Judge, 18th Judicial District Court (Arapahoe County)

David N. Karpel is the sitting 18th Judicial District Court judge, standing for a retention vote on the November 3, 2026 ballot¹. He was appointed in 2023 after a career as a military and federal prosecutor².

• District Court judge since 2023²
• Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps prosecutor and defense counsel (retired from the reserves as a Captain); Senior Deputy District Attorney in Denver; federal prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department's Organized Crime and Gang Section²
• University of Colorado Boulder; University of Denver Sturm College of Law; M.B.A., Kellogg School of Management²
• Appointed to the District Court bench in 2023; the evaluation page does not name the appointing governor². This is a retention election: voters decide yes or no on keeping the sitting judge, and no opponent is on the ballot¹.
• Bar poll: Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation, 2026 evaluation: Recommendation: Meets Performance Standards. "The Eighteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance agrees by a vote of 8-0, with one member absent and one vacancy on the Commission, that Judge David N. Karpel MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS." This is an official state commission evaluation of the judge's performance, not an endorsement².