Maria I. Dominguez
Metropolitan Court Judge
Bernalillo County
Year: 2022
Evaluation: Chief Judge Maria Dominguez received quite positive ratings from attorneys and court staff. For example, attorneys rated her highly for being courteous to all participants, treating pro se parties fairly, maintaining proper control over the proceedings, and for ensuring her personal staff is professional, productive and knowledgeable of court policies and procedures. Resource staff (e.g., law enforcement officers) gave her generally positive ratings on all attributes. As Chief Judge, she established and improved existing IT to enable virtual user-friendly courtrooms that met Supreme-Court-ruled protocols during the pandemic.
Experience & Education: Chief Judge Maria Dominguez was appointed in 2008 to the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. Prior to her judicial appointment, she was in private practice as legal counsel for the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Air Board and contract hearing officer for the City of Albuquerque. Judge Dominguez graduated from New Mexico Highlands University with a B.A. in Political Science in 1992 and the University of New Mexico Law School in 1995. After admission to the New Mexico State Bar in 1996, she started her legal career as an Assistant Public Defender.
PERCENTAGE THAT AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT THE JUDGE EXHIBITS POSITIVE QUALITIES IN EACH CATEGORY *
| Attorneys (n=80, 57% Response Rate) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 82% | 13% | 5% |
| Fair and Impartial | 82% | 8% | 10% |
| Knowledgeable of Law | 74% | 14% | 12% |
| Communication is Clear | 80% | 10% | 10% |
| Appropriate Demeanor | 92% | 5% | 3% |
| Properly Controls Proceedings | 92% | 8% | 0% |
| Respects Court Employees | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Court Staff (n=55, 25% Response Rate) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 76% | 15% | 9% |
| Fair and Impartial | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Knowledgeable of Law | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Communication is Clear | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Appropriate Demeanor | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Properly Controls Proceedings | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Respects Court Employees | 76% | 13% | 11% |
| Resource Staff (n=27) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 84% | 4% | 12% |
| Fair and Impartial | 72% | 12% | 16% |
| Knowledgeable of Law | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Communication is Clear | 84% | 4% | 12% |
| Appropriate Demeanor | 84% | 4% | 12% |
| Properly Controls Proceedings | 83% | 4% | 13% |
| Respects Court Employees | N/A | N/A | N/A |
* On the tables above, the "Agree" columns are comprised of the strongly agree and agree responses. Similarly, the "Disagree" columns are comprised of the strongly disagree and disagree responses. The combined percentage of "Agree", "Disagree", and "Partly Agree/Partly Disagree" for each category may not equal 100% due to rounding error. "N/A" indicates that the category is "not applicable" because some populations were not asked certain questions.
PERCENTAGE THAT RECOMMEND THE JUDGE BE RETAINED OR NOT BE RETAINED IN OFFICE. ‡
‡ On the charts above, the "Retain" columns are comprised of the strongly recommend retain and somewhat recommend retain responses. Similarly, the "Do Not Retain" columns are comprised of the strongly recommend not retain and somewhat recommend not retain responses.