Laqunya Baker

Judge LaQunya Baker was raised in Columbia, South Carolina in a military family. She received a Bachelor of Art degree in Communications with a concentration in Media Studies and Minor in African American Studies from The College of Charleston. During that time LaQunya interned with the United States House of Representative Jim Clyburn before attending law school at the Charlotte School of Law in Charlotte, North Carolina. After interning with the Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office in Charlotte, LaQunya decided to serve as a Deputy State Public Defender for the State of Colorado in Golden. Following her time as a public defender, LaQunya practiced as a general civil litigation association in state and federal courts throughout the United States before returning to criminal defense with the Office of Alternate Defense Council throughout the Denver metro area. After briefly serving as a part-time Magistrate for the Denver County Court bench and a Visiting Assisting Professor of the Practice of Law at the University of Denver, Governor Jared Polis appointed Judge Baker to the Arapahoe County Court bench on July 1, 2022. On July 28, 2023, Judge Baker was sworn in as the first Black woman to the Arapahoe County District Court bench following her appointment by Governor Polis.