A retired Douglas County judge is now back on the bench, despite the state’s appellate court overturning convictions and sentences in numerous criminal cases she handled due to her errors.

District Court Judge Patricia Herron stepped down from active service in December 2023. But in October, Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez signed a contract permitting Herron to continue handling cases as a part-time senior judge.

The contract allowed Herron to resume work even after the Court of Appeals found she:

• Allowed prosecutors to give a false impression to jurors about the DNA evidence in a sex assault case

• Permitted multiple defendants to represent themselves without ensuring they had validly given up their right to counsel

• Blocked a defendant from telling the jury his alibi

• Allowed a defendant’s lawyer to withdraw without informing the defendant of her rights

• Subjected a defendant to lifetime sex offender registration without explaining why

• Allowed a biased juror to serve in a drunk driving trial

• Declined to correct a prosecutor who misstated the law to jurors

• Barred crucial testimony from a vehicular homicide case, which enabled prosecutors to misrepresent the facts to the jury

In two instances, Herron also ordered criminal defendants to pay financial restitution to their victims far beyond the 91-day deadline in state law. She issued her decisions even after the Supreme Court warned trial judges in 2021 that they lose authority to order restitution if they do not comply with the law.

In one of those cases, a Court of Appeals judge was troubled that Herron “recharacterized history” by asserting she issued a restitution order within the legal deadline, when the appellate court found no evidence that she did.

Through the judicial branch, Colorado Politics asked Márquez why she believed Herron was fit to continue service as a judge. The chief justice declined to comment.

Under the state constitution, the chief justice may temporarily assign judges and retired judges to perform specific duties. The senior judge program allows retired judges to handle cases in which an active judge has a conflict, is occupied with a lengthy trial, has an emergency or vacation, is at training, or in which there is a vacancy on the court. The judicial branch pays for travel, lodging and associated costs for a senior judge providing coverage.

A judge may apply to join the program within five years of their retirement, but there is no guarantee they will be accepted. For judges who do end up serving, they receive an increase in their retirement benefits.

Although active judges are evaluated by citizen-led performance commissions and retained by voters, senior judge contracts are renewed after court personnel, other judges, and attorneys who appeared before the senior judge provide their input on the judge’s performance. Attorney regulators and judicial discipline authorities also alert the judicial branch about any complaints filed against senior judges.

As of Jan. 1, the senior judge program had 46 participants, including six retired Court of Appeals judges, one retired Supreme Court justice, and the remainder being retired county court or district court judges.

Herron’s contract, signed by the chief justice on Oct. 15, lasts until Sept. 30, 2025. Herron agreed to perform 60 days of work in a one-year period.

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office, which argues for convictions and sentences to be upheld on appeal, had no comment about Herron’s continued service. The public defender’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment.