On Sept. 3, 2025, Governor Jared Polis appointed two Carbondale residents to serve as 9th Judicial District Court judges. Susan Ryan’s appointment was created by the retirement of Judge John Neiley. Alexander Haynes takes the place of Judge Denise Lynch, who also retired last year. The 9th Judicial District has five district judges, four county court judges and a magistrate.
The 9th Judicial District, seated in Glenwood Springs at the Garfield County Courthouse, oversees a wide variety of legal cases for Garfield, Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties. The Sopris Sun made a recent visit to the courthouse to learn more about these judges and their new responsibilities.
According to Ryan, who got a headstart on Haynes, you never know exactly how a day will go. All district court judges have mixed dockets, overseeing criminal and civil cases. “For me so far, it’s been learning how to be really adaptable,” which she likes, she said. “It keeps you engaged.”
Haynes concurred. “It’s a very unique job where we know that it’s just absolutely never going to get boring and there’s always something new to see.”
Ryan is handling all Rio Blanco district court cases, with two docket days per month, as well as off-docket hearings. “I do a lot of those virtually,” she said.
Both judges commented on how court proceedings adapted when COVID-19 struck. “Before COVID, nobody did anything virtually in the court realm,” Ryan said. “Even a telephone conference.” At the time, she was a district court magistrate. The virus caused a “massive pivot” overnight, and some of the changes stuck.
“Largely speaking, it’s had a benefit for general access to justice,” remarked Haynes. “Meaning, more people have access to the courts if they don’t have to travel from far away, or they can’t afford to take time off.” The downside, he added, is that virtual appearances make it harder to connect with a person.
Asked about the influence a district judge has on the overall culture of the court, Ryan said, “Just having the role of a judge and the title and wearing the robe, you are a leader in the courthouse and in the community. In that regard, I think leading by example you do have a lot of influence over how people perceive you and the justice system and the role of the courts, both internally and externally.”
Haynes added, “I want to make sure when I’m interacting with people in my courtroom, I’m doing so with a level of respect and with a level of communication where people understand what’s going on.” As the former office head and managing attorney at the Glenwood Springs office of the Colorado State Public Defender, Haynes believes in all parties at the court being able to communicate and be understood.
Ryan holds the same standard of transparency. “One of my goals is when people appear in front of me, that they understand why they’re in court, what we’re going to accomplish that day, why we’re doing it, if I make a decision that day why I made that decision, how I got to that decision, and what they need to do next.” She added, “Oftentimes, you see people in court who are having the worst days of their lives, so they’re not at their best, they’re struggling to communicate.”
“I don’t know if I would have applied for this job if I hadn’t had such good experiences with our bench, including Judge Lynch and Judge Neiley and eveyone here,” Haynes said. “My experience with them on the other side of the bar was always getting treated well, always getting reasoned decisions, even if I disagreed with them, and it made me feel much more comfortable about stepping into a position where I respected the people that came before me.”
“All the judges here, they really truly care about the community,” Ryan concurred. “I think that really shows in how they make thoughtful decisions and how they treat everybody in the courtroom with respect.”
These judges bring considerably different work experience to the bench. Haynes has had a lot of experience in criminal law, whereas Ryan has had more experience on the civil side of things. Ryan worked at Holland & Hart practicing out of the Aspen office and even filling in for Attorney Mark Hamilton as Carbondale’s town attorney on occasion.
Their diverse backgrounds play an important role, because judges can’t appear on certain cases depending on their previous employment. For example, Haynes can’t preside over cases he was working on at the Public Defender’s office. “It would be very inappropriate for me to preside over cases that I had a vested interest in at some point,” he said.
Ryan concluded, “Fundamentally my goal is to create a courtroom where people feel heard and respected regardless of whether they win or lose.”
“Everyone here is a public servant and they’re doing what they do because they care about this community and want to make it a good place to live,” Haynes said. “Public service is really the motivator for all of it.”
Ryan and Haynes will stand for retention by public vote in 2028 and then every six years.