Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis, who helped clear the way for jurors to ask questions during criminal trials, announced her resignation Monday after serving about 10 years.
Kourlis, the daughter of the late former Gov. John Love, did not explain her decision but said she would have more details about her future by next month.
“I have had a challenging and extremely rewarding 10 years,” she said. “It is now time for me to undertake a new challenge – one that continues to allow me to contribute to the system of justice.” Kourlis declined to comment through a spokeswoman for the courts.
Kourlis, 53, is a Republican who had been chief judge in the 14th Judicial District in northwestern Colorado before Democratic Gov. Roy Romer appointed her to the Supreme Court in 1995.
She led a committee commissioned by the Supreme Court that recommended jury reforms, including allowing jurors to ask questions and take notes at the judge’s discretion.
Juror questions were first tried in Colorado under a pilot program in 2000. In 2004, the program was made permanent, and the full Colorado Supreme Court upheld the practice in June of this year.
A 15-member commission will nominate three potential successors to Gov. Bill Owens, who must chose one of them to replace Kourlis.
Earlier this year, she was mentioned by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and others as a possible replacement for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who is retiring. She said in she had not been contacted by the White House.
Kourlis, who is married and has three children, received her law degree from Stanford University in 1976 and specialized in natural resources as a lawyer in private practice in Moffat County.
She served as a state district judge from 1987 to 1994, including six years as a state Water Court judge. She was an arbiter for the Judicial Arbiter Group Inc. from 1994 to 1995, when she was appointed to the Supreme Court.
