County Commissioners - Rocky Mountain Voice

Follow the money: Why every Colorado taxpayer should check their county budget

2Jun

By External OutletNo Comments

Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Local

Follow the money: Why every Colorado taxpayer should check their county budget

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Check your county’s budget I wanted to offer you an example and some encouragement about checking your county (or city) budget. For my example, I chose to focus in on my home county’s (Logan) Human Services budget. I’ll lead you through the process before looking at an interesting pattern I found. I started, and I recommend you start, by simply inquiring at your county (or through the commissioner’s office) for their budget archives. This was how I arrived at Logan’s archives, the first link at bottom. Budgets are big and complex. You need some way to wrangle the complexity down to size. One way to do that is to do what I did: pick a specific topic and stick to the summaries. You might look at salaries over t...

Election Case Developments Raise New Questions for Hillsdale County Leaders

12Jan

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Hillsdale Conservatives, Approved, Commentary, National

Election Case Developments Raise New Questions for Hillsdale County Leaders

By: Staff |Commentary, Hillsdale Conservatives For more than a year, the case of People v. Scott has been framed as a test of whether a township clerk defied lawful authority. That framing no longer survives the courtroom record. What now exists, undeniably and permanently, is sworn testimony by state and county officials admitting that they acted without legal authority, followed by a judicial dismissal of the only charge that justified a raid, a search warrant, and years of public accusation. At this stage, the most serious question facing Hillsdale County is no longer about one township clerk. It is about why the officials who are legally obligated to act when credible evidence of unlawful conduct is revealed have chosen not to. The Record Is No ...

Douglas County Commissioners Emphasize Local Control Without New Home Rule Election

8Jan

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Uncategorized, Approved, Local, The Denver Gazette

Douglas County Commissioners Emphasize Local Control Without New Home Rule Election

By Noah Festenstein | The Denver Gazette The future of Douglas County chasing “home rule” status may not be in the hands of commissioners, but rather by residents who are considering placing the issue back on the ballot, according to one commissioner. Last March, Douglas County commissioners proposed to become a home rule county. The three Republican commissioners asserted that home rule status would allow the county to gain “local control” within a Democratic-controlled state. Commissioners said future efforts to gain local control are still a possibility, despite voters overwhelmingly rejecting the proposal in June. Different from municipal home rule charters, home rule counties are rare in Colorado. Out of 64 counties, only four have adopted home rule: Pitkin...

Douglas County Cracks Down on Retail Theft With New Reporting Rules

10Dec

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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Douglas County Cracks Down on Retail Theft With New Reporting Rules

By: Olivia Young | CBS Colorado Douglas County Sheriff's Office says shoplifting is up in the county, but now county leaders want to crack down on the crime by encouraging businesses to report it. Douglas County Board of County Commissioners, the sheriff and the district attorney gathered Tuesday to reaffirm their support for strict penalties for theft and announced a new ordinance proposal. The ordinance would fine local businesses for not reporting theft. Leaders in Douglas County say the goal is to get corporations to change policies that disincentivize theft reporting. Nancy Schuster has worked at The Colorado Store for more than 15 years. "It's a small family business, so everyone kind of knows everyone, and it's definitely close knit," Schuster said. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CB...

Mesa County sheriff appeals budget constraints that could cut 28 deputies

7Nov

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Mesa County sheriff appeals budget constraints that could cut 28 deputies

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell appeared before the Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 6, 2025, to warn that this year’s budget proposal could undo nearly a decade of progress under the 2017 voter-approved 0.37% public-safety sales tax. The budget appeal on the third floor of the county administration building doubled as a press conference, drawing commissioners, staff and reporters eager to see what “doing more with less” means for Mesa County public safety. Sheriff Todd Rowell, right, speaks with Commissioner Bobbie Daniel and Undersheriff Matt King during the Nov. 6 budget appeal in Grand Junction. Rowell said the math no longer works. “I gave up five deputies to submit a flat budget… 13 more were defunded… $980,000 in line-item...

Daniel: The state’s mandates, your money—and why counties are saying “Enough”

30Jul

By Guest CommentaryNo Comments

Top Stories, Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Daniel: The state’s mandates, your money—and why counties are saying “Enough”

By Bobbie Daniel | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Imagine walking into a restaurant, and before you even look at the menu, someone else orders for the whole table. They choose the most expensive items, add dessert, and go for top-shelf drinks—and when the check comes, they quietly slide it over to you. That, in a nutshell, is what the State of Colorado is doing to counties. Every year, new laws and regulations roll out of the Capitol with noble names and lofty goals. But when it comes time to pay for them, the state shrugs and walks away—leaving counties, and local taxpayers, to foot the bill. It’s called an unfunded mandate, and it’s become one of the biggest threats to responsible government in Colorado. In Mesa County, we’ve always believed in balan...

Summit County Sheriff sues over denied funding, says commission broke staffing deal

11Jun

By External OutletNo Comments

Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Summit County Sheriff sues over denied funding, says commission broke staffing deal

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons is suing the Summit County Board of County Commissioners after it filed a resolution that the sheriff says retroactively denies funding for staffing expenses. The sheriff said that the board had denied a supplemental budget and appropriation of $1.26 million for the sheriff’s office’s 2024 staffing expenses. The wages had been earned by staff, approved by the county manager and finance director, and paid through standard payroll, according to FitzSimons. “This legal action is necessary to protect my ability to fulfill the statutory responsibilities entrusted to me by the people of Summit County,” said Sheriff FitzSimons. “I remain hopeful these issues can be resolved amicably. As a three-te...

Douglas County commissioners balk at legislation ‘impairing local control’

30Apr

By External OutletNo Comments

Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Douglas County commissioners balk at legislation ‘impairing local control’

By Noah Festenstein | Denver Gazette Douglas County's commissioners are balking at several proposals at the state Capitol that they said would diminish local control. In a resolution, the commissioners said lawmakers have "repeatedly injected state policies into long-standing matters of local concern, including local elections and land regulation.” The resolution, which the commissioners approved on April 22, identified four specific proposals surrounding commissioner board vacancies, building codes and permitting: READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE

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Tag: County Commissioners

Follow the money: Why every Colorado taxpayer should check their county budget

Election Case Developments Raise New Questions for Hillsdale County Leaders

Douglas County Commissioners Emphasize Local Control Without New Home Rule Election

Douglas County Cracks Down on Retail Theft With New Reporting Rules

Mesa County sheriff appeals budget constraints that could cut 28 deputies

Daniel: The state’s mandates, your money—and why counties are saying “Enough”

Summit County Sheriff sues over denied funding, says commission broke staffing deal

Douglas County commissioners balk at legislation ‘impairing local control’

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