Christian Champagne, the top prosecutor for a three-county region in Southwest Colorado, is stepping down from his position effective mid-March, according to a news release issued Tuesday by Gov. Jared Polis’ office.
Champagne’s resignation comes in the middle of an election year with two Democratic candidates trying to take his position – Sean Murray, assistant district attorney for the 6th Judicial District, and Jason Eley, assistant district attorney for the 22nd Judicial District based in Cortez.
Champagne, who is term-limited, said he has a “really exciting” opportunity that came together more quickly than he expected. He was unable to reveal that opportunity as of Tuesday.
“It’s been something that I’ve been working on and developing for a while,” he said during a brief interview Tuesday. “ … We’ve got a really terrific team at the DA’s office that is ready to take over.”
A panel will review applicants for the position and recommend a finalist to serve the remainder of Champagne’s term, which was set to expire in mid-January 2025. The panel is expected to begin interviews the week of March 5, which should give it time to make a recommendation to the governor’s office before March 15 – Champagne’s last day.
“I encourage well-qualified attorneys who want to serve the public and help make Colorado one of the safest states in the nation to apply to be the chief prosecutor in the 6th Judicial District,” Polis said in a news release.
Murray, who is second in charge for the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which covers San Juan, Archuleta and La Plata counties, said he plans to apply for the position.
“I just really love the team that we have,” he said. “I want to continue working with them. The opportunity to be a leader for the office and to make a difference in the community is a calling.”
Eley said he also plans to apply for the position.
“I’ll also continue to campaign but yes, I do plan on submitting an application,” he said. “All the citizens of the district deserve to have a district attorney who cares about them, and I’m excited to be considered for that opportunity.”
Before becoming district attorney, Champagne worked as a public defender in Durango.
He joined the District Attorney’s Office in 2009 as an assistant district attorney under then-DA Todd Risberg.
He was first elected district attorney in November 2016 and won reelection in November 2020. He oversees 27 employees and a $3 million budget.
Champagne ran on a theme of pursuing alternatives to incarceration for first-time and low-level offenders, all while maintaining a tough-on-crime approach for habitual offenders and violent criminals. He also vowed to take more cases to trial, saying trials help inform prosecutors about the community’s views on certain crimes and what kinds of plea deals should be offered.
During his tenure, he oversaw the prosecution of Mark Redwine, who was convicted of killing his 13-year-old son, Dylan.
Champagne also set up a digital dashboard to share crime statistics with the public and to help prosecutors identify racial inequities as it relates to ticketing, arrests, criminal charges and sentencing within the court system.
Data from 2018 found that Hispanic and Native American populations were far more likely, per capita, to be arrested and ticketed compared to whites. Minority populations were also far more likely to be charged with a crime and sentenced to jail or prison versus being sentenced to community supervision when compared to whites.
Champagne said the entire office underwent training to recognize implicit biases in 2019 and 2020, and he planned to continue similar training in subsequent years.
“We must continue to educate ourselves, become aware of our biases, which we all have, and understand how they impact our decisions and the outcomes of the criminal justice system to reduce these disparate impacts,” he said in a 2020 question-and-answer interview with The Durango Herald.
shane@durangoherald.com
