James Burns Belford (September 28, 1837 – January 10, 1910) was a U.S. Representative from Colorado, cousin of Joseph McCrum Belford.
Born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Belford attended the common schools and Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1859. He moved to California, Missouri, and commenced practice. He moved to La Porte, Indiana, in 1860. He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1867. He was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court of Colorado in 1870 and moved to Central City. He moved to Denver in 1883. Upon the admission of Colorado as a State into the Union was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth Congress and served from October 3, 1876, until March 3, 1877. Presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Forty-fifth Congress and served from March 4, 1877, until December 13, 1877, when he was succeeded by Thomas M. Patterson, who contested his election.
Belford was elected to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1885). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Forty-seventh Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1884. He engaged in the practice of law in Denver, Colorado, until his death there January 10, 1910. In the mid-1890s he gained notoriety for successfully defending Denver bad man Soapy Smith in several cases. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery.