About the First Judicial District
The First Judicial District
includes the counties of Jefferson and Gilpin, just to 
the west of Denver. Jefferson County is the most populous county in Colorado with a population of 535,000. Gilpin County, in stark contrast, lies in the steep mountain area to the west of Jefferson County. It was, in its prime, a mining center and still has numerous mines in the area. The cities of Black Hawk and Central City have been centers for limited stakes gaming since 1992 when the citizens approved it for three former mining towns in Colorado. These cities today bear little resemblance to their small-town, early 1800's beginnings. Large, modern casinos are crammed into the small mountain communities and bus and car traffic is constant on the winding mountain roads that lead to the area. Gilpin is one of the smallest counties in Colorado, both in land area and population, with approximately 4,900 residents.
Picture courtesy of Gilpin Historical Society
Within the First Judicial District there are police and sheriffs. That includes 
eleven police departments serving municipalities and two sheriffs' offices providing law enforcement services to the unincorporated section of their respective counties as well as the operation of their detention centers, or jails. We also have two colleges, the Colorado School of Mines and Red Rocks Community College, each with their own police departments who also present cases to our office. The District Attorney's Office also works closely with numerous other agencies including the Colorado State Patrol, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Division of Gaming and the Colorado Attorney General's Office.
The Office of the District Attorney is charged with the prosecution of all state criminal offenses occurring in these two counties. That amounts to about 4,500 felony cases, 7,600 misdemeanor cases, 1,600 juvenile cases and about 25,000 traffic violations a year. These cases are handled by a staff of 160 of which 60 are prosecutors. The remaining staff is 
composed of investigators, victim/witness specialists, diversion counselors and various support staff. We operate adult and juvenile diversion programs for first time, non-violent offenders and are also involved in the management and operation of the Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC). The JAC is a model program, one of the first of its kind in the country, and is designed to help provide early intervention and assessment for juvenile offenders.
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Last Modified: Oct 26, 2010 01:09 PM
