District Attorney Names New Diversion Manager

District Attorney Gordon P. McLaughlin has named Jose Lopez-Nava as the new Diversion Manager for the 8th Judicial District. Lopez-Nava has over seven years of experience in criminal justice with a focus on youth programs, including roles as a Probation and Diversion Officer for the City of Lakewood, CO, and as Clinical Program Manager at the River Oak Center for Children in Sacramento, CA. 

"Diversion programming is essential to our efforts in building a safe community while simultaneously looking to reduce systemic inequities and unnecessary incarceration," says DA McLaughlin. "Jose is a dedicated public servant with almost a decade overseeing alternative criminal justice programing and is set to take us to the next level."

Lopez-Nava holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology from Metropolitan State University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado. As the Diversion Manager, Lopez-Nava will lead a team that oversees juvenile diversion programs, adult behavioral and adult unsupervised diversion programs, and restorative justice programs.

Designed with a restorative justice lens, diversion programs allow individuals with minimal or no criminal history with lower-level, nonviolent charges to take responsibility for their actions, repair harm in the community, and have an alternative to prosecution and incarceration. Connecting these offenders to resources aimed at addressing the underlying reasons that brought them into the criminal justice system can be the best way to lower the likelihood they will repeat those offenses and will therefore improve community safety.  

While the District Attorney’s Office began diverting offense-specific juveniles in 2006, the programs have seen significant expansion in the past two years. In 2022, 241 juvenile cases went to diversion, representing 43% of all juvenile cases in the District Attorney’s Office. These diversion agreements had a success rate of 94%, meaning these juvenile participants completed all required steps and did not have to go through the traditional court process. 

In addition to the juvenile diversion program, the District Attorney’s Office created an adult diversion program in October 2021 utilizing grant funding. In 2022, 196 cases went to the newly expanded program with 95% of adults completing the diversion agreement. 

The District Attorney’s Office tracks the recidivism rates along with other diversion statistics. "An early look at our diversion data shows enormous promise for the continued expansion of these programs and we look forward to Jose building on that success as build innovative ways to serve Larimer and Jackson counties," says DA McLaughlin. Data and additional information are available on the Data Dashboard.