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Colorado Community Rights Amendment

Proposed Colorado Community Rights Amendment

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado

In the constitution of the state of Colorado, add section 32 to article II as follows:

Section 32. Right of Local Community Self-Government

(1) As all political power is vested in and derived from the people, and as all government of right originates from the people, the people have an inherent and inalienable right of local community self-government in each county, city, town, and other municipality.

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Preemption of Ban on Fracking

A Greeley ban on oil and gas extraction enacted as a local ordinance in 1985, both by ballot initiative in a home rule city, and by city council action, was overturned by two 1992 Colorado Supreme Court cases, Voss v. Lundvall Bros. Inc and Bowen/Edwards Assoc. Inc. v. Board of County Commissioners of La Plata County, holding that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Act (O&GCA) preempts any outright ban as well as any local regulation that creates an “operational conflict” with O&GCA.… Read the rest