Bench Record
26percentile

Brian Nathaniel Bowen

County Court · Adams County · retention evaluations: 2018

2018 retention · County Court · Adams County

Among 2018 county court judges

26 percentile · rank 53 of 71

composite 0100

Among all 2018 judges statewide

22 percentile · rank 100 of 128

composite 0100

Survey responses

99 83rd percentile among peers · 85th percentile statewide

4130

Composite index 33.33 among peers (29.69 statewide): the mean of the three percentiles below. Rank orders by it.

Overall survey grade

3.41 of 4 · 31.69 percentile

2.593.90

Mean of category scores

3.43 of 4 · 37.32 percentile

2.593.90

Attorneys saying “meets standards”

73.00% 30.99 percentile

0.00%100.00%

Attorneys

Overall grade
2.97
Say “meets standards”
73.00%

Non-attorneys

Overall grade
3.84
Say “meets standards”
96.00%
Category scores (0–4) against county court peers
CategoryScorePeer medianPeer range (dot is this judge, line is the median)
Case Management3.22median 3.503.50
Application and Knowledge of Law3.30median 3.383.38
Communications3.53median 3.583.58
Diligence3.29median 3.423.42
Demeanor3.39median 3.493.49
Fairness3.82median 3.603.60

Commission: meets standards (10–0)

The Seventeenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously (10-0) agrees that Judge Brian Nathaniel Bowen MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.

Prior to his appointment to the Adams County Court on January 1, 2011, Brian N. Bowen was in private practice and was a Small Claims Court Magistrate in Adams County and Weld County, as well as a Municipal Court Judge in Brighton, Commerce City, Northglenn, Thornton and Westminster. Brian N. Bowen graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. He graduated from the Southwestern University College of Law in Los Angeles, California in 1986 and was licensed to practice law in 1987.

Judge Bowen pioneered the Adams County Court for Veterans and continues to preside over the Court. He serves as a board member with CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, helped establish the Sean May Memorial Run in 2008, supervises student interns from the University of Denver College of Law, University of Colorado College of Law, Metropolitan State University, University of Northern Colorado and Aims Community College. Brian N. Bowen is very active is providing education and presentations to various groups, colleges and universities.

The Commission conducted a personal interview with Judge Bowen, reviewed opinions he authored, observations of him in court, considered his self-evaluation of the past four years on the bench, and reviewed survey responses from attorneys and non-attorneys who had experience with Judge Bowen. During this term, Judge Bowen’s docket has included 33% Criminal, 33% Misdemeanor; and 33% Traffic. The survey asked respondents “Do you think Judge Bowen meets judicial performance standards?” Combined survey respondents, answered 85% Yes, meets performance standards to 8% No, does not meet performance standards, and 8% had no opinion (the results do not equal 100% due to rounding). Attorneys answered 73% favorable to 16% unfavorable. Non-attorneys answered 96% favorable to 0% unfavorable, with 4% of non-attorney respondents having no opinion. Jurors answered 97% favorable to 0% unfavorable and 3% had no opinion. A total of 132 qualified survey respondents submitted surveys. Based upon the Commission’s overall evaluation, Judge Bowen demonstrated that he either met or exceeded performed standards in all categories. Based on all our findings, the Commission unanimously agreed that Judge Bowen Meets Performance Standards.

State evaluation page · 2018 survey report (PDF)