A review of judges’ financial disclosures for the federal trial and appeals courts headquartered in Denver reveals a range of income sources, a handful of judges who are frequent travelers to conferences and seminars, plus one judge’s minor — but repeated — errors in reporting.

Pursuant to federal law, judges must file annual financial disclosures plus periodic reports of certain financial transactions that exceed $1,000. According to the filings through the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, judges on Colorado’s U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reported income from sources as diverse as publication royalties, speaking engagements and even a firefighter pension.

For example, U.S. District Court Judges Regina M. Rodriguez and Charlotte N. Sweeney, who were both in private practice prior to their recent appointments by President Joe Biden, reported income in excess of $800,000 upon leaving their firms.

Those who were state judges or held other public sector jobs before taking the federal bench reported continuing compensation, ranging from the $1,500 volunteer firefighter pension for 10th Circuit Senior Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. of New Mexico to the $123,500 pension of 10th Circuit Judge Nancy L. Moritz, a former state appellate judge and Supreme Court justice in Kansas.

Federal judges’ salaries range from $243,300 to $257,900.

Generally, the only disclosures publicly available in the Administrative Office’s database covered 2021 and 2022. The judicial financial disclosure committee did not respond to an email inquiring about the status of 2023 and 2024 disclosures.

Numerous judges held financial investments, including rental properties. A handful of judges also reported receiving royalties from their published work: 10th Circuit Judges Timothy M. Tymkovich of Colorado and Robert E. Bacharach of Oklahoma, plus U.S. District Court Senior Judge Christine M. Arguello, disclosed between $740 and $5,300 in annual royalties.

The financial disclosures, as well as separate reporting through each court’s website, further illustrate the frequency of judges’ reimbursements for privately held events.

Conferences, seminars, lectures

Some members of the bench — specifically, the appellate judges — had a busier travel schedule than others.

“Circuit judges tend to have more flexible schedules than trial court judges since they aren’t in court every day, and they also tend to have a broader overview of legal trends,” said Jeremy Fogel, a retired trial judge from the Northern District of California. “Beyond that, their position often is seen as more prestigious and influential by many of the people outside the courts who extend the invitations.”

Two appellate judges in particular had frequent out-of-state engagements. Bacharach reported reimbursements or fees from a range of event organizers, including the Arkansas Bar Association, Ohio Courts of Appeals Judges Association and the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence. Largely, Bacharach indicated he gave legal writing presentations, following the 2020 publication of his book on the subject.

Tymkovich similarly had an active travel schedule, albeit with events oriented toward conservative legal ideology. In February, he attended the Sixth Annual Antonin Scalia Forum at George Mason University, where U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was listed as the keynote speaker. Tymkovich was also one of numerous Republican-appointed judges at Georgetown University’s originalism seminar this year in Sarasota, Fla. The advertised topics included “The Originalist Case for the Color Blind Constitution” and “Frederick Douglass’ Originalism.”

Tymkovich was among the group of 14 judges, largely Republican appointees, who traveled to Israel this March for a “Judicial Educational Mission.” Bloomberg Law reported the judges met with Israeli officials and the families of hostages captured by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7. The World Jewish Congress sponsored the trip.

In April, Tymkovich also went to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Rodel Institute’s judicial fellowship. The nonprofit described the event as an opportunity to “discuss the role of judges in American democracy, constitutional interpretation, and leadership on and off of the bench.” It added that the programming was “was anchored by 100-120 pages of intense scholarly reading.”

‘I regret this omission’

The filings of 10th Circuit Senior Judge David M. Ebel of Colorado showed him to be a prolific trader of stocks. He filed 42 periodic transaction reports between 2022 and early 2024. Although the worth of the stocks is reported in ranges, Ebel’s transactions encompassed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On Oct. 13, 2023, Ebel filed a report for a stock purchase that occurred on May 8 — well outside the 45-day disclosure period for transactions. He wrote that the failure to report on time was “inadvertent.” Ebel added that he regretted the oversight and asked for a waiver of any penalties, which can include fines or imprisonment if the violation is willful.

“I believe this is the first and only time that I have failed to report the purchase of a stock in a timely manner. I have established procedures in place that should have caught this, but didn’t,” Ebel wrote. “I have had no cases before me involving this company during the period that I owned the stock.”

However, two weeks later, Ebel filed another report admitting to two additional failures to report stock sales from March and April. Then, another report filed on Nov. 14 once again disclosed a stock sale from several months prior.

“I have now sold all stocks to prevent this occurrence from happening in the future,” Ebel wrote on his third filing.

Through the 10th Circuit’s clerk, Chris Wolpert, Ebel said he received a waiver of penalties for the non-compliant disclosures.

“They were minor. They didn’t involve any entities involved in any litigation before Judge Ebel,” said Wolpert. “He said that he does have procedures in place and he’s instituted further procedures in light of these minor omissions that occurred that he thinks are going to be sufficient to prevent any future, further minor omission.”

Fogel, the retired judge who also served on the federal judiciary’s financial disclosure committee, said sanctions for inaccurate reporting are rare.

“Typically, they aren’t considered unless there are willful misstatements or omissions or the filer has made the same mistake repeatedly despite guidance about how to avoid it,” he said.

“It does appear Judge Ebel is acting in good faith,” added Gabe Roth, executive director of the advocacy group Fix the Court. “I’m pleased to see that despite the fits and starts, he’s completely divested from individual stocks.”

Since November 2023, the financial disclosure database lists only two other reports from Ebel: Periodic transactions from February, one week apart, buying and selling stock in the same IT company.

Items of note

Some judges reported compensation or reimbursements from unusual sources.

The 10th Circuit’s chief judge, Jerome A. Holmes of Oklahoma, and Bacharach both reported reimbursements from officiating the weddings of their former law clerks.

10th Circuit Judge Scott M. Matheson Jr. of Utah reported receiving $18.50 for one day of jury service in 2021. Pursuant to federal regulations, “I turned the check over to the Tenth Circuit budget officer,” he wrote.

10th Circuit Judge Joel M. Carson III of New Mexico disclosed his role as manager, vice president or secretary in multiple limited liability companies operating under the name “Sierra Blanca.” Carson did not respond to an invitation through the clerk’s office to elaborate about the businesses, which include Sierra Blanca Livestock Company, Sierra Blanca Farms and Sierra Blanca Trading.

Rodriguez, the district judge from Colorado, reported $32,297 in gifts from her prior employers, the prominent law firms WilmerHale and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. The 2021 payments were for her ceremonial swearing-in and reception at the Denver Botanic Gardens — the type of function judges have typically paid for themselves. Rodriguez also disclosed the gift of a $600 office chair from WilmerHale.

U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews disclosed gifted tickets to a Denver Nuggets game in 2022 against the Charlotte Hornets, valued at $500.

U.S. Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter, a volunteer photojournalist, received $1,100 over two years for photographing the Triple Bypass charity bicycle ride.

Moritz, the 10th Circuit judge from Kansas, disclosed a single investment: Her bank account.