A Primer on Municipal Home Rule in Colorado
| Publication year | 1989 |
| Pages | 443 |
1989, March, Pg. 443. A Primer on Municipal Home Rule in Colorado
This comprehensively researched article varies from the regular format of The Colorado Lawyer in that the text is relatively short and the footnotes more extensive. It is hoped that this article will serve as a useful research tool for lawyers who are investigating the Colorado Constitution, Article XX, § 6, concerning the home rule doctrine in Colorado.
Municipal home rule powers in Colorado originate under § 6 of Article XX of the Colorado Constitution.(fn1) The municipal home rule form of government has existed in Colorado since 1902 and has now been adopted by sixty-five Colorado towns and cities.(fn2) In 1970, the requirement that a city or town have a minimum population of 2,000 inhabitants to be eligible for home rule status was deleted.(fn3)
In light of the fact that Colorado did not become a state until 1876, the Colorado home rule doctrine is a relatively old one. Over its approximately eighty-five-year history, the home rule provisions of the Colorado Constitution have been the subject of more than 200 appellate decisions.(fn4) The doctrine has one of the most well-established and stable bodies of case law in Colorado.
The Colorado municipal home rule doctrine can be summarized as follows.
Although Article XX, § 6 is expressly declared to be "self-executing," implementation of the powers available under Article XX requires the adoption of a home rule charter. However, in light of the "self-executing" provision, the courts have held that home rule cities have been constitutionally granted every power possessed by the General Assembly as to local and municipal matters. The function of a municipal home rule charter is only to limit the otherwise plenary powers of home rule cities under Article XX.(fn8)
Thus, the charters of home rule municipalities in Colorado are documents of limitation, not documents of authorization. Absent a constitutional or charter provision limiting a city council's authority in a given area, the city council may legislate by ordinance with respect to any local or municipal matter. Therefore, the fact that the particular ordinance was not authorized by charter is no ground for challenging an otherwise valid ordinance.(fn9) The one exception to this rule concerns the matter of assessing, levying and collecting taxes and special assessments, which Article XX, § 6(g) expressly requires to be provided for by charter.
As mentioned above, state statutes concerning matters of mixed statewide and local concern and purely statewide concern will be held to supersede conflicting ordinances of a home rule municipality.(fn10) However, the courts have held that in purely local and municipal matters, home rule cities may pass ordinances which supersede state statutes.(fn11) Further, state legislation may be held to be invalid to the extent the state legislation infringes on the ability of a home rule municipality to exercise any of the specific grants of power under Article XX, § 6.(fn12)
Because of the ad hoc nature of the local concern versus statewide concern analysis inherent in the Colorado home rule doctrine, the doctrine is in a state of constant evolution. Generally, the following have been held to be matters of local and municipal concern: the creation, organization and administration of municipal courts;(fn13) the appointment and terms of municipal judges;(fn14)...
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