Opinion ID: 2629155
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Recent History of Term Limits in Colorado

Text: In 1990, Colorado voters passed an amendment to the Colorado Constitution which imposed term limits on the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and state treasurer, Colo. Const. art. IV, § 1(2), and all state representatives and state senators. Colo. Const. art. V, § 3(2). In 1994, voters of Colorado passed Amendment 17, the provision under consideration today, which extended term limits to many other officials: [N]o nonjudicial elected official of any county, city and county, city, town, school district, service authority, or any other political subdivision of the State of Colorado, no member of the state board of education, and no elected member of the governing board of a state institution of higher education shall serve more than two consecutive terms in office. Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 11(1). The voters also attempted to impose term limits on Colorado's congressional delegation, see Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 9a(1), but this provision proved unconstitutional. See U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779, 783, 115 S.Ct. 1842, 131 L.Ed.2d 881 (1995) (overturning a similar Arkansas provision). Nevertheless, the voters explicitly declared their support for nationwide term limits. Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 9a(2) (The people of Colorado hereby state their support for a nationwide limit....). In 1996, the voters of Colorado again returned to the term limits issue, passing Amendment 12 which instructed Colorado's state legislators to apply for a constitutional convention in order to propose a term-limits amendment to the United States Constitution. Amendment 12 further instructed Colorado's congressional delegation to vote to approve the proposed amendment. Amendment 12 also contained provisions for displaying on the ballot a particular candidate's stand on term limits. Amendment 12, however, was declared unconstitutional in Morrissey v. State, 951 P.2d 911, 917 (Colo.1998). Undeterred, the voters of Colorado approved another term limits amendment in 1998. This amendment permitted, but did not require, candidates for the United States Congress to file a Term Limits Declaration with the Secretary indicating their intent to voluntarily limit their term in office if elected. Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 12a(1). Such a declaration would then appear on the ballot as well as voter education materials, thereby informing voters of the candidate's position on term limits. Id. at § 12a(5). More recently, the General Assembly referred an amendment to the voters of Colorado for the November 2002 ballot which would have exempted all district attorneys from term limits. Voter education materials (the Bluebook) published by the Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly and distributed to the electorate noted that the Colorado Attorney General, in response to a request from the Secretary, had issued a formal opinion indicating his belief that district attorneys were subject to term limits under section 11. [3] Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly, 2002 Ballot Information Booklet, An Analysis of Statewide Ballot Issues and Recommendations on Retention of Judges, Research Publication No. 502-10 at 22; Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2000-2 (Feb. 9, 2000). Thus, the Bluebook explained that the proposed amendment was necessary if the voters wished to exempt all district attorneys from term limits. In 2002, the voters rejected this measure by a wide margin.