Northeastern Colorado Judge Resigns Due to Misconduct

A Northeastern Colorado judge has resigned due to allegations that he used his position to help a friend in her case without disclosing his personal connections with that friend. By resigning, the judge admitted to his wrongdoing. 13th Judicial District Court Judge Justin B. Haenlein had been off the bench since the Colorado Supreme Court suspended him in November 2024, pending disciplinary investigations.

The 13th Judicial District consists of Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Kit Carson, Washington, and Yuma Counties in Colorado. In a letter dated April 29th, Haenlein addressed Chief Justice Monica Marquez, announcing his resignation, which was effective Wednesday, April 30th.

In a filing from April 15th, the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline alleged that Haenlein had violated four rules of conduct through an undisclosed relationship with a former client. He became a judge back in January of 2022. Before that, he practiced criminal defense & child welfare cases. He represented a client known as ‘Jane Doe’ in many criminal cases, while exchanging ‘sexual & flirtatious’ text messages, and assisting ‘Doe’ with living expenses. He had also given her legal advice on several occasions. In July of 2022. ‘Doe’ appeared before the judge as a defendant in a felony drug case. Although Haenlein had disclosed that ‘Doe’ was a previous client, the intimate side of the relationship was not disclosed. She was a criminal case defendant in a case that Haenlein was handling. She texted him that her boyfriend was also appearing that day and asked for his release.

The judge has admitted to the misconduct allegations, with some qualifications. The judge argued that his decisions in the ‘Doe’ case were routine, including those involving her boyfriend, and neither received any ‘preferential treatment’. The misconduct allegation indicated that the judge believed the adjudicative panel should dismiss the case or censure him publicly.