Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez asked members of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday to stay the course and fund the 10 new trial judgeships that Colorado lawmakers approved last year, and also explained her vision for enhancing judicial branch security.

Responding to questions generated by committee members after a hearing last month on the $845 million budget request for courts and probation, Márquez cautioned against delaying the establishment of new judgeships in the upcoming fiscal year. Adding 29 new judgeships was the Judicial Department’s top legislative priority in 2025, based on workload studies that showed a need for dozens more trial and appellate judges. However, due to budget constraints, the General Assembly ultimately created 15 new seats over two years.

“All of these jurisdictions have been working closely with counties to build out courtroom space, to acquire additional needed space to accommodate new judgeships,” Márquez said, adding that delaying the new positions to save money would “jeopardize these important county relationships.”

She added that, in light of the roughly $1 billion budget deficits the state faced last year and this year, the judicial branch would avoid waiting to bring forward large requests for new judges until the need is urgent.

“Going forward, we are restructuring our budget so that we can provide information every year to this committee about our ongoing need,” said Márquez, “and then ideally be able to submit smaller, more targeted, and yet more frequent requests to keep up with that need.”

Márquez also dedicated time before the committee and in written materials submitted in advance to explain why she is seeking funding for a full-time employee to work with a task force addressing physical security for court and probation facilities. The branch has already spoken with its counterpart in Maryland, which enacted changes to judicial security after a disgruntled litigant murdered a trial judge in 2023.

Security “came up in literally every single district visit that we had,” said Márquez, referring to trips she took over the past year to all 23 of Colorado’s judicial districts. “I also want to be clear that it’s not just our judges. What surprised me about these visits around the state is that these challenges are being experienced as well by our court and probation staff. All across our state, I saw aging court facilities and, frankly, in some instances, glaring security vulnerabilities.”

She described an incident from December in Arapahoe County in which the family member of a victim physically attacked a 69-year-old defense attorney at the courthouse. Márquez added that “the very same day,” a defendant “jumped across the bench and came very close to attacking one of our judicial officers.” Colorado Politics could not verify the timing, but the district attorney’s office confirmed there was an attempted attack on a district judge in July.

“I agree with what you are saying. It’s just maybe your approach,” responded Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, adding that she believed each chief judge should create their own task force to address security due to wide variation between courthouses.

“What I’m hoping to accomplish with this task force is to create some statewide uniformity,” said Márquez. While Kirkmeyer’s home of Weld County has provided a good model for state-local cooperation, “that is not true across the state.”

Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction, suggested Márquez’s request might be too modest given the problem.

“I’m just having a hard time understanding how one person can coordinate with a task force with 64 counties and 23 judicial districts. Are we asking too much of one person?” he wondered.

“It’s a whole lot more doable with one person who is actually dedicated full time to that role than bits and snatches of extra time from people who have other job responsibilities,” replied Márquez.

In response to lawmakers’ questions about whether it is a state or county responsibility to fund courthouse furnishings, Márquez said the law was “somewhat gray.” But she argued that there was a valid reason for the state to bear the costs.

“Certain counties have actually chipped in to these efforts, but not every county is able or willing,” she explained. “The furnishings component being offered by the state is important leverage in working with the counties in order to arrive at mutually beneficial build-outs, courtroom space build-outs.”

State Court Administrator Steven Vasconcellos, who also appeared at the hearing, said that mid-to-late 2025 saw fewer disruptions to virtual court proceedings by malicious actors. However, around New Year’s Day, there was a “rash of disruptions” in Denver, El Paso County and Douglas County. The department finalized a contract with a vendor last month for new software that provides more advanced controls over security and virtual courtroom management.

Replying to a question from Kirkmeyer, Vasconcellos said he was not prepared to discuss how the Judicial Department might avoid an increase in its budget from the state’s general fund in 2026.

“I didn’t ask you to cut funding,” said Kirkmeyer. “But at least there needs to be no general fund growth from the current fiscal year’s budget to next year’s budget.”

“I have a very strong conviction that the judicial branch is a co-equal branch, and you all need to be funded in a way that you can perform your obligations,” countered Sen. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder. “That’s really fundamental. So, I’m not sure that we all share (Kirkmeyer’s) point of view.”