Michelle Martinez-Thomas

Michelle Martinez-Thomas was appointed to the Denver County Court in March 2020. Voters retained her in 2022 with 80.57 percent of the votes cast on the question: 155,908 yes and 37,588 no. She serves on the court's community engagement and community service committee.

She spent ten years with the Colorado State Public Defender Office, where she was twice appointed to the Denver Mayor's Latino Advisory Council and received the Outstanding New Hispanic Lawyer award from the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. She then served as a magistrate in the 17th Judicial District, hearing criminal, protection order and domestic relations cases. A Denver native and a first-generation college student, she started at Front Range Community College, earned her undergraduate degree at Colorado State University and her law degree at the University of Denver. She sits on the board of the Colorado State University Foundation.

The Denver County Court Commission on Judicial Performance voted 5 to 0 that she meets performance standards. It observed her courtroom in person, by livestream and on recordings. The evaluation states that too few survey responses came in to publish its 2026 and 2025 survey reports.

The commission writes that she is "personable, professional and has a true passion for her work" and that she "runs a supportive, rehabilitative courtroom, while also being capable of maintaining courtroom decorum and handling inappropriate behavior." It calls her "creative, thoughtful and intentional in assigning meaningful and effective sentencing" and notes that "She was ahead of her time in educating juries on implicit bias before it was mandated."