A three-member adjudicative panel has signed off on a deal that will publicly censure Montezuma County Judge Ian J. MacLaren, sideline him for 90 days without pay, and require added education and mentoring through the end of his current term. The panel also vacated a previously scheduled adjudicative trial under Amendment H and said it intends to issue a formal order before Aug. 31, 2026.
According to the Colorado Judicial Branch, the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline originally pushed for MacLaren’s removal. Instead, the judge and the commission jointly proposed a resolution centered on public censure, a 90-day unpaid suspension and additional education. The brief court order states that the panel will accept the parties’ stipulation and has cleared the scheduled proceedings so it can issue a final discipline order in due course.
The commission’s complaint and the parties’ stipulation spell out the alleged misconduct in detail. MacLaren set a February 25, 2025 diversion hearing that, according to the filings, operated as a “de facto press conference,” exchanged text messages with a local reporter identified only by initials, and made comments that the stipulation says undercut a defendant’s presumption of innocence. The filings and local reporting also describe two June 2025 boating contacts at McPhee Reservoir in which MacLaren invoked his judicial title while officers prepared to ticket him for expired boat-registration stickers, conduct the commission labels an abuse of the prestige of his office, as reported by the Durango Herald.
Panel Makeup And Vote
The adjudicative panel included Weld County District Court Judge Vincente G. Vigil, former Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner and non-attorney member Jeannie Valliere, according to the Denver Gazette. Vigil later told Colorado Politics that panel members are barred from revealing individual vote counts, so the exact tally on the MacLaren deal will stay confidential.
What Comes Next
Per the parties’ July stipulation, the Colorado Judicial Branch says MacLaren has agreed to mentoring until his term ends in 2028, and both sides told the panel a trial would not add evidence beyond what is already public. The stipulation also leaves Montezuma County voters with the final word on his future at the November 2028 retention election, and the panel has said it will publish a formal discipline order before Aug. 31.
Local Reaction
Local coverage has highlighted calls for accountability from attorneys involved in the Burris case and more cautious, wait-and-see responses from court officials who said they would let the disciplinary process run its course, the Durango Herald reported. The adjudicative order and the complaint will remain part of the public record and are expected to factor into the information available to voters ahead of the 2028 retention vote.
