John Suthers

John Suthers
37th Colorado Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2005
Governor	Bill Owens (2005–2007) Bill Ritter (2007–2011) John Hickenlooper (2011–)
Preceded by	Ken Salazar
Personal details
Born	October 18, 1951 (1951-10-18) Denver, Colorado
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Janet Suthers
Alma mater	Notre Dame University (B.A.) University of Colorado at Boulder (J.D.)
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic

John William Suthers (born October 18, 1951) is the current Attorney General of Colorado. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Background

Suthers was born in Denver, Colorado and adopted a month later by William D. Suthers and Marguerite Suthers, a Colorado Springs couple. His father died when Suthers was 15, and his mother died when he was 22.

He attended St. Mary's High School in Colorado Springs, and the University of Notre Dame, from which he graduated magna cum laud with a degree in government in 1974. Suthers graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1977. He attended college and law school on academic scholarships.

Professional career

From 1977 to 1981, Suthers served as a deputy and chief deputy district attorney in Colorado Springs. From 1979 to 1981, he headed the Economic Crime Division of the district attorney’s office and co-authored a book on consumer fraud and white-collar crime. During his time as a prosecutor at the local level, he tried cases ranging from drunken driving to first degree murder.

In 1981, Suthers became a litigation partner in the Colorado Springs law firm of Sparks Dix, P.C. He remained with the firm until 1988, at which time he was elected district attorney of the Fourth Judicial District. At the conclusion of his second term, he returned to Sparks Dix in 1997 as senior counsel in charge of the firm’s litigation section.

Suthers ran for Attorney General in 1998 and lost 47.4% to 50% to Ken Salazar.

In 1999, Suthers was appointed executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections by Governor Bill Owens. In August 2001, Suthers was appointed by President George W. Bush as United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. He was unanimously confirmed by the United State Senate and assumed the position the week before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. During his tenure as U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, the office prosecuted several high-profile white collar cases, including cases against executives of Qwest.

Suthers serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver School of Law and as a scholar in residence at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Attorney general

Following the election of Ken Salazar to the United States Senate, John Suthers was nominated by Governor Owens and confirmed by the State Senate as the 37th Attorney General of Colorado in January 2005. Suthers served the remaining two years of Salazar's term before running for reelection in 2006. In November 2006, Suthers won election to the Attorney General's Office, defeating challenger Fern O'Brien by nine points. During the same election cycle, the Republican candidate for Governor, Bob Beauprez, lost 56–40.

Despite being courted in 2008 and 2010 for runs for the U.S. Senate, Suthers chose to run for re-election. Suthers defeated his Democratic opponent in 2010 election by a 14-point margin – the largest margin of victory in a two-way race in Colorado that year.

Natural Resources

Shortly after taking office, Suthers moved to swiftly resolve a series of longstanding natural-resource damages lawsuits, including disputes concerning natural resource damages at the California Gulch, Rocky Flats and Rocky Mountain Arsenal Superfund sites. Two of the settlements were the largest natural resource damages settlements in Colorado history. The quarter-century-old claim for damages at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Superfund settled in May 2008 for $35 million, which will be used for the restoration of the site and natural resources in and around the northeast Denver metro area site. Suthers also oversaw a $20.5 million settlement, finalized in July 2008, to help remediate environmental damages at the California Gulch Superfund site, located near Leadville.

Suthers’ natural-resource achievements also include arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court and securing a unanimous decision in favor of Colorado in the longstanding Kansas v. Colorado water litigation. The ruling saved Colorado taxpayers more than $9 million in attorney fees and costs.

U.S.-Mexico Relations

Working through the Conference of Western Attorneys General with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Merida Initiative, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office has worked to provide training opportunities for Mexican law enforcement officers and prosecutors as that country transitions to an adversarial justice system. Suthers and his office offered these trainings in 2008 and 2009. Suthers served as the chairman of the Conference of Western Attorneys General in 2009 and 2010.

Mortgage Fraud

Since taking office, Suthers has made the criminal and civil enforcement of Colorado mortgage and foreclosure laws a top priority. Suthers’ efforts range from breaking up criminal enterprises aimed at committing mortgage and lending fraud to working to suing fraudulent mortgage rescue operations and lenders. Suthers and his office also have given financial support to the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline, which helps homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Suthers efforts also extend beyond Colorado. He has testified before Congress on the foreclosure crisis, led a group of states in pushing to tighten the rules governing loan-servicing companies, and has served on a series of federal mortgage and foreclosure task forces.

Internet Safety

At the time Suthers became Colorado’s 37th Attorney General, the state had no specific crimes concerning the conduct of online sexual predators. Suthers worked with the Colorado General Assembly in 2006 to pass Colorado’s Internet luring and sexual exploitation statutes. In the first two years of implementation, 250 alleged pedophiles were arrested on the new charges. Also as part of his efforts, Suthers launched a Safe Surfing Initiative to protect children from online predators.

Drug Abuse

Suthers also has been a strong advocate against drug abuse, ranging from his work on statewide prescription drug take-back events to his role as the chairman of the Colorado Meth Task Force. In these roles, Suthers has visited schools and helped roll out awareness campaigns about the dangers of these drugs and the destructive effects they can have on a community. Suthers also has been at the forefront of efforts by law enforcement, educators and social workers to oppose the establishment of a marijuana industry in Colorado.

Personal

Suthers and his wife Janet have been married for 35 years and have two daughters, Alison, a lawyer in Denver, and Kate, an officer in the United States Navy Reserve.

He has authored six books, including No Higher Calling, No Greater Responsibility: A Prosecutor Makes His Case (Fulcrum Publishing, 2008).

External links

• Colorado Department of Law and the Office of the Attorney General
• No Higher Calling, No Greater Responsibility: A Prosecutor Makes His Case on Amazon

Legal offices
Preceded by Ken Salazar	Attorney General of Colorado 2005 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent