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HB26-1038 • 2026

County Commissioner Redistricting

Under current law, certain boards of county commissioners must appoint county commissioner redistricting commissions to adopt plans to divide the relevant counties into as many county commissioner dis

Elections Labor
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Rep. C. Clifford, Rep. A. Paschal, Sen. M. Snyder, Rep. J. Bacon, Rep. K. Brown, Rep. M. Duran, Rep. R. English, Rep. M. Froelich, Rep. L. Goldstein, Rep. J. Joseph, Rep. M. Lindsay, Rep. B. Marshall, Rep. J. McCluskie, Rep. K. Nguyen, Rep. M. Rutinel, Rep. J. Willford, Sen. J. Coleman, Sen. T. Exum, Sen. J. Gonzales, Sen. C. Kipp, Sen. K. Wallace, Sen. M. Weissman
Last action
2026-06-04
Official status
Governor Signed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text states boards are 'encouraged' to convene independent commissions in some contexts but also includes language requiring them to ensure the commission is an 'independent committee,' creating a slight ambiguity on whether independence is mandatory for all counties or just those choosing that path, though the summary treats it as required.

County Commissioner Redistricting Integrity Act

This law requires certain Colorado counties to use independent commissions instead of current officials or advisory committees to draw new election maps for county commissioners.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires boards of county commissioners in specific counties to appoint independent redistricting commissions to create district plans.
  • Removes the role of advisory committees and assigns their duties to nonpartisan staff, contractors, or the commission itself.
  • Allows any qualified voter in a county to challenge a new district plan by filing a lawsuit in district court.
  • Requires commissions to use a specific formula to calculate a competitiveness score for each county commissioner district.
  • Gives boards of county commissioners the power to remove commission members for cause or direct them to modify a proposed plan under certain conditions.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Boards of county commissioners in counties with populations over seventy thousand that elect some or all commissioners by district.
  • Independent redistricting commissions created to draw new maps.
  • Qualified voters who wish to challenge the adoption of a new district plan.

Terms To Know

Redistricting
The process of drawing lines for election districts so that each area has roughly equal population and fair representation.
Independent Commission
A group made up of an equal number of members affiliated with the state's two largest political parties and unaffiliated voters, where all members must have held their affiliation status for at least three years prior to appointment.
Competitiveness Measure
A percentage score calculated by a formula used to determine how competitive county commissioner districts are likely to be in elections.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This law only applies to redistricting plans adopted after the date this act becomes effective.
  • The text does not specify which counties must use these commissions beyond those with populations over seventy thousand that elect commissioners by district, though it notes most counties currently elect commissioners at-large.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.001

HOU State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment gives county commissioners the power to remove commission members for bad behavior or inaction and allows them to order changes to redistricting plans that do not follow the law.

  • The bill is officially named the 'County Commissioner Redistricting Integrity Act'.
  • Boards of county commissioners can now fire commission members who commit crimes, miss meetings regularly, or stop the group from doing its work.
  • If a proposed map does not follow legal rules, the board of county commissioners can tell the commission to fix those specific parts and explain why they are wrong.
  • The redistricting timeline deadlines can be changed if outside events cause delays or if the board orders changes to the plan.
  • The text does not define exactly what counts as 'malfeasance in office' or how many meetings a member must miss before being removed.
  • It is unclear from this amendment alone whether there are limits on how many times the board can order changes to a plan.
L.002

HOU State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment changes a sentence about what happens when lobbyists do not report their information correctly.

  • It requires that complaints about incomplete or inaccurate lobbyist reports be heard by an administrative law judge.
  • The official text provided is very short and does not explain the full context of who files these complaints or what penalties exist.
  • Because this amendment appears in a bill titled 'County Commissioner Redistricting,' it may be an error since lobbyist reporting rules are usually unrelated to county redistricting.
L.003

HOU State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment requires county commissioners to finish specific steps before they can move on with the redistricting process.

  • County officials must follow rules listed in subsections (1) and (2) of this section first.
  • The amendment text does not explain what specific actions are required by subsections (1) and (2).
L.004

HOU State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment changes the bill to only require county commissioner redistricting commissions if a specific need for new districts exists.

