Chief Judge Mark Thompson wears a mask in the courtroom during a hearing at the Summit County Justice Center in Breckenridge on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Thompson submitted a letter of resignation Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. The resignation is effective Jan 13.
Liz Copan / [email protected]
A Colorado judge who threatened his stepson with an AR-15-style rifle during an argument in 2021 resigned Sunday.
Mark Thompson, who served as chief judge for Summit, Clear Creek, Eagle and Lake counties until he was demoted and then temporarily suspended for threatening his stepson in July 2021, resigned because of “personal circumstances,” according to resignation letters he submitted to Sunday Fifth Judicial Chief Judge Paul Dunkelman and State Supreme Court Chief Justice Brian Boatright.
The retirement will take effect Jan. 13, he wrote in the letters, obtained by The Denver Post on Tuesday.
Thompson was removed from his leadership position as chief judge for the Fifth Judicial District and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conduct disorderly in connection with the 2021 threat. But he was allowed to continue serving as a judge for the district, working solely on non-criminal cases during a year-long disciplinary probation period.
Thompson pointed to an AR-15-style rifle at his stepson’s chest during an argument while the judge was under “significant emotional strain” from both illness and death in his family, and threats to his life related to his work as a judge, a disciplinary investigation found.
