LaQunya L. Baker-McKay

Eighteenth Judicial District

The Honorable LaQunya Baker-McKay 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 Judge Baker-McKay 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, Judge Baker-McKay decided to serve as a Deputy State Public Defender for the State of Colorado in Golden. Following her time as a public defender, Judge Baker-McKay 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-McKay to the Arapahoe County Court bench on July 1, 2022. On July 28, 2023, Judge Baker-McKay was sworn in as the first Black woman to the Arapahoe County District Court bench following her appointment by Governor Polis. Judge Baker-McKay presides over a Criminal docket and a Competency docket.  addition to her service on the Colorado Bar Association – Criminal Law Section Executive Board, Judge Baker-McKay has been a long-time member of the Sam Cary Bar Association. She previously served as the President of the Young Lawyers Division for Sam Cary, the Vice President of the organization, and is the current Parliamentarian for the organization. Judge Baker-McKay is a proud member of the First Cohort for the Judicial Equity Project.

 

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