DENVER – Roxanne Bailin was elected to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy’s Board of Directors earlier this month. Formerly the Chief Judge for the 20th Judicial District, Bailin has devoted much of her career to improving the quality of life for at-risk and low-income families in Colorado.
Among her many accomplishments, Bailin initiated Boulder County’s Mental Health Task Force, and helped develop a groundbreaking probation program that integrates mental health services, employment assistance and housing assistance. Initially funded through a four-year federal grant, the program is now county-funded and has decreased jail bed days among its target population by 75 percent. She also was instrumental in supporting the expansion of the IMPACT program to provide more services and parole supervision for delinquent children in Boulder County which has the lowest detention and commitment rate in Colorado.
Bailin was named to the District Court bench in 1987 after serving on the county bench since 1983. Before that, she was the Clinical Professor and Director of the Legal Aid and Defender Program at the University of Colorado School of Law and an attorney with Colorado Rural Legal Services in Trinidad.
She received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1971 and a law degree from New York University Law School in 1974. She currently consults for the National Center for State Courts, providing expertise on leadership, governance and court efficiency, and chairs the board of Mental Health Partners in Boulder.
“Judge Bailin’s record of leadership and public service – particularly in matters pertaining to criminal justice and mental health – will bring a fresh perspective to our mission of forging pathways from poverty for Colorado’s low-income families,” said Claire Levy, CCLP’s Executive Director. “We’re thrilled to welcome her to our talented Board of Directors.”
Bailin’s honors include the Woman of Achievement award from Zonta International; the Pacesetter Award in the category of Quality of Life from the Boulder Daily Camera; the Judicial Excellence Award from the Colorado Judicial Institute and the Outstanding Judicial Officer Award from the Colorado State Judicial Branch.
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy is a nonprofit, non-partisan research and advocacy organization that engages in legislative, administrative and legal advocacy on behalf of low-income Coloradans.