  • The bill now says that counties must create redistricting commissions only if they are required to make new districts.
  • The amendment text does not explain what rules or situations would require a county to create these districts.
  • It is unclear which specific counties this change applies to because the full bill details were not provided in the source material.
L.005

HOU State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment allows any registered voter in a county to file a lawsuit in the local district court if they disagree with how the county is divided into commissioner districts.

  • It adds a new rule that lets qualified voters challenge the official plan for dividing their county into election districts.
L.006

HOU State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment allows redistricting commissions to use methods other than a specific formula to measure district competitiveness and sets clear definitions for what counts as highly or moderately competitive districts.

  • Commissions can now choose measures of competitiveness besides the standard composite formula.
  • The law requires at least 72 hours notice before adopting any method used to measure competitiveness.
  • New rules define a 'highly competitive district' as one where election results are within plus or minus five percent between top parties.
  • New rules define a 'moderately competitive district' as one with results between five and ten percent difference.
  • The text does not explain how commissions will decide which specific elections to use for their calculations beyond the general definition provided.
L.007

HOU State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment fixes the bill text by adding the specific number '26-1038' to two places where it was previously missing.

  • It changes a reference on page 3, line 15 from just 'House Bill ,' to 'House Bill 26-1038,'
  • It changes another reference on page 3, line 25 from just 'House Bill ' to 'House Bill 26-1038'.
  • This amendment only corrects the bill number in the text and does not change any rules about how county commissioner redistricting works.
  • The provided text is too short to explain what the full bill requires counties to do regarding redistricting.
L.008

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: This amendment creates a special rule for small counties with fewer than 70,000 people so they do not have to form an independent redistricting commission.

  • Counties with populations under 70,000 are allowed to skip the requirement of creating an independent county commissioner district redistricting commission.
  • These small counties also do not need to follow specific rules found in section 30-10-306.3 regarding how districts must be drawn.
  • The amendment text does not explain what process these smaller counties should use instead of the independent commission.
  • This amendment was marked as 'Lost' in its official status, meaning it did not pass and is likely not part of the final law.
L.009

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: This amendment would allow home rule counties to skip creating an independent redistricting commission and instead let their county commissioners handle the process themselves.

  • Home rule counties are no longer required to create a separate, independent group to draw new district maps for county commissioner elections.
  • The board of county commissioners in home rule counties can choose not to follow specific rules that normally apply to these independent commissions.
  • This amendment was voted down and did not become part of the final bill, so it does not change current law.
  • The text only explains changes for home rule counties and does not describe how other types of counties are affected.
L.010

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: This amendment would remove the word 'Integrity' from a specific committee report about county commissioner redistricting.

  • It deletes the word 'Integrity' found on page 1, line 3 of the State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report dated February 2, 2026.
  • The amendment text only shows a single word being removed and does not explain why or how this change affects the actual redistricting rules.
  • Because the full context of the report is missing, it is unclear if removing 'Integrity' changes any legal requirements for county commissioners.
L.016

Third Reading

Passed

Plain English: This amendment clarifies who counts as staff for county redistricting commissions and protects the County Clerk from being automatically sued in legal challenges.

  • It defines 'staff' to include both nonpartisan county employees and outside contractors assigned by the board of commissioners.
  • It states that the County Clerk and their election-related staff are not considered commission staff unless they agree in writing to help.
  • It requires lawsuits about redistricting plans to name the Board of Commissioners or the independent commission as defendants instead of others.
  • The amendment text does not explain why these specific legal protections were added for the County Clerk beyond stating they are not necessary parties in most cases.
  • Some technical line and page numbers in the original bill are referenced but do not change the meaning of the law itself.

Bill History

  1. 2026-06-04 Governor

    Governor Signed

  2. 2026-06-03 Governor

    Sent to the Governor

  3. 2026-06-03 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  4. 2026-06-03 House

    Signed by the Speaker of the House

  5. 2026-04-21 House

    House Consideration of First Conference Committee Report result was to Adopt Committee Report - Repass

  6. 2026-04-13 Senate

    Senate Consideration of First Conference Committee Report result was to Adopt Committee Report - Repass

  7. 2026-04-10 ConfComm

    First Conference Committee Result was to Adopt Rerevised w/ Amendments

  8. 2026-04-02 House

    House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Not Concur - Request Conference Committee

  9. 2026-03-23 House

    House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Laid Over Daily

  10. 2026-03-20 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor

  11. 2026-03-17 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Laid Over to 03/20/2026 - No Amendments

