Sean Patrick Finn

Sean Patrick Finn was appointed to the Seventeenth Judicial District Court in 2018 by Governor John Hickenlooper. The district serves Adams and Broomfield counties. He has presided over civil, domestic relations, juvenile, mental health and criminal matters. Voters retained him in 2020 with 73.66 percent of the votes cast on the question: 167,939 yes and 60,050 no.

Before joining the bench he was a senior deputy district attorney in Adams and Broomfield counties and chief trial deputy and chief appellate deputy in Boulder County. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and a law degree from Loyola Law School. He teaches judges and attorneys throughout Colorado.

The Seventeenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance voted 7 to 1 that he meets performance standards, with two commissioners absent. It received 44 survey responses, 7 of them from attorneys.

The commission writes that "Judge Finn is widely regarded as a highly knowledgeable and intellectually rigorous jurist." It "found notable strengths in legal knowledge, administrative performance, and courtroom management."

The commission also writes that "some members of the Commission identified concerns relating to Judge Finn’s interaction with attorneys that warrant continued attention." It discussed those matters with him and writes that "increased sensitivity to how all participants experience proceedings in his courtroom will further enhance confidence in his fairness, impartiality, and professionalism."