Chief Judge Christina Armijo to step aside
Bush appointee started post in 2012
Chief Judge Christina Armijo of the U.S. District Court of New Mexico will retire to senior status next month.
She has served on the bench more than two decades either an appellate judge or on the top federal court in the state.
Armijo, whose retirement was announced in a news release from the courthouse Thursday, was appointed to the U.S. District Court in 2001 by President George W. Bush and unanimously approved the Senate. She has been the chief judge since 2012.
Armijo, who was born in January 1951, has a lifetime appointment to the bench. Her move to senior status means she will carry a lighter caseload and District Judge William Johnson is slated to become
the next chief judge, which is based on seniority, said Kelsie Kloepfer, the executive assistant to Clerk of Court.
Born in Las Vegas, N.M., Armijo comes from a large family of New Mexico attorneys and judges.
She served on the New Mexico Court of Appeals from 1996 until her appointment by Bush.
During her career, she has been honored with the Henrietta Pettijohn Award by the New Mexico Woman’s Bar Association for her work advancing women in the legal profession. She has also received the Outstanding Contribution Award from the State Bar of New Mexico, the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women’s Trailblazer Award and the University of New Mexico Alumni Association and Mortar Board’s Lobo Award.
She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and also graduated from UNM’s law school.
The news release credited Armijo with one of the largest cost-savings initiatives within the federal judiciary by facilitating the move of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court into the Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse, which is expected to save about $1 million annually on rent and security costs. That move is expected to be completed next month.