Eagle County Court Judge Katharine Sullivan is leaving after hearing 45,000 cases during 11 years on the bench.
She’s headed to the nation’s capital, where she’ll serve as the chief deputy director of the Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women.
“The most difficult part of this decision is that I am not going to get to come to work here, she said.
On her last day, she graduated seven people from the Eagle County Adult Intensive Supervision Probation, aka problem solving court, a program she created in October 2009.
A standing-room-only crowd gathered in an Eagle County Justice Center courtroom Wednesday to wish her well. The group was nothing if not diverse. A former district judge sat beside a county jail inmate. Cops and criminals, who have nothing in common, did on Wednesday: They came to say goodbye and were sorry to see her go.
“I am forever grateful for the new lease on life she afforded me,” said Justin Eastling, who graduated from the problem solving court in 2015. “I was an absolute mess before DUI court. If it was not for this program, I would probably be in prison or worse.”
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