Term limits far from settled in El Paso County

More than two weeks after the Nov. 2 election, the voter-approved term limit extensions for county officials remains far from settled.

El Paso County Attorney Bill Louis confirmed Wednesday that his office is researching whether county commissioners could legally “reconsider” the term limit ballot measures that voters passed by more than 60 percent, thereby essentially overturning the vote by a resolution of the commissioners.

Specifically, Louis said he is looking into “the lawful authority to legislate a term limit reduction from three terms back to two.”

Legislating a term-limit reduction without voter approval would be unprecedented among county leadership, said Chip Taylor, executive director of Colorado Counties Inc., a nonprofit membership organization that assists county commissioners.

“That’s a brand new one on me,” he said. “It’s a novel situation. I’ve never heard of commissioners being able to say ‘never mind.’”   - More -