Editor’s note: Language about the 2023 Douglas County Community Survey was clarified.
Douglas County voters are set to make a rare decision next month as they weigh whether to rewrite the rules of county government. Officials agree it could be a historic moment for the county — but they’re divided on what’s at stake.
At the center of the debate is a proposal for Douglas to become a home rule county, allowing it to adopt its own governing charter. Supporters say home rule is a necessary tool to protect local interests from what they view as overreach by liberal state lawmakers. Critics argue the process has been rushed and risks entrenching a narrow political agenda.
During a four-minute special meeting on March 25, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted to place home rule on the ballot for a June 24 special election. Voters will be asked two questions: whether to form a home rule charter and to elect 21 charter commission members who would be tasked with writing it.
If the commission is approved and seated, the drafted charter would return to voters for approval in November. If approved, Douglas County would become just the third of Colorado’s 64 counties to enter home rule status — and the first in nearly 50 years to do so.
What home rule could change — and what it can’t
Home rule charters outline how a county or municipal government is structured, and they grant authority over more than 40 specific areas, from reorganizing departments and defining election processes to setting local public safety and transportation rules, taxes, term limits and salaries. Counties can use that power to tailor policies to local needs — for example, Pitkin County taxes luxury real estate. Pitkin and Weld are the only two Colorado counties with home-rule status that are not combined cities and counties.
If home rule passes in the June special election in Douglas County, the charter’s contents would be open for public discussion through several town halls. Commissioners Abe Laydon, George Teal and Kevin Van Winkle have already addressed their hopes for the charter — among them are reevaluating local diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; codifying the local government’s three-commissioner structure; and diverging from state minimum wage laws.
Laydon, Teal and Van Winkle, all of whom are running to be on the charter commission, have also signaled interest in challenging state gun and immigration policies. Teal told the Douglas County News-Press that he believes home rule could offer a legal foothold to circumvent laws that don’t include a “state concern” clause.
“We have latitude in terms of preserving gun rights here in Douglas County,” Teal said. “That’s absolutely a top priority, and I will absolutely attempt to take advantage of that.”
He pointed to Colorado Senate Bill 3 — a recently approved measure restricting the sale of semiautomatic firearms — as an example. The bill does not explicitly include a state concern clause, which he said could open the door for local opposition.
That may be wishful thinking, according to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. In a letter addressed to local radio host Ross Kaminsky that was provided to the Douglas County News-Press, a staffer with the attorney general’s office wrote that county home rule “has not been found to be an expansive source of powers” and does not allow counties to override state laws they disagree with.
Municipal home rule, governed by a different part of the state Constitution, provides more authority. The state can only override a municipality’s local laws if they fall within a “matter of statewide concern” or “matter of mixed statewide and local concern,” but county home rule has no such provision.
“Some inaccurately conflate the two, arguing that home rule counties are on equal footing and have the same broad power as home rule municipalities to follow local laws over state laws. This is not the case,” the above-mentioned letter said.
Weld County recently lost a legal challenge in the Colorado Supreme Court tied to its home-rule status. The court said Weld must comply with state redistricting laws, rejecting an argument that its home rule charter granted the county autonomy.
Similar to Douglas County, Weld officials publicly opposed Senate Bill 3, but the county’s sheriff, Steve Reams, said the county is obligated to enforce the law despite having home rule status.
“Any refusal to perform the duties that this legislation delegated to the Office of Sheriff will have a negative impact on the citizens of Weld County,” Reams said in a press release.
Critics question the process
State Rep. Bob Marshall, a Democrat who serves House District 43 covering most of Highlands Ranch, said he is “agnostic” to home rule in principle, but has concerns about how it’s being framed to voters.
While home rule “could be a good thing,” Marshall said, it shouldn’t be presented as a way to sidestep state laws. Any attempts to challenge the state on those grounds could result in costly legal battles for Douglas County, he said.
“(The commissioners) are saying, well, we could ignore Colorado’s gun laws — that’s not true. (And) that the sheriff will be able to arrest migrants who haven’t committed a state crime and help enforce federal immigration law. Well, that’s not true, either,” Marshall added.
