Several Judicial Branch Awards for 2011 were announced on Monday, June 11, 2012:

• The 2011 Colorado Judicial Branch Team of the Year award went to the Eighth Judicial District Juvenile Probation Unit;
• The 2011 Colorado Judicial Branch Manager of the Year award went to David Book, a probation supervisor in La Junta in the Sixteenth Judicial District;
• The 2011 Colorado Judicial Branch Court Employee of the Year award went to Jenni Turnidge, managing court interpreter for the Eighteenth Judicial District;
• The 2011 Colorado Judicial Branch State Court Administrator’s Office Employee of the Year award went to Emy López;
• The 2011 Colorado Judicial Branch Judicial Officer of the Year award went to the Honorable Sandra K. Miller, Delta County Court Judge; and
• The 2011 Colorado Judicial Branch Probation Employee of the Year award went to Judy Sanger, a probation officer who works with juveniles in the First Judicial District.

The Colorado Judicial Branch annually recognizes a handful of outstanding employees for exemplary work contributing to the high quality of service provided throughout the state’s twenty-two judicial districts.

Nominating the Juvenile Probation team were numerous professionals involved in juvenile justice and rehabilitation throughout the Eighth Judicial District, which serves Jackson and Larimer counties.

Members of the Eighth Judicial District Probation Team are Francesca Arruzza-Obrien, Lori Bragg, Denise Cosgrove, Moriah Eisert, Courtney Gailey, Paula Gates, Tom Harbaugh, Tonya Hertz, Lawrence Hollier, Dirk Kettlekamp, Jessica Link, Mandi Lozano, Scott Newbold, Trevor Quinlivan, Tracy Stromberg, Dixie Vogel, Gordon Walker, and Carol Wright.

Book was nominated for the award by Sixteenth Judicial District Chief Probation Officer Tobin Wright, Chief Judge Jon Kolomitz, other members of the probation department, and Joseph Carrica III, assistant executive director for the Southeast Behavioral Health Group.

Turnidge was nominated for the award by twenty-two district and county court judges and magistrates serving the Eighteenth Judicial District. The judicial officers nominated Turnidge because she exemplifies the dedication and devotion to the Judicial Branch to which all Judicial employees should aspire.

López was nominated for the award by Colleen Kent, managing court interpreter for the Seventeenth Judicial District.

Judge Miller was nominated for the award by Pamela Bliss, volunteer coordinator with Meth Free Delta County, and Seventh Judicial District Probation Officer Juan P. Gallegos.

Sanger was nominated for the award by several judges, a prosecutor, and others involved with the Jefferson County Mental Health Court, where she was the first supervising probation officer.

The Colorado Judicial Branch includes the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, as well as the state’s district and county trial courts.  The branch is also home to the Department of Probation Services, which employs more than 1,100 people including approximately 900 probation supervisors and officers.  The department’s officers are responsible for supervising more than 6,000 juvenile offenders and more than 54,000 adult offenders.

As of July 1, 2011, the Colorado Judicial Branch employed approximately 3,400 employees, which includes 374 justices, judges, and magistrates. In fiscal year 2011, the latest for which full statistics are available, there were 505,265 cases filed statewide at the County Court level, 246, 728 filed in District Court, 2,742 in the Court of Appeals and 1,387 in the Supreme Court.  There were an additional 956 cases filed in the Water Courts.