Colorado's 23rd Judicial District: What the Douglas–Elbert–Lincoln Split Means for Your Case
By Attorney Charles E. Liken Jr., 30+ years in the legal field. Colorado's first new judicial district in decades began operating January 14, 2025. If your case is in Douglas, Elbert, or Lincoln County, here's what changed.
Charles E. Liken Jr., Esq. — On the Legal Front Lines · Former Government Investigator, Denver Human Services · Licensed Colorado Attorney · 20+ Years in Private Practice · Former Colorado Deputy District Attorney · Colorado Court-Appointed Child and Family Investigator
Since January 14, 2025, Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln counties have formed Colorado's 23rd Judicial District, with its own District Attorney's office in Castle Rock, and are no longer part of the 18th Judicial District. The 18th covers Arapahoe County alone.
For anyone with a criminal or protection-order matter in those three counties, the change is more than cosmetic: a DA's office that began operating in January 2025 can mean different charging patterns, different diversion practices, and a different victim-witness unit. Knowing how a particular office approaches a case — what it tends to charge, bargain, or take to trial — is prosecution-side pattern recognition, and it resets when an office is new.
Our Safety & Victim Resources center lists the 23rd District's victim-advocate contacts alongside all 22 other Colorado districts. If you're not sure which district your case sits in, that's the kind of question a no-charge 20-minute call with Attorney Liken sorts out quickly.
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