The Seventeenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance agrees by a vote of 8-0, with two commissioners absent, that Judge Jeffrey Dean Ruff MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS .
Judge Ruff has spent 100% of his time on the bench in the past year on an exclusively criminal docket. The reviewed information confirmed that Judge Ruff is almost universally considered to be fair. His demeanor conveys his empathetic qualities, and he is praised as being kind and respectful of those who appear before him. He is diligent and well-prepared for proceedings in his courtroom. The Commission found these themes to be consistent with what Commission members observed and reported across evaluation methods.
For this evaluation, the Commission interviewed the judge, read and reviewed a selection of his legal opinions, observed the judge in court, and reviewed judicial performance survey reports submitted about him. The Commission also reviewed his self-evaluation and interviewed the district attorney and head of the public defender’s office for the district. There have been concerns over the past two years about the Judge’s case management. The Commission specifically considered this issue. It noted that while there are ongoing concerns about him timely and effectively managing his docket, his focus on improving has produced results which the Commission finds encouraging. Given that much of the criticism appears to be derived from open court proceedings, the Commission believes that ongoing efforts to balance fairness and giving litigants an opportunity to be heard with the need to efficiently manage court time will lead to even more positive improvement.
Judge Ruff was born and raised in Billings, Montana and attended the University of Montana where he obtained a B.A. in 1996 and his Juris Doctorate in 1999. He then moved to Colorado where he began his law practice until appointed to the District Court bench in 2024. Judge Ruff’s background includes working with organizations and individuals with substance abuse and mental health struggles, and with survivors of violence. Going forward he is seeking to find community service activities appropriate for a judicial officer, and the Commission supports his efforts in that regard.
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