  12. 2026-03-16 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Laid Over to 03/17/2026 - No Amendments

  13. 2026-03-13 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Passed - No Amendments

  14. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole

  15. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Introduced In Senate - Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs

  16. 2026-02-10 House

    House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  17. 2026-02-06 House

    House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments

  18. 2026-02-05 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee

  19. 2026-02-02 House

    House Committee on State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole

  20. 2026-01-14 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Official Summary Text

Under current law, certain boards of county commissioners must appoint county commissioner redistricting commissions to adopt plans to divide the relevant counties into as many county commissioner districts as there are county commissioners elected by voters of their district (plan). The act requires these boards of county commissioners to appoint independent county commissioner redistricting commissions (commissions), modifies the criteria for who may serve on these commissions, allows these boards of county commissioners to remove members from the commission for cause, allows these boards of county commissioners to direct a commission to modify a proposed plan under certain conditions, and requires these boards of county commissioners to adopt a final plan that was one of the final plans approved by a commission.
The act also removes the role of advisory committees in the process of adopting a plan and divides that role among staff and the commissions. The act expands the definition of staff to include contractors and explicitly excludes the county clerk and recorder or their employees from acting as staff unless expressly agreed to in writing. The act explicitly allows any qualified elector of a county to challenge the adoption of a plan by an action in the district court.
Further, the act requires a commission to adopt a composite formula to generate a competitiveness measure expressed as a percentage of county commissioner district competitiveness and to use that measure, and any other measure of competitiveness adopted by the commission, in determining highly competitive and moderately competitive county commissioner districts.
The act applies to the adoption of a county commissioner district redistricting plan that occurs after the effective date of the act.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 26-1038
BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Paschal and Clifford, Bacon, English,
Froelich, Goldstein, Joseph, Lindsay, Marshall, Nguyen, Rutinel, Willford,
McCluskie, Brown, Duran;
also SENATOR(S) Snyder, Exum, Gonzales J., Kipp, Wallace, Weissman,
Coleman.
CONCERNING COUNTY COMMISSIONER REDISTRICTING.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Short title. The short title of this act is the "The
County Commissioner Redistricting Integrity Act".
SECTION 2. Legislative declaration.
( 1) The general assembly finds and declares that:
(a) In order for our democratic republic to truly represent the voices
of the people, if districts are required, they must be drawn such that the
people have an opportunity to elect representatives who are reflective of and
responsive and accountable to their constituents;
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material added to existing law; dashes
through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of
the act.
(b) The people are best served when districts are not drawn to
benefit particular parties or incumbents, but are instead drawn to ensure
representation for the various communities of interest and to maximize the
number of competitive districts;
(c) The federal "Voting Rights Act of 1965" prohibits voting
practices and procedures, including redistricting, that discriminate on the
basis of race, color, or language;
( d) Districts are redrawn after every decennial census for members
of congress, members of the general assembly, county commissioners,
school board members, city councillors, and special district representatives;
( e) In the 2018 legislative session, the general assembly
unanimously supported two referred measures, Amendments Y and Z, that
reflected a bipartisan compromise to ensure fair redistricting of
congressional districts, state house of representative districts, and state
senate districts;
( f) At the general election in November 2018, seventy-one percent
of electors in the state approved Amendments Y and Z;
(g) The only partisan offices elected by districts in Colorado not
included in Amendments Y and Z were county commissioners; and
(h) It is of statewide interest that voters in every Colorado county are
empowered to elect commissioners who will reflect the communities within
