The Board of Douglas County Commissioners approved an ordinance Tuesday afternoon that will mandate businesses report suspected shoplifting crimes.

The ordinance, a highly-debated measure that has been in the works for over a year, was unanimously adopted by the three-commissioner board despite considerable pushback from community members, some of whom sarcastically noted their concerns during the board session.

“If we just let crimes go unreported, then we will not know that crime is increasing,” said Highlands Ranch resident Len Whitton. “If you don’t report a crime, you don’t know that crime happened, so we also need citizen patriots to commit more crimes in order to make sure that they are being reported by the businesses.”

The new law ensures that county businesses are complying with state law in aptly identifying and reporting suspected shoplifting crimes to law enforcement, board members said. Critics of the ordinance identified its potential to hit small businesses, who may have fewer employees to keep track of such infractions, harder than national big box chains.

All of who spoke in the public comment Tuesday dissented against the board’s proposal. Many likened it to punishing the business owner, rather than the thief.

The initial draft of the proposal included a fine of up to $1,000 for businesses that failed to report of a shoplifting incident within 96 hours, or four days. The final ordinance that passed Tuesday did not include such a provision, but instead left the penalty for violating the ordinance up to the courts.

“This is something where you’d get a citation, and you’d go to court and say your piece, and a judge would make a determination on that,” said District 3 Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle. Board members did not elaborate as to how, exactly, that citation would be issued to begin with.

In recent work sessions with small business owners about the proposal, 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler said that he would prosecute reported shoplifting suspects, despite having no role in enforcing the business fines, according to 9News.

“I’m not a big government guy, I’m not looking for the government to step in and be coercive on parts of our lives that we don’t need to be, so I’m supportive of this effort to the extent that it encourages people to report theft,” Brauchler said.

During Tuesday’s board session, some of those who made public comments, including Rep. Bob Marshall of the state general assembly, said that the opposition’s arguments were heard by both Brauchler and Sheriff Darren Weekly.

“Even the district attorney and sheriff who were here on Dec. 9 in full support of this ordinance have run away with their tail between their legs and won’t even admit that they were in full support because this thing is toxic,” Marshall said. “I would really strongly suggest you rethink this because it’s going to be in the news again and make Douglas County, once again, the butt of jokes statewide.”

Van Winkle pushed back at the idea that two of the county’s most senior officials did not support the board’s proposal.

“That is just a flat-out lie,” Van Winkle said.

After the unanimous vote in support of the measure, District 1 Commissioner Abe Laydon noted his takeaway from a summit in Washington D.C. he had just returned from was the importance of working together to do the “right thing” for the community.

“I would challenge the members of our community and for us to continue to find ways in which we can work well together,” Laydon said as the meeting concluded.

The Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS contributed to this story.