The Colorado Supreme Court has selected Justice William W. Hood III to be the next chief justice, the judicial branch announced on Friday.

Hood will succeed Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez, who took over the role in July 2024.

“I am honored by the confidence my colleagues have placed in me. Our judicial branch is filled with dedicated professionals who work every day to deliver justice for the people of Colorado, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to support that work in this new role,” said Hood in a statement. “I appreciate Chief Justice Márquez’s leadership and her willingness to guide me through the year ahead as I prepare for this transition.”

Hood, an appointee of then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, joined the Supreme Court in 2014. Before his appointment, Hood was a Denver trial judge and a prosecutor in the previously configured 18th Judicial District in suburban Denver.

On the Supreme Court, Hood is the third-most-senior member. He is also facing a retention election this year, and the citizen-led performance commission for statewide judges unanimously found that he “meets performance standards.”

“Justice Hood brings deep experience, steady judgment, and a genuine commitment to the people we serve,” said Márquez. “I’ve had the privilege of working alongside him for many years, and I know he will approach this role with the integrity and thoughtfulness it demands.”

The Supreme Court’s earlier practice allowed the chief justice to remain in that role until retirement. That method enabled the late Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey to serve for 12 years — the longest in history — until stepping down in 2010.

But following Chief Justice Nathan B. Coats’s 2020 retirement announcement, the court instituted a rotational system to fill the top spot, with a three-year term.

“After Chief Justice Coats left, we looked around the room and realized we were all basically the same age,” Márquez said on the “Our Voices” podcast in 2021. “We decided we didn’t want to be in a position where the next chief would be the chief for 15 or 20 years, maybe.”

During the term of then-Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright, who was the first under the rotational system, the court developed a unique onboarding plan that outlines tasks before the incoming chief begins their term, and continues to list the obligations through the chief’s first two years.

As it existed prior to Márquez’s term, the plan envisioned that three to four months before taking over, the incoming chief would receive human resources training, attend committee and chief judges’ meetings, and receive tutoring about the judiciary’s budget. The person would also meet with the governor’s office, attorney general’s office and various bar associations.

After being sworn in, the new chief justice would schedule discussions with the leaders of each of Colorado’s 23 judicial districts and communicate priorities to the entire department. During the first two years, the chief would meet annually with every chief judge and receive a “360 evaluation” of the chief’s own performance.

Chief justices participate in cases and author opinions, as do the six other members of the Supreme Court. But chiefs also preside at oral arguments, assign authorship of all opinions — even if the chief is not in the majority — and lead the 4,000-person judicial branch.

Márquez has spoken in public appearances about the large portion of her day that is dedicated to management and administrative tasks. During a 2025 interview at Metropolitan State University of Denver, she said chief justice duties take up 10-12 hours per day, “and then I go home and start my ‘day job’ after dinner.”

“My wife likes to joke that usually around 5:00 in the morning when I’m standing in the kitchen with my hair sticking out, cup of coffee in one hand and I’m squinting at my e-mail on my phone, I’d say, ‘Gosh, I wish the world would just see how glamorous it is to be chief justice,’ Márquez said at a judicial awards ceremony in October.