Judge overseeing two key cases announces retirement

Singleton presiding over trials on education funding, gubernatorial vetoes

First Judicial District Court Chief Judge Sarah Singleton, who is currently presiding over two closely watched lawsuits involving education funding and gubernatorial vetoes, has announced that she’ll retire at the end of August but will continue to preside over select cases and hear minor issues pro bono for several months until her replacement is named.

“It’s been my privilege to serve the people of the First Judicial District,” Singleton wrote in her June 12 letter of resignation to state Supreme Court Justice Judith Nakamura. “… If there is ever anything I can do for the Court or the judiciary, do not hesitate to contact me.”

Singleton, 68, declined an interview request, citing her ongoing role at the court.

“I hope to remain very active on an issue that has consumed much of my time during most of my legal and judicial career, that of equal access to justice,” she said in an email. “My retirement will not dampen my interest in or enthusiasm for assuring that people are not denied justice due to an inability to afford it. … Retiring but remaining active will allow me to do some of the things I have been putting off, such as traveling, without having to worry about the large caseload or administrative duties of a judge in the civil division.”

Singleton is currently overseeing a nonjury trial in a lawsuit challenging the level of state funding for public schools that could fundamentally reshape how the state spends education dollars on student learning. She also is hearing a case brought by the Democratic-controlled Legislature over Republican Gov. Susana Martinez’s vetoes of several bills without explanation during the last regular legislative session. Both cases are expected

to be concluded before Singleton’s expected retirement.

Singleton was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., and grew up in Hammond, Ind. She received her undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College and her law degree from Indiana University, and has been in New Mexico since 1974.

She worked for the Public Defender’s Office from 1974-76, practiced law with her longtime partner — retired state Court of Appeals Judge Lynn Pickard — from 1976-81, ran her own firm from 1981-85 and was a partner at Montgomery & Andrews from 1985 to 2009.

Then-Gov. Bill Richardson appointed her to replace retired District Judge Jim Hall in 2009 and she won election to keep the seat the next year. She has served on the court ever since, presiding primarily over civil cases.

She was retained in 2014 for a term that expires at the end of 2020.

Some notable decisions by Singleton include her 2011 ruling that the deal between Santa Fe County and developers of Santa Fe Studios did not violate laws governing public investment in private enterprise. In 2013, she ordered then-Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In 2015, she struck down a Santa Fe city ordinance that would have banned sales of miniature bottles of alcohol, saying it conflicted with the state Liquor Control Act.

The state Judicial Nominating Commission will accept applications from potential replacements for Singleton, then set a day within 30 days of her retirement for the Commission to interview applicants during a public proceeding and recommend potential appointees to the governor.

Gov. Martinez will have 30 days from that date to appoint a replacement. Whoever is appointed to the court will then stand for election in the 2018 general election, and stand for a retention election at what would have been the end of Singleton’s term in 2020, and every eight years thereafter, to keep the job.

There are nine judges in the First Judicial District Court which includes the counties of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos. The job pays $118,334 per year.