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Christine A. Washburn

Trial Court · Arapahoe · Arapahoe

Meets Standards1 cycle on record

Evaluation history

  • 2026 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Arapahoe · Arapahoe
    Commission vote: 8 for · 0 against
    Meets Standards
    VotersOn the November 3, 2026 ballot· Coloradans vote on this judge’s retention on November 3, 2026; the outcome will appear here after the election.
    Retention Year: 2026Recommendation: Meets Performance Standards Reports: 2026 Retention Survey Report (PDF) 2025 Interim Survey Report (PDF) The Eighteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance agrees by a vote of 8-0, with one member absent and one vacancy on the Commission, that Judge Chirstine A. Washburn MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. The Colorado statutory judicial performance criteria are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the legal profession and to the public. Judge Washburn’s docket consists entirely of domestic relations matters involving petitions for dissolution of marriage/legal separation and allocation of parental responsibilities. The Commission was unanimous that she meets judicial performance standards. She received praise for her demeanor, diligence and her application and knowledge of the law. Judge Washburn was described as patient, thoughtful, and attentive. While reference was made to Judge Washburn taking too much time to issue orders, the Commission concluded the sheer volume and complex issues in many cases contributed to this dynamic. The Commission conducted a personal interview with Judge Washburn, reviewed opinions she authored, observed her in court, considered comments from interested parties during the evaluation, and assessed survey responses from attorneys and non-attorneys who had experience with Judge Washburn. The survey responses were low in number and did not identify many performance issues.  This was consistent with the Commission’s overall findings. Most of the negative feedback came from non-attorneys, which is not surprising to the Commission given the type of docket Judge Washburn handles. Judge Washburn was appointed to the bench on September 4, 2024. Prior to her appointment, she served as a Magistrate in the 18th Judicial District handling general domestic relations matters and the child support enforcement docket. Judge Washburn has also served as a part-time Magistrate in Denver County Court, handling protection orders, civil, forcible entry and detainer, criminal and general sessions matters. She worked as a Deputy District Attorney, Chief Deputy District Attorney and Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney for the Denver District Attorney’s Office from 1999 to 2021 and then opened a private law practice in 2022. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, summa cum laude, in 1995 and her Juris Doctor in 1998, both from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is actively involved in the Colorado Women’s Bar Association and a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the Arapahoe County Bar Association, the Asian Pacific Bar Association, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association, and the Colorado LGBTQ+ Bar Association. For the Colorado Women’s Bar Association, she served as co-chair of the Professional Advancement Committee and currently serves as the Colorado Bar Association’s Board of Governor’s Representative. Judge Washburn contributes to the community by serving as a volunteer judge for the Colorado Bar Association’s High School Mock Trial Competition and assembling Lunar Year Gift Baskets for Asian families in need through APABA.

Surveys & reports

  • 2026 cycle
    • 2025 Interim Survey Report(PDF on OJPE)
      Structured scores pending

      Full numeric extraction isn’t complete for this cycle’s layout yet. Open the source PDF above for the underlying data.

    • 2026 Retention Survey Report(PDF on OJPE)
      Structured scores pending

      Full numeric extraction isn’t complete for this cycle’s layout yet. Open the source PDF above for the underlying data.

Score cards render where the PDF extractor found numeric fields (partial is shown with “—” for missing tiles). “Read full survey text” surfaces the complete report transcription for every survey on file. Source PDFs on OJPE are always linked above for fidelity. Coverage note on Sources.

Sources