the county and who will be responsive and accountable to them.
(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that most
Colorado counties elect their commissioners by the voters of the whole
county, but counties with populations over seventy thousand are allowed to
increase from three to five commissioners and elect some or all of their
commissioners by the voters of individual districts. By enacting this House
Bill 26-1038, the general assembly intends to build upon HB21-1047 by
further ensuring that county commissioner districts are drawn by
independent commissions and not by a sitting board of commissioners, the
members of which have a fundamental and inherent conflict of interest in
drawing a district in which they or a desired successor may run for office
in the future. The general assembly also intends to further clarify what
PAGE 2-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
constitutes a competitive county commissioner district.
(3) The general assembly further finds and declares that, pursuant
to the Colorado supreme court's holding in League of Women Voters of
Greeleyv. Bd. ofCnty. Comm'rs of the Cnty. ofWeld563 P.3d 1192 (Colo.
2025), as with HB21-1047, this House Bill 26-1038 applies to counties
whether or not they are home rule counties.
SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 30-10-306, amend
(6)(b) and (6)(i); repeal (6)(a) and (6)(d); and add (6)(d.5) and (7) as
follows:
30-10-306. Commissioners' districts -vacancies -definitions.
(6) As used in this section and sections 30-10-306.1 to 30-10-306.4,
unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) "Advisory committee" means a group of persons who are not
nonpartisan staff of the county who are assigned to assist the commission
by the board of county commissioners. The board of county commissioners
may delegate any functions but the final adoption of a plan to the advisory
committee. The ad\lisory committee must be composed ofan equal number
of members who are affiliated with the state's largest political part)',
affiliated with the state's second largest political part)', and not affiliated
with any political party. For purposes of this subsection (G)(a), the state's
two largest political parties shall be determined by the nunxber of registered
electors affiliated with each political party in the state accot ding to voter
registration data published by the secretary of state fut the earliest day in
January of the redistricting year for which such data is published.
(b) "Commission" means a county commissioner district
r edistt icting commission, whether the connnission is an independent county
commissioner district redistricting commission OI not. A county
commissioner distr iet redistricting commission can be made up solely of the
members of a county's board of county commissioners CREATED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 30-10-306.1 (2).
( d) "Independent commission" means an independent county
commissioner distt ict I edistt icting commission ct eated in accordance with
section 3 0-10-3 06 .1 (2).
PAGE 3-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
( d.5) "INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE" MEANS A COMMITTEE COMPOSED
OF AN EQUAL NUMBER OF MEMBERS WHO HA VE BEEN AFFILIATED FOR AT
LEAST THE LAST THREE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING YEARS WITH THE ST A TE'S
LARGEST POLITICAL PARTY, HA VE BEEN AFFILIATED FOR AT LEAST THE LAST
THREE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING YEARS WITH THE STATE'S SECOND-LARGEST
POLITICAL PARTY, AND HA VE NOT BEEN AFFILIATED FOR AT LEAST THE LAST
THREE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING YEARS WITH ANY POLITICAL PARTY. FOR
PURPOSES OF THIS SUBSECTION (6)(d.5), THE STATE'S TWO LARGEST
POLITICAL PARTIES ARE DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED
ELECTORS AFFILIATED WITH EACH POLITICAL PARTY IN THE STATE
ACCORDING TO VOTER REGISTRATION DAT A PUBLISHED BY THE SECRET ARY
OF STATE FOR THE EARLIEST DAY IN JANUARY OF THE REDISTRICTING YEAR
FOR WHICH SUCH DATA IS PUBLISHED. AN INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE SHALL
NOT INCLUDE NONPARTISAN STAFF OF THE COUNTY.
(i) "Staff' means the nonpartisan staff of the county who are
assigned to assist the commission by the board of county commissioners OR
CONTRACTORS WITH THE COUNTY WHO ARE ASSIGNED TO ASSIST THE
COMMISSION BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. STAFF DOES NOT
INCLUDE THE COUNTY CLERK AND RECORDER OR ANY EMPLOYEE OF THE
CLERK AND RECORDER WHO IS ACTING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF ELECTION
ADMINISTRATION, VOTER REGISTRATION, ELECTION CONDUCT, ELECTION
SECURITY, OR MAINTENANCE OF VOTER REGISTRATION OR PRECINCT
RECORDS, UNLESS THE CLERK AND RECORDER OR EMPLOYEE OF THE CLERK
AND RECORDER EXPRESSLY AGREE IN WRITING TO ASSIST THE COMMISSION.
(7) (a) ANY QUALIFIED ELECTOR OF THE COUNTY MAY CHALLENGE
THE ADOPTION OF A PLAN TO DIVIDE THE COUNTY INTO AS MANY DISTRICTS
