Alex J. Martinez

Justice

Colorado Supreme Court

Denver, Colorado

Alex J. Martinez is one of the seven Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court.  Colorado Governor Roy Romer appointed him to this appellate position on September 12, 1996.  Before his appointment to the Colorado Supreme Court, Justice Martinez spent his entire career in the trial courts.  He was a District Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial District in Pueblo, Colorado for eight years.  Justice Martinez was also a County Court Judge in Pueblo, Colorado for five years.  Before his appointment to the County Court at the age of 31, Justice Martinez had been the supervising attorney of the Pueblo Office of the State Public Defender for three years.  Justice Martinez was also a public defender in Denver, Colorado, for three years.

Justice Martinez is very involved with technology related issues in the Colorado Courts.  He serves as the chair of the Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Public Access to Electronic Information, the policy committee for public access to the Colorado Courts' computerized case management system and for the Website of the Colorado Courts.  (www.courts.state.co.us) Justice Martinez is also the Supreme Court Liaison to the Colorado Courts' Integrated Information Services Standing Committee, which sets policy for the Integrated Information Services Division of the Colorado State Court Administrator.  In addition, Justice Martinez is the Special Assistant to the Chief Justice on Computer-related Issues.

In addition to his work with information technology, Justice Martinez is the Supreme Court Liaison for the Colorado Criminal Rules Committee and the Colorado Criminal Jury Instructions Committee.   Justice Martinez has chaired or is currently chairing numerous other Supreme Court Committees, including the Personnel Rules Committee, the Human Resources Standing Committee, the Civil Jurisdiction and Access Committee, and the Child Welfare Appeals Workgroup.

Justice Martinez is a member of the Colorado Bar Association and a former Regional Vice-President of that organization.  He is also a member and former Executive Council member of the Pueblo County Bar Association and the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association.

Justice Martinez, born and raised in Denver, Colorado, raised his family in Pueblo, Colorado and spent nearly two decades of his professional career in that community.  He received his law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law, in Boulder, Colorado in 1976.  He also received his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, in 1973.  Justice Martinez also attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon for three years and is a graduate of Phillips Exceter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire.  

Justice Martinez is a member of the University of Colorado Law School Alumni Board of Directors and Servicios de la Raza Board of Directors (a social services agency).  He has served as the Chair of the Pueblo Advisory Board of the Packard Foundation.  Justice Martinez has also served on the governing council of several schools and the Board of Trustees for scholarship funds.  Justice Martinez is often an inspirational speaker for youth groups and Hispanic organizations.

He is the recipient of the Danielson Scholar for High Promise of Effective Community Service, University of Colorado School of Law 1974; the Latino Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Professional of the Year, 1989; and the Order of the Coif, Unviersity of Colorado School of Law, honorary, 1998.