Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman will hold a hearing later this month on whether ten towns in Douglas County should be converted from legally recognized municipalities to ghost towns. Among the abandoned towns is Douglas, apparently the city after which the county was named.
Ironically, Douglas County is actually one of the fastest growing counties in the nation by population. But, it still has many hamlets that were organized into municipalities that quietly died when nobody cared enough to hold municipal elections and run municipal business. Special districts, homeowner’s associations and county governments now perform many essential historically municipal functions.Frankstown appears to be actively fighting the change, but its prospects of success look bleak, as do those of the other nine towns on the list. If elections have not been held and town government has not been conducted for the past five years, the Secretary of State has no choice.
Coffman’s press release notes:
Secretary Coffman will hold a hearing on October 23 to determine if ten towns in Douglas County should be abandoned.
Pursuant to C.R.S. 31-3-201, the county attorney of Douglas County has made an application to the Secretary of State for a determination that the following towns are abandoned:
