Colorado § 30-10-306.3 - Criteria for determination of county commissioner districts - definitions.

§ 30-10-306.3. Criteria for determination of county commissioner districts - definitions.

(1) In approving a county commissioner district redistricting plan, the commission shall:

(a) Make a good-faith effort to achieve mathematical population equality between districts, as required by the constitution of the United States, but in no event shall there be more than five percent deviation between the most populous and the least populous district in each county, at the time such district boundaries are adopted; and

(b) Comply with the federal "Voting Rights Act of 1965", 52 U.S.C. sec. 10301, as amended.

(2) (a) As much as is reasonably possible, the commission's plan must preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as cities and towns; except that a division of such city or town is permitted where, based on a preponderance of the evidence in the record, a community of interest's legislative issues are more essential to the fair and effective representation of residents of the district. When the commission divides a city or town, it shall minimize the number of divisions of that city or town.

(b) Districts must be as compact as is reasonably possible.

(3) (a) (I) 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 generates a competitiveness measure expressed as a percentage to measure district competitiveness and may also adopt other measures of district competitiveness.

(B) At least seventy-two hours before adopting a composite 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 moderately competitive districts.

(b) In its hearings in various locations in the county, the commission shall solicit evidence relevant to competitiveness of elections in the county and shall assess such evidence in evaluating proposed plans.

(c) When the commission approves a plan, the staff 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) 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 percentage.

(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 difference between the percentage of votes cast for the candidate of the state's largest political party and the percentage of votes cast for the candidate of the state's second largest political party.

(V) "Moderately 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 commission if the plan:

(a) Has been drawn for the purpose of protecting one or more incumbent members, or one or more declared candidates, of the board of county commissioners, or any political party; or

(b) Has been drawn for the purpose of or results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of that person's race or membership in a language minority group, including diluting the impact of that racial or language minority group's electoral influence.

(5) So long as the commission has complied with the requirements of subsections (1) to (4) of this section, in approving a county commissioner redistricting plan, the commission may consider congressional districts, state house of representative districts, and state senate districts 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.

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (HB 21-1047), ch. 70, p. 285, § 3, effective April 29. L. 2026: IP(1), (3)(a), (3)(c), (3)(d), IP(4), and (5) amended and (6) added, (HB 26-1038), ch. 376, p. 2340, § 6, effective August 12.

Editor's note: Section 8(2) of chapter 376 (HB 26-1038), Session Laws of Colorado 2026, provides that the act changing this section applies to the adoption of a county commissioner district redistricting plan that occurs after August 12, 2026, and does not require the adjustment or readoption of a county commissioner district redistricting plan that has been adopted as of August 12, 2026.

Cross references: (1) For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1047, see section 1 of chapter 70, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.

(2) For the short title ("The County Commissioner Redistricting Integrity Act") and the legislative declaration in HB 26-1038, see sections 1 and 2 of chapter 376, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.

ANNOTATION

This section creates a private right of action for county voters. County voters are within the class of persons intended to benefit from the county commissioner redistricting statutes. The general assembly intended to give county voters a private right of action to ensure compliance with the county commissioner redistricting statutes. An implied civil remedy is consistent with the purposes of the county commissioner redistricting statutes' legislative scheme. League of Women Voters v. Bd. of County. Comm'rs, 2025 CO 8, 563 P.3d 1192.