AS THERE ARE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ELECTED BY VOTERS OF THEIR
DISTRICT BY AN ACTION IN THE DISTRICT COURT FOR THE COUNTY.
(b) IN AN ACTION BROUGHT PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION (7)( a) OF THIS
SECTION, THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND, IF APPLICABLE, THE
INDEPENDENT COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT REDISTRICTING
COMMISSION, SHALL BE NAMED AS DEFENDANTS.
(c) THE COUNTY CLERK AND RECORDER IS NOT A NECESSARY OR
PROPER PARTY TO AN ACTION BROUGHT PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION (7)
UNLESS THE ACTION SPECIFICALLY ALLEGES A VIOLATION OF DUTIES
EXPRESSLY ASSIGNED TO THE CLERK AND RECORDER BY STATUTE.
PAGE 4-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
SECTION 4. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 30-10-306.1, amend
(I) introductory portion and (2); and add (2.5) as follows:
30-10-306.1. Commission created-commission composition and
appointment.
(I) The board of county commissioners in each of the following
counties must designate CONVENE a county commissioner district
redistricting commission and ate encomaged to convene an independent
county commissioner distiict redistricting commission, in order to adopt a
plan APPROVE ONE OR MORE PLANS to divide the relevant county into as
many districts as there are county commissioners elected by voters of their
district:
(2) In appointing members to an independent A commission, a board
of county commissioners: is encomaged to.
(a) Appoint persons who accmately reflect the political affiliations
of the residents of the county, including unaffiliated residents,
(b) Appoint persons ,'\1ho accmately reflect the county's racial,
ethnic, gender, and geogr aphie div er sicy, and
( c) SHALL avoid conflicts of interest based on partisan alignments;
( d) SHALL ENSURE THAT THE COMMISSION IS AN INDEPENDENT
COMMITTEE;
( e) SHALL EITHER DIRECT THE COMMISSION TO APPROVE ONE FINAL
PLAN TO DIVIDE THE RELEVANT COUNTY INTO AS MANY DISTRICTS AS THERE
ARE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ELECTED BY VOTERS OF THEIR DISTRICT,
WHICH PLAN THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SHALL ADOPT AS THE
FINAL PLAN, OR DIRECT THE COMMISSION TO APPROVE AT LEAST THREE FINAL
PLANS TO DIVIDE THE RELEVANT COUNTY INTO AS MANY DISTRICTS AS THERE
ARE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ELECTED BY VOTERS OF THEIR DISTRICT,
WHICH PLANS THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SHALL SELECT FROM
IN DECIDING WHICH PLAN TO ADOPT AS THE FINAL PLAN;
(f) SHALL NOT APPOINT ANY MEMBER TO A COMMISSION WHO IS A
CURRENTLY ELECTED COUNTY COMMISSIONER;
PAGE 5-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
(g) SHALL EST AB LISH A REASONABLY ACCESSIBLE PUBLIC
APPLICATION PROCESS FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO APPLY TO BE
SELECTED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO SERVE ON THE
COMMISSION;
(h) SHALL SELECT MEMBERS TO THE COMMISSION ONLY AFTER
PROVIDING PUBLIC NOTICE NO FEWER THAN THIRTY DAYS BEFORE THE DATE
THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SELECTS MEMBERS TO THE
COMMISSION; AND
(i) ISENCOURAGEDTOAPPOINTPERSONSWHOACCURATELYREFLECT
THE COUNTY'S RACIAL, ETHNIC, GENDER, AND GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.
(2.5) THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MAY REMOVE ANY
MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION FOR MALFEASANCE IN OFFICE, FOR FAILURE TO
REGULARLY ATTENDMEETINGS,ORFORPREVENTINGTHECOMMISSIONFROM
DISCHARGING ITS DUTIES.
SECTION 5. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 30-10-306.2, amend
(1), (2), (3)(c), (3)(d), (4)(b)(l)(B), (4)(b)(l)(C), (4)(b)(l)(D), (4)(b)(l)(F),
( 4 )(b )(II), and ( 4 )(b )(111) as follows:
30-10-306.2. Commission organization - procedures -
transparency -voting requirements.
( 1) The board of county commissioners shall appoint staff as needed
to assist the commission. Staff or the advisory committee shall acquire and
prepare all necessary resources, including computer hardware, software, and
demographic, geographic, and political databases, as far in advance as
necessary to enable the commission to begin its work immediately upon
convenmg.
(2) The commission shall not vote upon THE APPROVAL OF a final
plan OR SET OF FINAL PLANS until at least seventy-two hours after it has been
proposed to the commission in a public meeting or at least seventy-two
hours after it has been amended by the commission in a public meeting,
whichever occurs later.
(3) ( c) The commission shall maintain a website through which any
county resident may submit proposed plans or written comments, or both,
PAGE 6-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
without attending a hearing of the commission. The commission shall
ensure that the website is easily accessible and contains a record of the
commission's activities and proceedings, including the commission's
