Allen R. Smith
District Court Judge
13th Judicial District
Cibola, Sandoval, and Valencia Counties
Year: 2024
Evaluation: Judge Allen Smith received positive ratings overall. For example, he received high ratings from attorneys for demonstrating appropriate demeanor on the bench, being courteous to all participants, attentiveness to the proceedings, and for displaying familiarity with court cases through prior preparation. The court staff and resource staff (e.g. law enforcement, CASA volunteers, CYFD, interpreters, etc.) rated Judge Allen positively on almost every attribute. Judge Allen improved his scores in every subject area of the attorney survey since his previous evaluation in 2019. During his interview with the Commission, Judge Allen expressed his commitment to keeping the high standard he has set for himself.
Experience & Education: Judge Allen Smith was appointed in 2014 and elected to the 13th Judicial District Court later that year. Prior to the appointment, Judge Smith worked as an attorney in civil private practice for 16 years and served as a criminal prosecutor for 10 years. Judge Smith received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in 1984 and his Juris Doctor from the UNM School of Law in 1988.
PERCENTAGE THAT AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT THE JUDGE EXHIBITS POSITIVE QUALITIES IN EACH CATEGORY *
| Attorneys (n=60, 40% Response Rate) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 93% | 7% | 0% |
| Fair and Impartial | 87% | 8% | 5% |
| Knowledgeable of Law | 91% | 9% | 0% |
| Communication is Clear | 90% | 8% | 2% |
| Appropriate Demeanor | 93% | 6% | 1% |
| Properly Controls Proceedings | 91% | 3% | 5% |
| Court Staff (n=18) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 94% | 6% | 0% |
| Respects Court Employees | 94% | 0% | 6% |
| Resource Staff (n=15) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 93% | 7% | 0% |
| Fair and Impartial | 80% | 3% | 17% |
| Communication is Clear | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Appropriate Demeanor | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Properly Controls Proceedings | 100% | 0% | 0% |
*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. Some of the percentages that are reported in the above categories are an average of more than one question that appeared on the survey.