SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the appointment of Kristopher Nicolas Houghton to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Kristina Bogardus.

The appointment begins Aug. 16 and will last until the next general election, one year after his appointment, as provided by law.

Houghton, of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, currently serves as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. He previously served as Chief of the Criminal Division from July 2022 to May 2025. Houghton also led the Office of the Judicial Attache managing the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section for the U.S. Department of Justice in Bogotá, Colombia, where he managed the busiest extradition practice in the world.

A graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law, Houghton was admitted to the New Mexico State Bar in 2008. Before his federal service, he served as a judicial law clerk for the New Mexico Supreme Court and the New Mexico Court of Appeals.