directions to staff 01 an advisory committee on proposed changes to any
plan and the commission's rationale for such changes.
( d) The commission shall publish all written comments pertaining
to redistricting on its website or comparable means of communicating with
the public as well as the name of the county resident submitting such
comments. If the commission advisory committee, or staff have a
substantial basis to believe that a person submitting such comments has not
truthfully or accurately identified himself or herself, the commission need
not consider and need not publish such comments but must notify the
commenter in writing of this fact. The commission may withhold
comments, in whole or in part, from the website or comparable means of
communicating with the public that do not relate to redistricting plans,
policies, or communities of interest.
(4) (b) To ensure transparency in the redistricting process:
(I) (B) Except as provided in subsections (4)(b)(I)(D) and
( 4 )(b )(I)(F) of this section, a member of the commission shall not
communicate with staff or any members of the advisory committee BOARD
OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, AND A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS SHALL NOT COMMUNICATE WITH A MEMBER OF THE
COMMISSION OR STAFF, on the mapping of county commissioner districts
unless the communication is during a public meeting or hearing of the
comm1ss1on.
(C) Except for public input and comment, staff shall not have any
communications about the content or development of any plan outside of
public hearings with anyone, including any members of the advisory
committee, except other staff members. Likewise, except fm public input
and comment, members of the advisory committee shall not have any
communications about the content m development of any plan outside of
public heatings with any one, including staff, except other members of the
advisory committee. Communications about the content or development of
any plan include communications about how plans will be drawn to satisfy
the criteria in section 30-10-306.3, specific parameters related to the
interpretation of the criteria in section 30-10-306.3, and requests for the
PAGE 7-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
drawing of additional plans. Staff 01 members of the advisory eommittee
shall report to the commission any attempt by anyone to exert influence
over the staffs or advisory eommittee's role in the drafting of plans.
(D) One or more staff may be designated to communicate with
members of the commission or advisory eommittee and, in the ease of a
eommission that is eomposed of the boat d of eounty eommissionet s,
administrative staff of the eourrcy, regarding administrative matters, the
definition and scope of which shall be determined by the commission.
Likewise, one 01 mote members of the advisory eommittee may be
designated to eommunieate with members of the eommission or staff
I egat ding administt ati v e matters, the definition and seope of w hieh shall be
determined by the eotnmissiott. Any communication that occurs outside of
a public meeting or hearing of the commission between staff, SERVING IN
THEIR ROLE AS STAFF TO THE COMMISSION, and a member of the advisory
eommittee COMMISSION OR BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, beyond
those allowed by this subsection (4)(b)(I)(D), must be documented and
made a part of the public record.
(F) Staff may make a completed proposed plan that staff prepared
as a result of a request made in a public hearing available to the public on
the commission's website. In addition, staff may communicate with a
member of the commission or the advisory eommittee to clarify directions
that were given to staff during a public meeting regarding the creation of a
proposed plan, so long as staff makes a record of the content of the
communication available to the public on the commission's website.
(11) The commission, each member of the commission, the advisory
eommittee, eaeh member of the advisory eommittee, and staff are subject
to open records requirements as provided in part 2 of article 72 of title 24,
as amended, or any successor statute; except that plans in draft form and not
submitted to the commission are not public records subject to disclosure.
Work product and communications among staff members of the advisory
eommittee, and between staff SERVING IN THEIR ROLE AS STAFF TO THE
COMMISSION and the ad\! isory eommittee A MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION OR
THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS are subject to disclosure once a
plan is adopted by the board of county commissioners.
(Ill) Persons who contract for or receive compensation for
advocating to the commission, to one or more members of the commission,
PAGE 8-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
to the advisory committee, to one ot mm e membe1 s of the advisory
committee, or to staff for the adoption or rejection of any plan, amendment
