The Board of County Commissioners (BoCC), an administrative and policy-making body, has only such powers and authority as are granted by the General Assembly of the Colorado State Legislature.
County government is a political subdivision of state government, created to carry out the will of the state. The County is not an independent governmental entity existing by reason of any sovereign authority. As a political subdivision, the county and its board of commissioners possess only such implied powers as are necessary to carry out expressed powers (Colorado Constitution, Article XIV, Section 6).
Colorado counties with a population of 70,000 or more may have a three or five-member board of commissioners. In 1976 the voters of El Paso County chose to have a board of five commissioners, each elected to represent a district. The districts are equal in population, and the boundaries are established by the board every two years.
The Board of County Commissioners holds Public Hearings and Meetings on a regular basis. All such meetings are subject to state open meeting laws, the Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972, and the Colorado Open Records Act. The Commissioners update their Rules, Procedure, and Ethics Standards annually. The Board’s regular published hearings are held on Tuesdays (except legal holidays) beginning at 9 a.m. in the Auditorium of Centennial Hall at 200 South Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs.
