## Facts

- Colorado enacted the Peace Officers Standards and Training Act (POST Act) to set uniform statewide training and certification standards for “peace officers” through a POST board.
- The POST Act generally required covered peace officers, including deputy sheriffs, to obtain POST certification as a condition of service.
- Denver is a home rule city and county under article XX of the Colorado Constitution, which grants authority over creation and control of local offices and officers, including their qualifications, powers, and duties.
- Denver’s deputy sheriffs primarily performed custodial and court-related functions (e.g., jail duties, court security, process service) and did not perform general patrol duties or possess the same arrest powers as police officers.
- Denver did not require its deputy sheriffs to obtain POST certification, asserting the state could not impose qualification standards on these local officers in a home rule jurisdiction.
- The Fraternal Order of Police and a Denver deputy sheriff sought declaratory and injunctive relief requiring Denver to provide POST-compliant training and ensure POST certification for Denver deputy sheriffs.

## Issues

1. Whether training and certification of Denver deputy sheriffs under the POST Act is a matter of statewide concern, local concern, or mixed concern under Colorado home rule doctrine.
2. If the matter is mixed, whether the state interest in public safety and uniform officer training outweighs Denver’s constitutional authority to set qualifications for its deputy sheriffs.
3. Whether the POST Act may constitutionally be applied to compel Denver to require POST certification for its deputy sheriffs.

## Decision

- The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals’ judgment in favor of Denver, though on different reasoning.
- The court held the POST Act could not constitutionally impose its training and certification requirements on Denver’s deputy sheriffs.
- The court concluded Denver’s article XX home rule authority over deputy sheriff qualifications controlled, and the state’s public-safety interest did not outweigh that authority given the deputies’ limited, primarily local duties.

## Legal Principles

- Under article XX home rule doctrine, a subject is classified as one of statewide concern, purely local concern, or mixed state and local concern; the classification determines whether state law or local home rule authority prevails.
- Home rule authority includes Denver’s power to define the qualifications, powers, and duties of its local officers, including deputy sheriffs, absent a sufficient overriding statewide interest.
- In mixed-concern disputes, courts weigh the relative state and local interests, including the extent of extraterritorial impact and the practical scope of the local officers’ functions.
- A generally applicable state public-safety statute does not displace home rule authority where the regulated local officers’ duties are limited and primarily confined to local institutions, and the statewide impact is minimal.

## Conclusion

The Colorado Supreme Court held that, as applied to Denver’s deputy sheriffs with limited custodial and court-related responsibilities, the POST Act’s statewide training and certification mandate could not override Denver’s home rule constitutional authority to set qualifications for its local officers.


Fraternal Ord. of Police, Colo. Lodge #27 v. City & Cnty. of Denver, 926 P.2d 582 (Colo. 1996)