to a plan, mapping approach, or manner of compliance with any of the
mapping criteria specified in section 30-10-306.3 are lobbyists who must
disclose to the secretary of state any compensation contracted for,
compensation received, and the person or entity contracting or paying for
their lobbying services. Such disclosure must be made no later than
seventy-two hours after the earlier of each instance of such lobbying or any
payment of such compensation. The secretary of state shall publish on the
secretary of state's website or comparable means of communicating with the
public the names of such lobbyists, as well as the compensation received
and the persons or entities for whom they work within twenty-four hours of
receiving such information. The secretary of state shall adopt rules to
facilitate the complete and prompt reporting required by this subsection
( 4 )(b )(Ill) as well as a complaint process to address any lobbyist's failure to
report a full and accurate disclosure. \lvhich complaint must be heard by an
administrntive la\lv judge, \lvhose decision may be appealed to the court of
appeals
SECTION 6. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 30-10-306.3, amend
( 1) introductory portion, (3 )(a), (3 )( c ), (3 )( d), ( 4) introductory portion, and
(5); and add (6) as follows:
30-10-306.3. Criteria for determination of county commissioner
districts - definitions.
( 1) In adopting APPROVING a county comm1ss1oner district
redistricting plan, the commission shall:
(3) (a) (I) Thet eaftet AFTER COMPLYING WITH SUBSECTIONS ( 1) AND
(2) OF THIS SECTION, the commission shall, to the extent reasonably
possible, maximize the number of politically competitive districts.
(II) (A) TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SUBSECTION
(3)(a), THE COMMISSION SHALL ADOPT A COMPOSITE FORMULA THAT
GENERA TES A COMPETITIVENESS MEASURE EXPRESSED AS A PERCENT AGE TO
MEASURE DISTRICT COMPETITIVENESS AND MAY ALSO ADOPT OTHER
MEASURES OF DISTRICT COMPETITIVENESS.
(B) ATLEASTSEVENTY-TWOHOURSBEFOREADOPTINGACOMPOSITE
PAGE 9-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
FORMULA OR OTHER MEASURE OF COMPETITIVENESS, THE COMMISSION
SHALL MAKE THE COMPOSITE FORMULA OR OTHER MEASURE OF
COMPETITIVENESS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AND SHALL PROVIDE THE
PUBLIC SUFFICIENT TIME TO REVIEW AND COMMENT ON THE COMPOSITE
FORMULA.
(C) USING THE RESULTS OF THE COMPOSITE FORMULA OR OTHER
MEASURE OF COMPETITIVENESS IT ADOPTED, THE COMMISSION SHALL FIRST
ATTEMPT TO MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF HIGHLY COMPETITIVE DISTRICTS
AND THEN ATTEMPT TO MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF MOD ERA TEL Y
COMPETITIVE DISTRICTS.
(c) When the commission approves a plan, the staff or advisory
committee shall, within seventy-two hours of such action, make publicly
available, and include in the commission's record, a report to demonstrate
how the plan reflects the evidence presented to, and the findings
concerning, the extent to which competitiveness in district elections is
fostered consistent with the other criteria set forth in this section.
( d) For purposes ofthis subsection (3), As USED IN THIS SUBSECTION
(3), UNLESS THE CONTEXT OTHERWISE REQUIRES:
(I) "Competitive" means having a reasonable potential for the party
affiliation of the district's county commissioner to change at least once
between federal decennial censuses. Competitiveness may be measured by
factors such as a proposed district's past election results, a proposed
district's political party registration data, and evidence-based analyses of
proposed districts.
(II) "COMPOSITE FORMULA" MEANS A FORMULA THAT AVERAGES THE
MARGIN OF VICTORY ACROSS THE MOST REPRESENTATIVE COMBINATION OF
NATIONAL, STATEWIDE, OR LOCAL ELECTIONS, AS DETERMINED BY THE
COMMISSION, TO DETERMINE A DISTRICT'S COMPETITIVENESS MEASURE
EXPRESSED AS A PERCENT AGE.
(III) "HIGHLY COMPETITIVE DISTRICT" MEANS A DISTRICT WITH A
COMPETITIVENESS MEASURE GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO NEGATIVE FIVE
PERCENT AND LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO FIVE PERCENT.
(IV) "MARGIN OF VICTORY" MEANS, FOR AN ELECTION, THE
PAGE IO-HOUSE BILL 26-103 8
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PERCENT AGE OF VOTES CAST FOR THE CANDIDA TE
OF THE ST A TE'S LARGEST POLITICAL PARTY AND THE PERCENT AGE OF VOTES
CAST FOR THE CANDIDATE OF THE STATE'S SECOND LARGEST POLITICAL
PARTY.
(V) "MOD ERA TEL Y COMPETITIVE DISTRICT" MEANS A DISTRICT WITH
A COMPETITIVENESS MEASURE EITHER GREATER THAN FIVE PERCENT AND
LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO TEN PERCENT, OR LESS THAN NEGATIVE FIVE
PERCENT AND GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO NEGATIVE TEN PERCENT.
( 4) No plan may be approved by the board ofcouney commissioners
-or-the commission if the plan:
(5) So long as the commission has complied with the requirements
of subsections ( 1) through ( 4) of this section, in adopting APPROVING a
county commissioner redistricting plan, the commission may consider
