Renée Torres
Metropolitan Court Judge
Bernalillo County
Year: 2024
Evaluation: Judge Renée Torres’s scores were somewhat mixed. For example, attorneys rated her positively for ensuring that participants understand the court proceedings, for treating pro se (self-represented) parties fairly, and for ensuring her personal staff is professional, productive, and knowledgeable of court policies and procedures. However, some of the attorneys who responded felt that she is not thoroughly knowledgeable regarding substantive law and the rules of procedure and evidence. In addition, some of the attorneys felt that she did not always follow the legal rules that apply to the case. The court staff rated her positively on all attributes.
Experience & Education: Judge Renée Torres graduated from New Mexico State University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and attended the University of New Mexico School of Law, graduating in 2003. She was elected to Metro Court in November of 2016 and has served as a Metro judge for the past eight years. Prior to being elected to Metro Court, she practiced as an Associate Judge at the Pueblo of Isleta Tribal Court, and as the Chief Judge for the Pueblo of Zia Tribal Court. She also practiced as a criminal defense attorney at the Law Office of the Public Defender.
PERCENTAGE THAT AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT THE JUDGE EXHIBITS POSITIVE QUALITIES IN EACH CATEGORY *
| Attorneys (n=42, 31% Response Rate) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 68% | 17% | 15% |
| Fair and Impartial | 71% | 13% | 17% |
| Application/ Knowledge of Law | 52% | 25% | 23% |
| Communication is Clear | 61% | 15% | 24% |
| Professional Demeanor | 76% | 10% | 15% |
| Preparation and Attentiveness | 67% | 15% | 17% |
| Court Staff (n=35) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Professional Demeanor | 89% | 11% | 0% |
| Respects Court Employees | 89% | 11% | 0% |
| Jurors (n=16, 38% Response Rate) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Fair and Impartial | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Communication is Clear | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Professional Demeanor | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Preparation and Attentiveness | 90% | 3% | 7% |
| Resource Staff (n=8) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Fair and Impartial | 77% | 13% | 10% |
| Communication is Clear | 71% | 29% | 0% |
| Professional Demeanor | 88% | 13% | 0% |
| Preparation and Attentiveness | 75% | 13% | 13% |
Please Note: Due to the small sample size among Resource Staff, caution should be exercised when interpreting the findings or drawing conclusions from the results among the Resource Staff population.
*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.