Beyond legal questions, Marshall is also watching how home rule could reshape the county’s political structure.
Marshall supports expanding the county’s board of commissioners to five members. But depending on how it’s drafted, the home rule charter could cement the current three-member structure — a move Marshall sees as a way to keep “power concentrated in just a couple people’s hands.”
Former Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas, a Republican, and Marshall, along with Lone Tree resident Julie Gooden, have joined forces in a lawsuit alleging the commissioners violated Colorado’s Open Meetings Law in their effort to initiate the home-rule process.
The lawsuit is asking a judge to find that the commissioners violated the law, issue an injunction requiring future compliance, and invalidate the March 25 meeting, which would force the home-rule process to restart.
The topic of home rule has been discussed in Douglas County for years, Teal said on the witness stand last month. It has been a talking point since the COVID-19 pandemic, he claimed, and both he and Van Winkle discussed the topic during their campaigns for seats as commissioners. It has also been mentioned in the county’s 2023 community survey, which showed that 79% of the 760 respondents view “more independence from state controls over county administration” as a high- or medium-priority ballot issue.
Thomas argues that data doesn’t necessarily mean voters understand home rule — or that they’re the ones driving the conversation. Efforts in other counties to become home rule were citizen-led, she said. In Weld and Pitkin counties, residents mandated charters after they became frustrated with their local governments.
“(In Weld and Pitkin) the voters got together and they did it,” Thomas said. “There has to be something that draws the citizens together to do it. Here, there is no impetus for the people to get behind it.”
The home-rule statute mandates three public meetings, each at least 45 days apart. Douglas County’s current plan would align with this requirement, including an administrative meeting right after the charter commission is elected, followed by two more to approve and submit the charter.
But Thomas still believes that the process is rushed, and calls for more public input before locking in a new government structure.
“I would like to see (in Douglas County) what Weld County did. Seven and a half months, 45 meetings, lots of citizen comment, lots of input,” Thomas said.
Thomas also criticized the candidate selection process for the proposed charter commission. She claimed the county GOP coordinated to ensure 21 preferred candidates made the ballot before any opposition could organize. An email sent by the Douglas County Republican Party chair on March 24 included a list of those 21 candidates.
“We are writing a charter that (would) represent everyone in this county,” Thomas said. “For the commissioners to just pick 21 Republicans — it’s not democratic. The people should be able to choose among Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated … Through good conversation, you get better results.”
Despite their opposition to the home-rule process thus far, both Marshall and Thomas are running for seats on the charter commission.
“Someone needs to be in the henhouse watching the foxes,” Thomas said. “Be in the room, know what’s going on.”
On the campaign trail
Nearly 50 names are on the list of candidates for the charter commission, including former and current Douglas County sheriffs, a school district board member, a former state representative, a Highlands Ranch water board member, and others who have run for county commissioner and state representative seats in the past.
Little is known about who is funding the “Yes on Local Control” campaign committee supporting home rule. The only publicly available information on the group is that Katie Kennedy, a principal of Strategic Compliance LLC, is listed as the registered agent. The “Yes on Local Control” committee is required to file a report of contributions and expenditures by June 3, per the Colorado Secretary of State’s TRACER database. Kennedy did not respond to the Douglas County News-Press on a request for comment.
According to its website, Douglas County has about 315,000 registered voters — roughly 50% unaffiliated, 31% Republican and 17% Democrat.
Teal said the charter could include a clause allowing municipalities to opt into countywide policies by resolution or charter amendment. Commissioners will make home-rule presentations to several municipalities — Castle Rock, Parker and Larkspur — leading up to the June special election.
“We’re saying, ‘hey, Castle Rock, what do you want to do with this?’” Teal said. “Adopt it how you see fit.”
With the June 24 special election fast approaching, Douglas County stands at a crossroads. The decision to adopt home rule could reshape the county’s political landscape for years to come. As supporters and critics continue to voice their opinions, the outcome of the vote will ultimately determine whether the county chases greater independence or reaffirms the status quo.