{"id":30650,"date":"2023-11-15T02:41:45","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-deputy-da-jeremy-reed-hopes-to-become-22nd-judicial-districts-new-da\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T07:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:22:45","slug":"former-deputy-da-jeremy-reed-hopes-to-become-22nd-judicial-districts-new-da","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-deputy-da-jeremy-reed-hopes-to-become-22nd-judicial-districts-new-da\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Deputy DA Jeremy Reed hopes to become 22nd Judicial District\u2019s new DA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jeremy
Jeremy Reed said he plans to run for district attorney in the 22nd Judicial District. (Jeremy Reed\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Republican Jeremy Reed will be contending for the 22nd Jurisdiction\u2019s District Attorney position, going up against Gov. Jared Polis-appointed DA Christian Hatfield, who was appointed DA earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Reed moved to the Cortez area in November 2016 from Aurora, where he ran a private law firm for 10 years, specializing in family law and criminal defense.<\/p>\n

He said Cortez has become his home, and it is a home he hopes to serve as the DA if voters should choose to place him in that position.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was time to make a change,\u201d he said. \u201cI moved out here and just absolutely fell in love with the area and the people. I love my job! I love helping protect the community and try to make the community safer every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

He moved to Cortez to take a job with the district attorney, and has been living in the area ever since. He shared that he has been hoping to run for DA ever since he moved to the area.<\/p>\n

Over the past seven years, Reed said he has been working to grow relationships in the community and get to know the people he would hopefully represent as DA one day before officially running.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent those seven years building relationships with all of the people involved in criminal justice process, law enforcement, other attorneys and the defense bar. I think I got positioned to do well in the position and marshal those relationships, making sure we\u2019re doing the absolute best we can to protect our community and make it safer every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 2, Reed was let go from the DA\u2019s office after informing Hatfield of his intention to run in the election, and isn\u2019t working in the office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that\u2019s true,\u201c Hatfield said on Wednesday about Reed being let go. \u201dI welcome competition, but I also have to, I have to keep in mind the efficient running of the office and morale, so I reached out to colleagues and determined it was probably better for the competition to be from outside the office.\u201c<\/p>\n

Though Reed said he had hoped to remain in his deputy DA position until the election, he loves his job and is thankful to have worked on two big cases that recently came through the local justice systems \u2013 Garland Malcolm\u2019s child abuse case in Montezuma County and the Ronald Morosko hunter shooting in Dolores County.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked closely with law enforcement in both of those cases. I am very proud of the work the entire office did on those. It involves a whole team of people in that office who do things that helps the guy who\u2019s going to stand up in court get the job done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t start and end with the person in court,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt starts with all the support staff and people in my office, the victim witness people, the legal assistants\u2026 they\u2019re the people who really support us and make things happen. I think it\u2019s of utmost importance for the district attorney to recognize those people and what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the aspects Reed noted as most important for a district attorney to possess is an ability to empathize with people and treat them with respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to treat the victims of crime with dignity and respect and to make sure their voices are heard, and to speak for those who can no longer speak for themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked by The Journal<\/em> what he would like to work on or change after the election, Reed said he would like to continue building upon the current program being implemented in the DA\u2019s office, while also improving and growing the program.<\/p>\n

He spoke of diversion, the process of helping lower-level offenders and first-time offenders get treatment or rehabilitation (depending on the circumstance).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis helps get them what they need to instead of punish them. It makes sure that they\u2019re educated and treated as such that they\u2019re no longer doing the things that led them to being in the criminal justice system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also pointed to training young attorneys and giving them opportunities to grow and do their job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to be in a position to help anyone who comes into our office grow and learn and be equipped with the tools and skills to be a successful and effective prosecutor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reed also noted the differences between serving in a larger judicial district rather than a rural one, saying one challenge, in particular, is ensuring licensed attorneys want to come and stay in the area, but he said people who have the chance to learn how \u201cwonderful\u201d the area is will see how great it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will say one of the greatest and one of the reasons I\u2019m so passionate about where I work is the people. The people I\u2019ve gotten to work with are the absolute best,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n

While there are challenges to a rural district, Reed also spoke of the many positives he has found in his time living in Cortez.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really do know everybody to some extent,\u201d he said. \u201cI know most of the police force, if not all of them. It\u2019s not the same in a larger jurisdiction, and I think that part of relationship building is so important. They know they can call me whenever it is for whatever it is. They know they can reach out to me and I\u2019m available for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter the results of the election, Reed emphasized he is here to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever happens with the election, this is where I\u2019m going to be. This is my home, and this is where I want to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked why voters should vote for him, Reed pointed to his experience and the relationships he has built during his time in the community, as well as giving more insight into his district attorney philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to sound trite, but it\u2019s \u2018Do the right thing every time.\u2019 As a prosecutor, do what\u2019s right and best for the community,\u201d Reed said. \u201cDon\u2019t make decisions based on ego or self-interest, but make decisions based on what is best for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have a track record in this community of showing that\u2019s who I am and that\u2019s what I do,\u201d he added. \u201cI am here seeking this job to do what is best for this community. I think that I\u2019m the right man for the job and the right person for the job. I know to treat victims with respect, and I know to treat my staff with respect. Frankly, I would ask that my office be judged on the success of those people who work in my office and their satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reed said he wanted members of the community to know that he is available for any questions or concerns about the election or DA in general.<\/p>\n

He can be contacted through his new Facebook page, by phone at 303-731-6593 or through his email at jeremyreedforDA@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reed\u2019s campaign is working on finalizing a Facebook page and website where voters can get more information. The Facebook page will be able to be located under the name \u201cJeremy Reed for 22nd Judicial District.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

dismissed from the DA\u2019s office on Nov. 2 after informing DA Christian Hatfield of his intention to run <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[364,21,837,266,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community","tag-cortez","tag-dolores-county","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81151,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30650\/revisions\/81151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30650"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}