Who Is Judge Karl L. Schock? Appointed by Polis in 2022, a Former Federal Appellate Prosecutor Rated 9-0, and on Every Douglas County Ballot This November

Karl L. Schock is a judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals, and this fall is the first time his name has been on a ballot. Douglas County voters are asked one question about him: shall he be retained in office? There is no opponent and no campaign. Here is who he is, from the governor's announcement, the court's records and the volunteer commission that evaluated him.

Who appointed him, and when

Gov. Jared Polis appointed him on Sept. 15, 2022, the same day he appointed Katharine E. Lum. Schock filled the seat of Judge David J. Richman, whose retirement took effect Nov. 5, 2022. The court's website lists his swearing-in as Nov. 7, 2022, and Colorado Politics covered his formal investiture on Jan. 19, 2023, describing him as 42 that year and one of 22 members of the state's second-highest court.

New Colorado judges serve a two-year provisional term and then face voters at the next general election. He has now served four years, as the commission notes, and this is his first retention vote. A yes gives him a full eight-year term.

What he did before the bench

He spent most of his career arguing appeals. After graduating from Northern Arizona University in 2003 and the University of Colorado Law School in 2006, where he was Order of the Coif, he clerked for Judge Michael R. Murphy of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He then spent eight years at the Denver firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in commercial litigation, as an associate from 2007 to 2013 and a shareholder from 2014 to 2015. In 2015 he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in its appellate division, where, the court's biography says, "he handled criminal and civil appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit" for seven years until his appointment. He served on the board of the Faculty of Federal Advocates from 2019 to 2022 and sits on the state's Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. The court's biography adds that he is a marathon runner and triathlete.

What the performance commission found

The State Commission on Judicial Performance interviewed him, watched several oral arguments, read what it called "many of his opinions, concurrences, and dissents," reviewed his self-evaluation and surveyed attorneys and judges. Its finding: he meets performance standards, 9-0, with one commissioner absent and one seat vacant.

The commission found "he has the qualities of an excellent Court of Appeals judge," that "his written opinions are clear and easy to understand," and that at argument "he is respectful, curious, and well-prepared on both the facts and the law." It noted his committee work on model criminal jury instructions and probation services. Among survey respondents, "many praised his clear writing," and "some noted that his separate concurrences and dissents show care in his work." Others, it said, "said his questions at oral argument made them feel he took their legal issues seriously."

"Some noted that his separate concurrences and dissents show care in his work." The State Commission on Judicial Performance, 2026.

The survey numbers

The contractor invited 341 attorneys and 253 judges; 7 attorneys and 21 judges answered. All seven attorneys and all 20 judges who answered the standards question said he meets them. His overall score was 3.6 out of 4, after interim scores of 3.5 in 2023, 3.6 in 2024 and 3.5 in 2025. Attorneys rated him a little lower than judges did across the board, 3.3 against 3.7 on general questions and 3.4 against 3.7 on writing; his lowest single item was 3.1 from attorneys on making "decisions without regard to possible criticism," from seven respondents.

Is he a Republican or a Democrat?

The ballot does not say, because Colorado judges do not run under a party label; the Douglas County sample ballot lists him with no party, no opponent and no statement. The governor who appointed him, Jared Polis, is a Democrat, and he was chosen from a short list sent to the governor by a judicial nominating commission. His professional record before the bench was on the government's side of criminal appeals. He has no platform or endorsements; the Douglas County Republican Party's online voter guide recommends retaining him, and we found no organized opposition to him and no news coverage of his rulings in the past two years beyond the court's routine opinion announcements. His opinions, concurrences and dissents are public in the Colorado Judicial Branch's opinion database; we have not reviewed a sample of them for this page and will not characterize them beyond what the commission wrote.

How to vote on him

He appears in the judicial retention section of the ballot with five other Court of Appeals judges and one Supreme Court justice. A "yes" keeps him for eight years; a "no" removes him at the end of this term and the governor appoints a replacement; a majority of the votes cast on the question decides it. Retention judges do not campaign, and we found no organized opposition to him. All thirteen judges on the Douglas County ballot drew a "meets standards" finding this year; our page on all thirteen has every narrative and vote count.

More: every race and measure on your ballot, the November ballot guide, and where to vote. We do not endorse candidates or take positions on judicial retention. Corrections to hello@discoverdougco.com.

*Election night: live results for every Douglas County race, measure and judge, with the first numbers after 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. Before then: where to vote in person, every drop box, and the deadlines, and who has voted so far.*