There was a front page headline article in the recent Highlands Ranch Herald about efforts to remove term limits for the county sheriff and coroner. It seems like a newsworthy subject, but the article didn’t say: a) what are the lengths of the term, b) how much of the term is left, c) is the current office holder up to the current term limits, d) who is the current sheriff and coroner (not names I recall on a daily basis).
a) From this: http://www.douglas.co.us/clerk/elections/documents/2006primary-officialcumulativereport.pdf it states the terms for sheriff and coroner are each 4 years.
b) & d) From this: http://www.douglas.co.us/government/Elected_Officials.html I deduced that current sheriff Weaver has been in office since Jan. 2007 and his term expires Jan. 2011. Current coroner Riber has been in office since Jan. 2003 and his term expires Jan. 2011.
From this: http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/lcsstaff/research/termlim.htm I found that the term limits are 2 consecutive terms if the terms are longer than 2 years.
c) Thus, private “I” that I am, I’ve deduced that Sheriff Weaver can serve another term if elected and Coroner Riber cannot run for re-election in 2011.
Well, I’m glad I figured THAT out! I’m not going to pursue the respective office holders for their opinions, though that would have been newsworthy also. As for should we have term limits, I can’t decide. There’s an argument for having continuity and experience in office and an argument for having a fresh, new (but less experienced?) perspective every so often. Hmmm. Something to keep me awake at night.
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