The future of Douglas County chasing “home rule” status may not be in the hands of commissioners, but instead 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 try 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 and Weld counties; and Denver and Broomfield, which are also both cities and counties.

Under county home rule, county officials could enact zoning policies, reorganize county departments or increase the number of commissioners.

Commissioners, on March 25, approved spending $500,000 on a special election. On June 24, 94,396 residents went to the polls and 71.09% of them voted against the home rule proposal.

Commissioners have mulled whether to revisit the ballot measure themselves.

“I don’t think we have plans to kind of take the lead on another home rule process,” Commissioner George Teal said. “I know for a fact we will not be pushing it.”

However, Teal noted, one unnamed third-party group of neighbors is discussing efforts to reintroduce a ballot measure for a future election.

“They do want to get an effort towards home rule off the ground again this year,” Teal said of the unnamed group. “They will be more successful on a November ballot in a gubernatorial year than we were last year.”

Teal said the timing of the 2025 special election wasn’t right. He argued if the vote was during a more popular election, then the results could’ve looked different.

“It definitely caught the attention of those who fundamentally disagreed with a Republican county having home rule in a Democrat state,” Teal said. “They were the ones who were very motivated to come out and vote against home rule.”

Commissioner Abe Laydon said he and other commissioners are “not anticipating any ballot measures” pushed by them on home rule, but added “the larger concept around home rule, of local control, that’s never going to go away for any county or city in the state of Colorado.”

Critics of the home rule proposal argued that commissioners rushed a proposal that left many questions about what a county charter would look like.

Laydon said the county can still chase “local control” through policy changes.

“Local control will always be an issue,” Laydon said.

For now, he added, “we’ll exercise the power that we already have.”