complaints made in the 22nd judicial district and the state’s response
the issues we
encountered making
those complaints
A number of Colorado Citizens who interacted with Hon. Judge William Y. Furse recently made a variety of complaints to the Colorado Judicial Commission, asking for investigations into his conduct and decisions, which seem to be not in compliance with the law. Judge Furse was not sworn in as a Judge until January 24, 2023 so the complaints occurred after that date.
We did not immediately complain directly to the Colorado Office on Judicial Discipline, as we were directed, by virtue of Montezuma County Administrative Order 2022-07, which directed us to send our complaints directly to the Court we are complaining about for the District Chief Judge (Hon. Judge Todd J. Plewe) and District Court Administrator (Eric Hogue) to review and vet our complaints before we could be heard.
Montezuma County Administrative Order 2022-07 was written to be in compliance with C.R.S. 13-5.3-106(4), which currently states: If the department receives a complaint alleging judicial misconduct from an individual or entity that is not an employee, volunteer, or contractor for the department, the department shall notify the complainant of the role of the commission and provide the complainant with the commission's contact information. If the complainant submits written or electronic materials in connection with a complaint, the department shall forward those materials to the commission. Each judicial district, the appellate courts, and the state court administrator's office shall adopt a written policy to implement this provision.
A copy of the Montezuma County Administrative Order 2022-07 is found below and can still be located on the Court’s website.
the issues we
encountered making
those complaints
The complaints detailed in this website were all submitted to the Colorado Judicial Discipline Commission, either directly to the District Court, per 22nd Judicial District Court Administrative Order 2022-07. All complaints concerned Hon. Judge William J. Furse, who had been serving approximately 15 months as a judge on his first term at the time of all complaints.
The dates of submission and the complainants’ names/initials are as follows:
May 6, 2024- Private Party J.P.
May 9, 2024- Attorney Jill Carlson
May 17, 2024- Private Party R.F.
May 30, 2024- Private Party J.V.
All of these individuals submitted concerns about the Judge not following the ethical rules, the Colorado Judicial Canons and the Colorado Revised Statutes.
We had absolutely no contact from the Judicial Discipline Commission until December 24, 2024. At that time, only the Attorney was contacted and interviewed. She was given the option to submit additional evidence and she did.
No other complainants were ever contacted or interviewed or asked to submit evidence.
All of our complaints were dismissed as unfounded.
The responses have been mailed out and we are publishing the original complaints and the response from the State with redactions below.
These are the only documents we are entitled to see. The rest of the judicial discipline process is done behind closed doors and the complainants do not get information about the investigation. Sometimes they do not receive anything from the Colorado Office of Judicial Discipline, which seats a Commission- a panel of 10 people. It is believed that NONE of our complaints were reviewed by the panel and instead decided by an investigator who is a third party hire and not a State employee.
This is extremely problematic, as the entire process is shielded from the view of the Colorado Citizens. As such, the only way that other citizens will know about this is if the complainants choose to share the information.
However, the letters we received from the State seem to imply that we are to keep the information confidential, despite any rule or law requiring that private citizens cannot share their complaints or the results they received from the State. The Executive Director Anne Mangiardi sent us dismissal letters that included citations to rules that don’t apply to private citizens and the Constitutional Provision that oversees the Colorado Judicial Discipline Commission. Colo. Const. Article IV, Section 23. In review of that provision, it states the Commission has the authority to promulgate rules, including Complainants’ Rights, confidentiality and grievance procedures. However, as of March 12, 2025, they have failed to implement any rules. It is incredibly concerning that this agency has failed to make rules governing this but appears to be impliedly threatening complainants from sharing their information. This was confirmed in a phone call with third party contracted investigator Natasha Powers on March 24, 2025.
As such, the owner of this site and the other individuals, who have all signed waivers to allow this information to be published, are posting their complaints and results, free of the fear of retaliation from the Colorado State Government and are exercising their first amendment right to free speech and to redress their government for grievances.