Christine A. Washburn

Christine A. Washburn was appointed to the Eighteenth Judicial District Court on September 4, 2024. Her docket is entirely domestic relations: dissolution of marriage, legal separation and the allocation of parental responsibilities.

She was a deputy district attorney, chief deputy district attorney and senior chief deputy district attorney in the Denver District Attorney's Office from 1999 to 2021, and opened a private law practice in 2022. Before her appointment she was a magistrate in the Eighteenth Judicial District, handling domestic relations cases and the child support enforcement docket, and she has served as a part-time magistrate in Denver County Court. She earned a political science degree summa cum laude in 1995 and her law degree in 1998, both at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The Eighteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance voted 8 to 0 that she meets performance standards, with one member absent and one vacancy on the commission. The commission writes that she "received praise for her demeanor, diligence and her application and knowledge of the law" and that she "was described as patient, thoughtful, and attentive."

The commission also writes: "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." It reports that the survey responses "were low in number and did not identify many performance issues."