2026 retention · County Court · Larimer County
79 percentile · rank 8 of 36
composite 0100
74 percentile · rank 28 of 108
composite 0100
16 26th percentile among peers · 19th percentile statewide
1060
Composite index 68.52 among peers (66.82 statewide): the mean of the three percentiles below. Rank orders by it.
3.40 of 4 · 70.83 percentile
1.903.80
3.43 of 4 · 77.78 percentile
1.873.75
86.00% 56.94 percentile
0.00%100.00%
Attorneys
- Say “meets standards”
- 86.00%
Non-attorneys
- Say “meets standards”
- 100.00%
| Category | Score | Peer median | Peer range (dot is this judge, line is the median) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case Management | 3.40median 3.30 | 3.30 | |
| Application and Knowledge of Law | 3.20median 3.20 | 3.20 | |
| Communications | 3.60median 3.40 | 3.40 | |
| Diligence | 3.60median 3.30 | 3.30 | |
| Demeanor | 3.40median 3.30 | 3.30 | |
| Fairness | 3.40median 3.10 | 3.10 |
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | 3.30 | 3.60 | 3.50 | 3.30 | 3.20 |
| Responses | 33 | 52 | 49 | 37 | 24 |
Commission: meets standards (8–0)
The Eighth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance finds that Judge Katharine "Jenny" Ellison MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS by a vote of 8-0 with one commissioner absent and one commission vacancy. The judicial performance standards are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the legal profession and public.
Judge Ellison is highly supportive of access to justice in her courtroom, making effective use of remote appearances to accommodate out-of-state parties, individuals in inpatient treatment, and those who live far from the Larimer County Justice Center. Judge Ellison maintains impartiality in her rulings and actively seeks input from her colleagues to help ensure balanced and fair decisions. She works diligently to make the legal process fair and understandable for pro se parties, while remaining mindful of her role as the neutral judicial officer. Judge Ellison has demonstrated strong legal writing skills in her opinions and orders. At the same time, she acknowledges that she can further improve the reasoning and articulation of her oral rulings. The Commission also appreciates her commitment to mentoring younger members of the legal profession.
For this evaluation, the Commission interviewed Judge Ellison, read a selection of her legal opinions, observed her in court, reviewed her judicial performance survey report, interviewed the chief judge for the district, the district attorney and head of the public defenders’ office for the district, reviewed case management statistics, and reviewed her self-evaluation. As to the survey data, a total of 16 individuals, 9 attorneys and 7 non-attorneys, completed the survey, which is a markedly low response rate. Given the significantly low response rates to the surveys overall, the Commission gave the appropriate weight to the survey responses in its evaluation.
Judge Katharine "Jenny" Ellison was appointed to the Eighth Judicial County Court bench by Governor Jared Polis on February 27, 2020. Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Ellison practiced civil litigation and she also served in the District Attorney’s Office in the Eighth Judicial District from 2004 to 2018, where her work focused primarily on appeals and juvenile law. Judge Ellison received her bachelor’s degree from Colorado College in 1999 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2004.
2022 retention · County Court · Larimer County
61 percentile · rank 23 of 59
composite 0100
73 percentile · rank 36 of 134
composite 0100
56 77th percentile among peers · 67th percentile statewide
4108
Composite index 59.89 among peers (70.40 statewide): the mean of the three percentiles below. Rank orders by it.
3.60 of 4 · 63.56 percentile
2.503.90
3.58 of 4 · 57.63 percentile
2.453.93
94.00% 58.47 percentile
50.00%100.00%
Attorneys
- Say “meets standards”
- 94.00%
Non-attorneys
- Say “meets standards”
- 76.00%
| Category | Score | Peer median | Peer range (dot is this judge, line is the median) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case Management | 3.70median 3.60 | 3.60 | |
| Application and Knowledge of Law | 3.40median 3.40 | 3.40 | |
| Communications | 3.80median 3.70 | 3.70 | |
| Diligence | 3.60median 3.60 | 3.60 | |
| Demeanor | 3.60median 3.60 | 3.60 | |
| Fairness | 3.40median 3.50 | 3.50 |
Commission: meets standards (10–0)
The Eighth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously agrees by a vote of 10-0 that the Honorable Katharine “Jenny” Ellison MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. The Colorado statutory judicial performance standards are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the legal profession and the public.
Judge Ellison presides over criminal, traffic, and civil cases. The Commission finds Judge Ellison to be a thoughtful and compassionate judicial officer. She makes court proceedings accessible to self-represented parties, is patient, and ensures those who appear are heard. Specifically, several respondents noted that Judge Ellison takes additional time to make sure non-attorneys appearing before her understand the proceedings. It is important to Judge Ellison that she recognize people as having individual needs and makes appropriate adjustments to help address those needs. While Judge Ellison provides thorough explanations of court proceedings, she maintains an efficient courtroom. Judge Ellison recognizes areas where she is looking to improve and identified steps that she is taking to improve in these areas.
The Commission conducted a personal interview with Judge Ellison, reviewed opinions she authored, observed her in court, and reviewed judicial performance survey responses from attorneys and non-attorneys who appeared in Judge Ellison’s courtroom. The Commission also met with representatives of the District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Public Defender. A total of fifty-six individuals, eighteen attorneys and thirty-eight non-attorneys, believed they had sufficient knowledge to express their opinion of Judge Ellison. When asked whether Judge Ellison meets performance standards: Of the attorneys responding to the survey, 94% answered yes; 6% answered no. Of the non-attorneys responding to the survey, 76% answered yes, 14% answered no; and 10% had no opinion. Judge Ellison received particularly high ratings in the areas of case management and communication.
Judge Ellison was appointed as a County Court Judge in the 8th Judicial District in February of 2020. She received her undergraduate degree from Colorado College in 1999 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2004. Prior to her appointment, Judge Ellison practiced civil litigation as a trial attorney at VanMeveren Law Group. She also served in the District Attorney’s Office in the Eighth Judicial District from 2004 to 2018, where her work focused primarily on appeals and juvenile law.