Lora Thomas's SPOTLIGHT 25-19
- Stop the Power Grab
- May 19
- 2 min read
An excerpt copied from former Commissioner Lora Thomas's Newsletter dated 5-18-25, #25-19
Home Rule Forum
On Wednesday, May 21 at 6:30PM, a Forum to discuss Home Rule will be held at St. Andrew United Methodist Church at 9203 S. University Blvd. in Highlands Ranch. The Commissioners originally committed to present at this forum, but recently cancelled their commitment saying, "their plates were full." The Chair from the Political Science Department at Metropolitan State University Dr. Robert Preuhs will be present to help explain what home rule for a county actually allows.
The commissioners continue to claim--falsely--that home rule will allow the county to opt out of state laws that we don't like, but CLICK HERE for an email that was provided to Ross Kaminsky of KOA Radio by a staff attorney at the Attorney General's Office that makes it clear that the law requires counties to adhere to state law. The Poli Sci Chair referenced above has also made it clear in several public forums that the commissioners' claims are just not true.
Here are two paragraphs from the email referenced above:
Bottom line: The county home rule constitutional amendment does not give a home rule county the ability to ignore or opt-out from complying with any state law that it disagrees with. In fact, the state constitution states that “A home rule county shall provide all mandatory county functions, services, and facilities and shall exercise all mandatory powers as may be required by statute.” Colo. Const., Art. XIV, Sec. 16(3).
Last month, for example, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a county redistricting case that a home rule county must follow state law, instead of its local county laws. In this case, League of Women Voters of Greeley v. Weld County, Weld County, citing its home rule status, argued that it could opt-out from complying with a legislature-enacted law governing county redistricting procedures. The court ruled against the county stating in their opinion that “”[B]ecause the Colorado Constitution requires home rule counties to carry out statutorily mandated functions, home rule counties, like Weld, must comply with the redistricting statutes.”
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