Every election year since 1976, the Wyoming Bar Association has conducted a Judicial Advisory Poll in an effort to provide feedback to judges about their performance on the bench and to help the public make more informed decisions in judicial elections.

Guidelines established by the American Bar Association, and used by the WBA, states that the primary goal of judicial evaluation is “… to improve the performance of individual judges and the judiciary as a whole.”

Third District Court Judges Richard Lavery and Suzannah Robinson are on the ballot for retention on November 3, and both have received a copy of their respective reports prior to the General Election. Specific comments from members of the WBA are only available to the justices, but the poll itself can be viewed on the WBA website.

Ratings are based on a five-point, fully-balanced Likert scale introduced in previous surveys. This scale includes the following options for each judge: strongly disapprove, somewhat disapprove, neither approve nor disapprove, somewhat approve, strongly approve. This scale also controls for bias of the ratings provided by the respondents to the survey.

It’s important to note the total number of respondents varies between judges and categories. Generally, the higher the court (Supreme, District, Circuit) the more WBA members respond to the survey.

Judge Richard Lavery – Favorable Rating = 91.7%

Judge Richard Lavery has served on the Third District Court bench since 2012 when he was appointed by then-Governor Matt Mead to succeed Jere A. Ryckman. He was retained by voters in 2014.

Judge Lavery received high scores in the survey for his courteousness in court, case preparation, and attentiveness to arguments of council.

Judge Lavery scored nearly a 92 percent favorability rating from the WAB for retention to the bench. His current six-year term ends on January 3, 2021.

Judge Suzannah Robinson – Favorable Rating = 66.7%

Judge Suzannah Robinson has served on the Third District Court bench since being appointed by Governor Mark Gordon to replace the retired Nena James on October 18, 2019.

Her respondent numbers in the survey are smaller than Judge Lavery’s having served on the bench for only about a year prior to the 2020 General Election.

Judge Robinson scored strongest in her attentiveness to arguments of council and court proceedings preparedness.

Overall, Judge Robinson had a near 67 percent favorability rating for retention to the bench by the WBA.

Every judge in the state is rated in the Judicial Advisory Poll whether they are up for retention or not. Circuit Court Judge Craig L. Jones had an average score of 3.90 across the 11 categories. His highest marks came for integrity and ethics to carry out the duties of the judicial office, industriousness/promptness in performing judicial duties, and preparedness for court proceedings.

Circuit Court Judge John Prokos scored an average of 3.98 across the categories with his strongest marks coming for courteousness and industriousness/promptness in performing judicial duties.