado Court of Appeals, and district court and county court judges from virtually every judicial district in the state. Two judges serve on discipline commissions that punish judges for their misconduct and another serves on the Supreme Court’s ethics advisory board. 

The Colorado Water Congress, the state’s leading voice on water issues, will meet Tuesday through Thursday in Steamboat Springs with an agenda focused on challenges.

The conference will host the announcement slated for Tuesday of the next director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Legislation adopted in the 2023 session split what had been one job: the water conservation board director and the commissioner for the Upper Colorado River Commission. That legislation has now sent conservation board director Becky Mitchell to the river commission as a full time commissioner and left an opening for the water board director.

A bevy of elected officials will be in Steamboat, including both U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper; U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette and Lauren Boebert, R-Silt; Gov. Jared Polis; and, Attorney General Phil Weiser.

The Colorado River and the Colorado Water Plan will be the focus of several panels, including a session on the ongoing negotiations among the seven basin states over the future of the river.

The Colorado General Assembly’s water resources and agriculture review committee also will hold its first summer meeting in Steamboat, with a discussion about waters of the United States on the agenda.

Colorado Republicans are throwing a watch party on Wednesday in Douglas County for the first GOP presidential primary debate, the state party said.

At least eight candidates say they’ve qualified for a spot on stage in Milwaukee, though the primary frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, plans to skip the debate to join former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for an online interview, The New York Times reported on Friday.

In addition to Trump, the Republicans who so far appear to have met the Republican National Committee’s polling and fundraising requirements to join the debate include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burguml. Christie, like Trump, hasn’t signed a pledge to support the GOP nominee.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Friday that he has qualified, but multiple news outlets said the RNC hasn’t determined whether he has.

Governor Jared Polis announced Friday that Summit County Commissioner Joshua Blanchard will be the new director of Colorado Creative Industries, the state’s arts funding office.

That job falls within The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, which has been conducting a search to replace the retired Margaret Hunt for just under a year. The CCI Director is responsible for strategic planning, implementation and evaluation of all programs and services, while representing the agency to the public, media, cultural organizations and legislative bodies.

“Art and creativity make Colorado special and help small businesses thrive. I’m so excited Josh Blanchard is joining our Colorado team to help build Colorado’s creative community and enrich the lives of all Coloradans,” said Polis.

In recent months, judges on Colorado’s federal trial court have delivered stinging rebukes to lawyers – and in some instances, monetary penalties – for their behavior in the course of litigation.

Although it is typical for judges to deliver critiques of lawyers’ legal arguments, it is less common for them to lay down accusations of unprofessionalism and threaten to report attorney misconduct, or even to go so far as imposing punishment for misbehavior.

Since the spring, two district judges and one magistrate judge have notified the parties in three cases that their conduct was borderline, or fully, inappropriate.