Samour was retained to the Eighteenth Judicial District Court for a six-year term , winning 62.18 percent of the vote.
Carlos Armando Samour Jr. is a judge of the Colorado Supreme Court. He assumed office in 2018. His current term ends on January 14, 2031.
Samour was born in El Salvador and came to the U.S. when he was 13. He received his undergraduate degree in psychology, graduating from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1987. He received a J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law in 1990.
After occupying the seat for two years, the newly appointed justice stands for retention in the next general election. The justice then serves a full 10-year term if he or she is retained by voters.
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by peer vote. Beginning in January 2021, the chief justice began serving for a set term on a rotating basis. Previously, the chief justice served indefinitely as long as he or she had the support of his or her peers.
On April 1, 2013, Judge William Blair Sylvester reassigned the case involving defendant James Holmes to Samour in Colorado's 18th Judicial District. Holmes faced several charges of murder and attempted murder for a shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012. Twelve were killed and 70 injured in the incident.
Samour became chair of the Bail Blue Ribbon Commission in 2018.
The Colorado statutory judicial performance standards are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the legal profession and the public.
MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, by a vote of 11-0. The Colorado statutory judicial performance standards are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the legal profession and the public.
Justice Samour was appointed by Governor John Hickenlooper to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court effective July 2, 2018. Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice Samour was a district court judge in the 18th Judicial District (encompassing Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln Counties) for eleven and a half years.
Justice Samour currently serves as the Chair of the Bail Blue Ribbon Commission. He was appointed Chair of that commission by Chief Justice Nancy E. Rice in 2018. The Bail Blue Ribbon Commission is charged with evaluating Colorado’s pretrial practices and making recommendations for improvement to the Colorado Supreme Court. Justice Samour is also the Chair of the Colorado Supreme Court’s Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. He is a member of the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Inn of Court, the Colorado Bar Association, the Arapahoe County Bar Association, and the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. Justice Samour previously completed two terms on the Board of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association.
Justice Samour was born in El Salvador. He immigrated to the United States when he was 13 years old after his family was forced to flee El Salvador during a time of political upheaval. He grew up in Littleton, CO, where he graduated from Columbine High School.