So far in 2021, there have been two new state supreme court vacancies in two of the 29 states where replacement justices are appointed instead of elected. The vacancies have both been caused by retirements. In Colorado, Chief Justice Nathan Coats retired on January 1, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. Colorado…
On Dec. 21, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in DOC v. Stiles that the Colorado State Personnel Board (Board) must defer to disciplinary decisions made by state agencies. The court’s decision aimed to shed light on the standard the Board must apply when reviewing other state agencies’ disciplinary decisions. The court held that when the…
A recall election seeking to remove Lance McDaniel from his position as the District A representative on the Montezuma-Cortez School District Board of Education in Colorado is being held on February 16, 2021. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to replace McDaniel if the recall is successful was January 8. One candidate—Cody Wells—filed. The recall…
A recall election seeking to remove Lance McDaniel from his position as the District A representative on the Montezuma-Cortez School District Board of Education in Colorado is being held on February 16, 2021. The recall effort started in July 2020. Recall supporters said McDaniel had shown a “lack of leadership and has proven to be…
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) appointed Maria Berkenkotter to the Colorado Supreme Court on November 20, 2020. Berkenkotter will succeed Chief Justice Nathan Coats, who is retiring in January 2021 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 72. Berkenkotter is Polis’s first nominee to the seven-member supreme court. Under Colorado law, state supreme court…
Recall petitions seeking to remove Kurt Wassil and Stephanie Buker from their positions on the Elbert County School District C-2 school board in Colorado were submitted to the county for verification on November 13, 2020. The recall effort also initially included board member Stacy Morgan, but no petitions were submitted against her by the deadline.…
Voters in 12 states voted on 19 ballot measures addressing tax-related policies on Nov. 3. Ten of the measures addressed taxes on properties, three were related to income tax rates, two addressed tobacco taxes, one addressed business-related taxes, one addressed sales tax rates, one addressed fees and surcharges, and one was related to tax-increment financing…
Supporters of the effort to recall Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) have until November 13 to submit 631,266 signatures to require a recall election. The recall was approved for circulation by Colorado’s secretary of state on September 14. The recall effort is being organized by Lori Ann Cutunilli and Greg Merschel. Last year, Merschel was…
Thirty-three committees registered to support and oppose the eleven measures that appeared on the Nov. 3 ballot in Colorado. The 33 committees raised $59,164,321.52 and spent $57,392,791.82 according to reports due on November 2 that covered election information through October 28. The next regular reports are due on December 3. Eight of these 11 measures…