Michael L. Bender was the chief justice of the seven member Colorado Supreme Court. He was nominated by his peers to serve as chief justice on December 1, 2010 following the retirement of Mary Mullarkey. He was first appointed to the court in the state's Commission-selection, political appointment method of judicial selection by Governor Roy Romer in 1997. Justice Bender was successfully retained in 2000 and in 2010. He retired from the bench on January 7, 2014, when he reached the state's mandatory retirement age of 72.
