Who is running for 17th Judicial District (Adams and Broomfield) District Court, Retention: Judge Jeffrey Dean Ruff in 2026?

Judge, 17th Judicial District Court (Adams and Broomfield Counties)

Jeffrey Dean Ruff is the sitting 17th Judicial District Court judge, standing for a retention vote on the November 3, 2026 ballot¹. He was appointed in 2024 after practicing law in Colorado².

• District Court judge since 2024; spent all of his bench time in the past year on a criminal docket²
• Practiced law in Colorado before his appointment²
• B.A. (1996) and J.D. (1999), University of Montana²
• Appointed to the District Court bench in 2024; 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 Seventeenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance agrees by a vote of 8-0, with two commissioners absent, that Judge Jeffrey Dean Ruff MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS." This is an official state commission evaluation of the judge's performance, not an endorsement². The commission's written finding also says: "There have been concerns over the past two years about the Judge’s case management. The Commission specifically considered this issue," and that his focus on improving "has produced results which the Commission finds encouraging."²