Lora Thomas's SPOTLIGHT 25-15

This section is copied from former Commissioner Lora Thomas's Newsletter dated 5-1-25, #25-15

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Douglas County Citizenry - Home Rule Town Hall

While I had a scheduling conflict and was unable to attend this excellent informational opportunity hosted by Deborah Flora and Mandy Connell to learn about Home Rule, I was able to watch/listen to a video of the event and would like to point out a few things important to the conversation on this issue.

Two speakers, Dr. Robert Pruehs, the Political Chair at Metropolitan State University, and Bruce Barker, the Weld County Attorney who has been around for a very long time and is one of the county attorneys that the statewide organization, CCI (Colorado Counties, Inc), has frequently depended upon for legal analysis, are the source of the noteworthy comments below...

Dr. Pruehs clearly stated that home rule "does not supersede state law."  I think that is the crux of this entire conversation that everyone needs to understand.  He explained that Pitkin County has 5 commissioners elected at-large while Weld County has 5 commissioners with 2 elected at-large and three elected from districts.  Terms of office can be defined in the home rule Charter.  In Weld, county departments were consolidated into 5 departments, with each managed by a county commissioner.  Another possible model uses a county manager to manage the departments and is accountable to the commissioners, much like is currently the case in Douglas County.

The Weld County Charter clearly explains how county commissioner boundaries should be determined, and Weld has been following that process for years.  But two years ago, the League of Women Voters sued the Weld County Commissioners because they followed their charter instead of the newly-passed state law that outlined a very specific process for drawing commissioner district boundary lines.  In February of this year, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against the Weld County Commissioners, determining, "Although home rule counties enjoy autonomy in determining their internal organization, they remain bound to perform mandatory functions prescribed by state law."  -League of Women Voters v. Weld County Board of Commissioners, 25 CO 8 (2025)

So the notion that has been promulgated by home rule proponents that home rule counties can pretty much do anything as long as it's in the Charter is simply not the case.  These proponents have been erroneously stating that Weld County lost this latest court challenge because they neglected to enumerate commissioner boundary requirements in their Charter.  They actually DID, but since those requirements were NOT in conformity with state law, they were invalid. A key piece of misinformation that has been oft-repeated by home-rule proponents.

Weld County's Charter also established a Weld County Council, which includes 5 individuals who are elected to oversee the county commissioners; these positions are unpaid and are elected in the same fashion as county commissioners.  This 5-member county council fills the vacancy for a county commissioner who leaves before the end of his/her term.  (What do YOU think of only 5 people making this important decision?)

Mr. Barker explained that (in 2013) when laws were passed that limited the capacity of magazines, people in Weld County thought that the Home Rule status would exclude them from those laws, but "you can't bounce off of state laws -- it doesn't work that way."

Home Rule counties are exempt from collective bargaining laws because Weld County specifically asked the bill sponsors to include that exemption in that bill.  Weld County later put the collective bargaining question on the ballot and voters decided to adopt collective bargaining in their county nonetheless.

Currently House Bill 25-1319 that pertains to filling elected official vacancies is being considered, and Weld County has asked and received an acknowledgment in this bill that because their Charter specifically addresses this situation that their county is exempted from this bill.  This seems to be one of the few direct benefits of being a home rule county -- to have status to request exemption from a bill as it is being drafted.  

Barker spoke about lawsuits that would inevitably follow should Douglas County try to exempt itself from laws pertaining to gun control and immigration due to home rule status.

I'm looking forward to May 28, which is the scheduled date for the only townhall to be hosted for our residents by the Douglas County Commissioners to discuss this monumental topic.  

In the meantime, I will continue researching the topic and providing information for you as it becomes available.