Gov. Ritter names 4 new judges to County & District courts

Gov. Bill Ritter has announced the appointments of four new judges to county and district court benches in Colorado:

• Craig Richard Welling of Broomfield was appointed to become a District Court judge in the 17th Judicial District, which serves Adams and Broomfield counties, effective Jan. 1. Welling has served as chief legal counsel to Gov. Ritter since earlier this year and as deputy chief legal counsel since 2007. Prior to joining the administration, Welling was an associate at Rothgerber, Johnson & Lyons.

• Robert Walter Kiesnowski Jr. of Commerce City also was appointed to become a District Court judge in the 17th Judicial District effective Jan. 1. Kiesnowski is currently in-house counsel for the Denver Police Protective Association and has been of-counsel to Worstell & Kiesnowski since 2009. He previously has worked as associate attorney with the Law Offices of Mitch Geller, partner with the Law Offices of Maguire and Kiesnowski and associate attorney with the Law Offices of Frank Moya & Daniel Recht.

• Brian Nathaniel Bowen of Brighton was appointed to become an Adams County Court judge effective Jan. 1. Bowen has served as a magistrate in the 17th Judicial District since 2003. He previously has served as a small claims magistrate in Adams County Court, a part-time small claims magistrate in Weld County Court, part-time associate municipal judge for Westminster, Commerce City, Northglenn, Thornton and Wheat Ridge, as sole practitioner in general practice, and an attorney at Gehler & Merrigan in Commerce City.

• Thomas Ray French of Fort Collins was appointed to become a District Court Judge in the 8th Judicial District, which serves Jackson and Larimer counties, effective Jan. 1. French has been president of Thomas R. French, P.C., since 1995. His practice consists of trial matters and transactional matters. Trial matters include business litigation, trademark cases, insurance cases, personal injury cases, and criminal defense work.

District court judges serve an initial provisional term of two years. Then, if retained by voters, they serve six-year terms at an annual salary of $128,598.

County court judges serve an initial provisional term of two years. Then, if retained by voters, they serve four-year terms with an annual salary of $123,067.