DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — An appeals court did not make a definitive decision to uphold a lawsuit aimed at stopping the vote on whether to enact home rule structure in Douglas County.
Home Rule is a form of local government that gives cities and counties more autonomy from state law. Democratic State Representative Bob Marshall and two Douglas County residents filed legal action to halt the election in April.
“The more you pull, peel the onion back on this thing, the more it keeps getting rotted and rotted, stinkier and stinkier,” said Marshall.
Marshall tells FOX31 he is concerned about a lack of transparency and what he calls a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
“I heard about it for the first time after the commissioners put it on the ballot, the most important decision a County could ever make,” he said.
Marshall also alleges that investors with special interests will benefit from home rule, and residents may wrongly assume decisions on many hot-button issues like abortion and minimum wage can be taken over from the state.
“I’m actually conceptually not against home rule; it could be good or could be bad, it’s just this one is very, very bad because of the process they’re using,” he said.
District No. 2 County Commissioner George Teal tells FOX31 the case against the elections is without merit.
“He wants to stop the democratic process just because he doesn’t agree with it; that’s not how America is supposed to work,” he said.
The Commission scheduled 17 town hall meetings to debate Home Rule.
“Not everybody agrees with everything that’s going on out of the Governor’s mansion and under the state with the state legislature, and the idea of local control is an appealing one,” Teal said.
The Douglas County Fraternal Order Of Police issued a statement saying it is against the form of government in Douglas County, “..because home rule will give all power and authority in one-person, political office, or in a small group of a few people; there is little or no oversight of those with this power and authority.”
Teal tells FOX31 that it is an expected position based on the County’s stance on unions.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that they would oppose it. We would probably take advantage of a right and privilege allowed under Colorado Revised Statutes to disallow collective bargaining among County employees to include our Sheriff’s deputies,” he said.
The Commission tells FOX31 one key issue is creating a closer working relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on immigration issues.
“There is no problem with us working with our federal partners, except for immigration partners and many of our residents would like us to be able to do that; they’d like our Sheriff to be able to make agreements with ICE,” said Teal.
Teal adds that the power of the County would be limited under home rule.
“We’re not seceding from the state we are, we are making use of a right and privilege under the state constitution,” he said.
Weld County and 100 cities in Colorado have a home rule structure in place. Marshall warns that home rule does not come with free rein for local leaders.
“Weld County has had home rule for like 50 years, they’re far more conservative than Douglas County. If they could get away with half the items that the Douglas County commissioners are saying that we could avoid state law, they would’ve already done it,” said Marshall.
The first home rule vote is set for June 24, and a final vote is scheduled for November 4. If the measure passes, home rule would go into effect in Douglas County on Jan. 1, 2026.
