By Cory Gaines, Colorado Accountability Project
Heads up Fort Morgan, in a special election this coming March, you’ll be voting on whether to form a home rule commission, the first step toward becoming a home rule county.
I wanted to offer you (and anyone else interested) some resources to help you make sense of the vote.
Before we get to that, however, the most important thing: on February 12th from 6 – 9 PM, there will be an informational meeting at the Mark Arndt Event Center. I would recommend attending. Perhaps you’ll get all the info you want from the resources I link to below, but this will be a great way to interact with humans and air your concerns.
I would also recommend taking your concerns to your county commissioners directly if you can’t make the meeting. That’s what they’re there for.
In keeping with that, the first link below is to the Morgan County Commissioners page. The second link below is to the county’s page on home rule.
In short, home rule is a way for a local government to have more control over their own operations. By and large, this means control over how the local government operates: it lets the county have sway in how the county government is elected, how many commissioners you’ll have, things like that.
It does provide some insulation against certain types of state policy, but do not think that it’s bulletproof armor against what the state wants. The issue brief produced by nonpartisan legislative staff (third link below) puts it pretty succinctly. Quoting:
“Home rule empowers local governments to act and legislate on local matters. In general, home rule ordinances addressing local matters supersede state law. However, in matters of statewide or mixed concern, state laws may take precedence over conflicting home rule ordinances. Without a home rule charter, local governments are strictly subject to the laws of the state.”
How will you decide on home rule? What is the process? Using that same issue brief, the process involves a few elections. There’s a couple ways to do it, but Morgan County Commissioners adopted a resolution to form a home rule charter committee.
The election you’ll have in March will be the first of two elections on the matter; in March you’ll decide whether to form an exploratory committee and who should be on that committee. This committee will write the charter itself, present it to the county commissioners and then you’ll get to vote again as to whether or not to adopt it.
Note that this committee ought to operate independently of the county commissioners. I am not so naive as to not recognize reality, but decisions made by the committee are not voted on by the county commissioners. They don’t get any control.
Should you choose to form a committee and start the process, the various things you can control if you choose to continue the process is too lengthy to copy here, so here are the relevant parts from the legislative issue brief. This is what you can control (instead of operating under state control) as a home rule county:
Powers Available to Home Rule Counties:
- Adopt, amend, and repeal ordinances relating to local and municipal matters
- Establish structure and organization of county government including number and duties of officers
- Determine compensation of county officers and employees
- Provide for personnel systems and civil service
- Exercise powers relating to public improvements and services
- Regulate conduct of businesses and professions
- Adopt building, plumbing, electrical, and fire prevention codes
- Establish planning and zoning regulations
- Create special districts and authorities
- Incur debt and issue bonds for county purposes
- Levy and collect taxes authorized by constitution and statute
- Exercise the power of eminent domain
- Adopt measures for public health, safety, and welfare
- Provide for administration and enforcement of ordinances
If you happen to go read the issue brief, you’ll notice by comparison just how few things home rule counties can do compared to home rule cities. One other thing to note. There are some things home rule cannot get out of. Those are:
Limitations on Home Rule Authority:
- Cannot override state law on matters of statewide concern
- Subject to constitutional provisions and limitations
- Cannot levy taxes not authorized by constitution or statute
- Cannot exempt from state requirements for elections, records, and reports
- Subject to state audit requirements
- Cannot override state law on education funding
- Subject to statewide criminal laws
- Cannot override state environmental regulations
- Subject to state rules on taxation and revenue
- Must comply with state public meetings and records laws
Let’s focus in a little on Morgan County’s first election: the one to elect the commissioners who will write a prospective charter. The second link below, Morgan County’s info site on home rule, has some really good resources for you to look through. In particular, I’d point you to the “Presentation on Home Rule” and the “Home Rule FAQs”.
By the time you read this, it will be too late for you to try to get on the ballot to become one of the charter commissioners (the people who write the charter). The deadline for that was early January.
This does not mean that you have no more voice in the charter. You get to vote for commission members. You get to observe and participate in charter commission meetings. Take the opportunity to do both. Research candidates, talk to neighbors, go to one or more meetings, send in your thoughts.
There’s one last thing to share with you. Not many counties across Colorado have chosen to go the home rule route. Weld County is one. Their own page explaining their move to become a home rule county is linked fourth below if you want to read up on the thoughts of a county that’s done what you’re mulling.
Morgan County Commissioners https://morgancounty.colorado.gov/commissioners
Morgan County Home Rule Information https://morgancounty.colorado.gov/morgan-county-information-on-home-rule
Home Rule Governance in Colorado https://drive.google.com/file/d/12H00rF1FcyivCgPvt_hxm47BzvCngv0M/view
Weld County Home Rule Charter https://www.weld.gov/Government/County-Governance/Home-Rule-Charter
Colorado Accountability Project Colorado Accountability Project | Cory Gaines | Substack
Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent. 