congressional districts, state house of representative districts, and state
senate districts in order to minimize the number of necessary voting
precincts in a county.
(6) THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MAY DIRECT THE
COMMISSION TO MODIFY A PROPOSED PLAN IF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS IDENTIFIES ELEMENTS OF THE PLAN THAT DO NOT COMPLY
WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SECTION AND WHY THOSE ELEMENTS OF
THE PLAN DO NOT COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SECTION.
SECTION 7. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 30-10-306.4, amend
(l)(b), (l)(d), (l)(e), (l)(g), and (2) as follows:
30-10-306.4. Deadlines for preparation, amendment, and
approval of plans.
(1) The board of county commissioners shall establish deadlines to
ensure that the board of county commissioners shall adopt a plan for the
redrawing of county commissioner districts no later than September 30 of
the redistricting year. These deadlines must include dates by which the
following must be accomplished:
(b) The appointment of staff and an advisory committee as needed
to assist the commission and the acquisition of all necessary resources to
PAGE 11-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
enable the commission to begin its work, in accordance with section
30-10-306.2 (l);
(d) The submission of written comments to staff or an advisory
committee by any member of the public and any member of the commission
on the creation of not less than three plans for county commissioner
districts, created by staff 01 an advisory committee alone, and on
communities of interest that require representation in one or more specific
areas of the county. Staff 01 an advisory committee shall consider such
comments in creating the plans, and such comments shall be part of the
record of the commission's activities and proceedings. Staff and the
advisory committee shall keep each plan confidential until it is published
online or by a comparable means of communicating with the public using
generally available technologies. The commission may provide direction for
the development of these plans through the adoption of standards,
guidelines, or methodologies to which staff and the advisory committee
shall adhere; including standards, guidelines, or methodologies to be used
to evaluate a plan's competitiveness, consistent with section 30-10-306.3
fflEdJ SECTION 30-10-306.3 (3).
( e) The creation, presentation to the commission, and publishing
online of the plans. At public hearings at which the plans are presented,
staff or an advisory committee shall explain how the plans were created,
how the plans address the categories of public comments received, and how
the plans comply with the criteria prescribed in section 30-10-306.3.
(g) The request by any member of the commission or group of
members of the commission for staff or an advisory committee to prepare
additional plans or amendments to plans. Any such request must be made
in a public hearing of the commission but does not require commission
approval.
(2) The commission may adjust the deadlines specified in subsection
(1) of this section, if conditions outside of the commission's control require
such an adjustment to ensure that the board of county commissioners can
approve a plan for the redrawing of county commissioner districts no later
than September 30 of the redistricting year OR IF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS DIRECTED THE COMMISSION TO ADJUST A PLAN PURSUANT
TO SECTION 30-10-306.3 (6).
PAGE 12-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
SECTION 8. Act subject to petition - effective date -
applicability.
(1) This act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the
expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general
assembly (August 12, 2026, if adjournment sine die is on May 13, 2026);
except that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of
article V of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part
of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not
take effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held
in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the
official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.
(2) This act applies to the adoption of a county commissioner district
redistricting plan that occurs after the effective date of this act and does not
PAGE 13-HOUSE BILL 26-1038
require the adjustment or readoption of a county commissioner district
redistricting plan that has been adopted as of the effective date of this act.
Ju~~
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
Vanessa Reilly ~
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
James Rashad Coleman, Sr.
PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
Esther van Mourik
SECRETARY OF
THE SENATE
APPROVED 0n \Y\,1A4;rb! 0\,11.e, <\:;th 202J.. "'-+ \7-.:S<f"'
(Dat and Time)
COLORADO
PAGE 14-HOUSE BILL 26-1038