Broomfield has a 24-hour ballot box at the Guard House at Anthem, 16591 Lowell Blvd., up on the north end. Another sits in the northwest corner of Redpoint Ridge Park at Arista, 11337 Central Ct., at the south end. Five more are spread between them, at Vista Park, Skyestone Lodge, Flatiron Marketplace, the Paul Derda Recreation Center, and the George Di Ciero City and County Building. All seven send ballots to the same office. Broomfield's Clerk and Recorder runs this election as a county, not as a city sending its residents off to four other counties.
That setup turns 25 on Sunday, November 15. The anniversary has gotten little attention, but the November 3 general election makes it easy to see. Running its own election is the most public job Broomfield took on when it became Colorado's newest county. It also shows the bigger change, since a whole layer of county government that once belonged to four other counties now runs out of a few buildings on DesCombes Drive.
This Election Runs From One DesCombes Drive
Broomfield's official election notice says ballots went out by mail on October 2. Questions go to the city and county elections line at 303.464.5857 or to votebroomfield.com. The notice itself lists four Voter Service and Polling Centers. For anyone reading this on Thursday, October 29, their schedules break down like this:
- George Di Ciero City and County Building, One DesCombes Dr.: open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through November 2, plus Saturday, October 31, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Sunday, November 1.
- Flatiron Marketplace, 170 E. Flatiron Crossing Dr.: opens Friday, October 30, then runs Saturday, October 31, and Monday, November 2, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Sunday.
- Paul Derda Recreation Center, 13201 Lowell Blvd.: Monday, November 2, only, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Broomfield Municipal Shops, 3951 W. 144th Ave.: Monday, November 2, only, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, all four are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Every one of them has ADA-accessible voting machines. The seven drop boxes listed above take ballots around the clock until Election Day.
The vote center sites cover much of the city. Flatiron Marketplace sits near the US 36 shopping district. The Municipal Shops are up on West 144th Avenue, and the Paul Derda Recreation Center is on Lowell. They all report to a single county office, and that office is the newest part of the arrangement.
Twenty-Five Years Ago, This Ran Through Four Counties
Before 2001, the City of Broomfield sat across parts of Adams, Boulder, Jefferson and Weld counties. The Denver Post reported in November 2000 that the move to a single county meant Broomfield had to build county-service infrastructure, set its boundaries, and hire staff.
The change took a statewide vote. In 1998, the city council sent the mayor and city manager to ask the Colorado General Assembly to put a constitutional amendment on that year's ballot. Both houses passed it by the minimum two-thirds vote. A citizens group then campaigned across Colorado, and the amendment passed in the November 1998 statewide election. Voters from Grand Junction to Lamar helped decide that Broomfield would get its own county.
The Broomfield Enterprise's 2011 look back puts the vote on November 3, 1998. The amendment gave the city three years to make the switch, and the City and County of Broomfield began operating at midnight on November 15, 2001. Charles Ozaki's 2020 account in the National Civic League's National Civic Review calls it the first new county formed in Colorado since 1913. It also notes that Broomfield is one of only two city-counties in the state. The other is Denver, which became one through its own constitutional amendment in 1902.
The election office is a direct product of that change. According to the same account, Broomfield folded the county clerk and recorder duties into the existing city clerk's office. That happened shortly before property records moved to electronic filing, which lightened the workload. Election season is still the office's busiest stretch, and it usually needs more staff than its regular election judges. Because every department sits under one city-county structure, calls for volunteers from other departments are usually filled.
The Parts of the County That Never Show Up on a Ballot
The ballot is the part of county government most people actually see. Most of what came home in 2001 is less visible, and Broomfield organizes it differently from most Colorado counties. Ozaki's account notes that Broomfield has no separately elected officials running county departments. Under the home rule charter, every department reports to the city and county manager, who answers to the mayor and city council.
| County function | Before November 15, 2001 | How Broomfield handles it now |
|---|---|---|
| Jail | Broomfield police drove prisoners to county detention centers in Boulder, Golden, Brighton and Greeley | Broomfield runs its own detention center, and the police chief also carries the sheriff's duties |
| Public health | Planned to join the Tri-County Health Department, until Broomfield learned during the transition that it could not | One Broomfield Health and Human Services Department, with the city council also serving as the Board of Health and the Board of Social Services |
| Courts | Broomfield had to build court space as part of becoming a county | The municipal court shares that space with the state county and district courts |
| Clerk and recorder | Handled by the counties | Merged into the city clerk's office |
Two of those changes are easy to feel in daily life. The courthouse is one. The Colorado Judicial Branch lists Broomfield Combined Courts at 17 DesCombes Drive, a short walk from the election office at One DesCombes. Ozaki writes that municipal court employees were trained in state court operations so they can back up state court staff. He describes the combined court as unique in Colorado.
Health and human services is the other, and it comes with a clear before-and-after number. Ozaki writes that the department now delivers state-funded programs that residents had long worried were not fully available in Broomfield. He also compares the caseload before and after the department opened.
"When Broomfield initially researched the client load of residents of the several counties, it numbered in the hundreds. Soon after the department began operating, the client load numbered in the thousands."
The building planned for human services alone was stretched to fit health services as well. About fifteen years later, a new facility was designed and built for both.
The jail change saved more than drive time. Ozaki notes that police transport savings cover part of the cost of building and staffing the Broomfield detention center. Having police, detention, health and human services, and the library under one roof also allows joint work. For example, Broomfield police now respond to some calls alongside a mental health professional from Health and Human Services.
How the 25th Is Being Marked
Broomfield is celebrating the anniversary as part of a larger year. The Broomfield Historical Society hosts the calendar for Broomfield 2026!, a group of local nonprofits and government representatives. The group is marking four anniversaries this year:
- The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
- The 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood
- The 65th anniversary of the founding of the City of Broomfield
- The 25th anniversary of the City and County of Broomfield
Those last two numbers mean the county has existed for 25 of the city's 65 years. The Broomfield 2026! calendar says new events are added every month. Its anniversary program, "Divine Timing: The Creation of the City and County of Broomfield. A Community Effort!", took place October 22 in the Eisenhower Room at the Broomfield Library, 3 Community Park Drive. The listing promised to bring together people who helped create the new government structure. The Broomfield Enterprise also mentioned the 25th anniversary in its Broomfield Life 2026 section.
The next event on the calendar is "The Role of Immigrants in Broomfield" on Tuesday, November 17, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Crescent Grange, 7901 W. 120th Ave. The organizers say speakers are still to be announced and the time could change, so check the listing before heading over. The Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum has its Veterans Day ceremony on November 11 at 11 a.m. That falls between Election Day and the anniversary.
Polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, at all four vote centers. Twelve days later, on November 15, Broomfield marks 25 years as a county.
If the anniversary has you wondering how local government shows up at a closing, such as where your deed gets recorded or which office handles what, Mark Hutchinson is happy to walk you through how a Broomfield transaction actually moves from contract to recording. Let's Connect.
