Lora Thomas, who has served on the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners since 2016, announced Friday she is resigning, effective immediately.

Thomas said she can no longer take the “unrelenting attacks, harassment and punishment” from fellow commissioners Abe Laydon and George Teal.

Thomas, who is term-limited, said she had planned to serve out the rest of her term, which would have ended on Jan. 14.

“I’ve lived in hell for four years,” a sometimes-tearful Thomas told reporters on Friday morning.

The final straw, she said, was an order from the other two county commissioners, to county staff to evict her from her office and turn it over to state Sen. Kevin Van Winkle on Monday. Van Winkle was elected as commissioner last month.

In a statement after the press conference, Laydon and Teal said moving boxes and transitioning after a November election is normal.   

“It is tragic that our censured colleague chose to repeatedly violate our policy manual, and then host a press conference when the County was honoring the Kendrick Castillo family,” they said. “It is entirely normal and customary after a November election for boxes to move, and transitions to begin. We are thankful for the peace, positivity and collaboration that Commissioner-Elect Kevin Van Winkle will bring to Douglas County.”

Thomas said Laydon and Teal have have engaged in a pattern of bullying her for several years.   

Douglas County officials did not answer specific questions posed by Colorado Politics on the legality of evicting a sitting elected official from her physical office before the end of her term. Douglas County officials also did not respond to questions on how staffers had been directed to treat Thomas.

In a emailed statement, county spokesperson Wendy Manitta Holmes said: “For Douglas County, County Commissioner transition process is at the discretion of the sitting Board. As with most elected offices in Colorado and around the country, newly elected officials begin onboarding and transitioning into their new offices after the election. Senator Kevin Van Winkle was duly elected Commissioner District III in November. The county is and will continue to onboard him so that so he may hit the ground running day one.”

County Attorney Jeff Garcia later added, “Regarding office assignments and administrative matters related to onboarding Commissioner-elect Van Winkle, C.R.S. §30-11-101(1)(c) grants the County the authority to direct the use of real and personal property owned by the County when deemed by the board of county commissioners to be in the best interests of the county and its inhabitants. This would include assigning an office or vacating an office in order to make improvement for a new commissioner.”

Van Winkle won’t be sworn in until January. 

Van Winkle announced on Nov. 22 that he would resign his Senate seat on Jan. 9 but will be sworn in on Jan. 14 for his county seat. The state Constitution, according to the Secretary of State’s office, does not allow him to hold both seats simultaneously.

Thomas said her problems began in 2021 when she opposed a plan by Renewable Water Resources — a close ally and whose principals are major campaign contributors to Teal — to sell the county water from the San Luis Valley. That made her a target from Teal and his allies and eventually, from fellow Laydon, she said.  

Teal was first elected in 2020, and, a week after his election, Thomas said he told her that he and Laydon would govern the county and she was no longer needed.

Thomas said the harassment included a campaign that she believed is tied to Teal and his wife — a series of 18 postcards that attacked Thomas. The postcards did not include “paid for by” language required of campaign materials, and two complaints filed with the Secretary of State’s office were dismissed because Thomas was not a candidate.

RWR, which includes former Gov. Bill Owens as a principal, obtained water rights in the San Luis Valley but has no ability to bring that water to the Front Range. Water providers that own pipelines and reservoirs that the project would need have said they have no interest in participating in the project.

RWR principals have donated thousands of dollars to Teal’s campaigns. The most — more than $15,000 between 2020 and 2024 — was contributed by Sean Tonner, an RWR principal, and members of his family. Five of the other seven principals also gave Teal nearly $10,000 in the same period. Teal was re-elected in November.

Teal, with Laydon’s help, initially put Tonner, one of his associates and a now-former RWR principal, on the Douglas County Water Commission. The commissioners rejected Thomas’ recommendations for members from her own district.

Tonner runs the Douglas County Future Fund, which targeted Thomas in her primary bid for House District 43 earlier this year. The fund was the largest contributor to a group called Keep Colorado Counties Safe at $374,000, which spent as much as $250,000 to defeat Thomas and back her primary opponent, Matt Burcham.

Thomas said she once supported Laydon, even endorsing him for his 2018 bid for office. 

Meanwhile, Laydon’s law license was suspended in August for failing to complete required continuing law education. He told Colorado Community Media he would seek an exemption based on his job as a county commissioner and that he expected the situation to be rectified by year’s end, but as of Dec. 6, the license is still suspended, according to the state’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel.

Laydon and Teal censured Thomas twice in 2023, which they rescinded earlier this year and then reinstated in October, accusing her of spreading misinformation.

According to Thomas, Laydon enlisted Garcia and his staff to monitor her weekly newsletters and report any instances of “misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation” back to the board. Thomas called the practice a “gross abuse of authority” and morally questionable, as Garcia serves as her attorney, as well. 

In an email on Oct. 23, Garcia stressed the review of Thomas’ newsletters correlated with the county creating a fact or fiction webpage.

“As part of that motion, the Board directed legal and communications staff to review all spectrums of media, including Commissioner Thomas’ weekly newsletter for factual inaccuracies,” Garcia said. “The motion passed 3-0. Commissioner Thomas has consented and directed the County Attorney’s Office to review her weekly newsletter and recommend topics for Fact or Fiction when appropriate.”

Laydon and Teal also voted to remove her as chair in 2022 and ordered an investigation after she sought county legal advice regarding the RWR water proposal. The results of that investigation, which cost the county $24,000, cleared Thomas.

Laydon and Teal then ordered a second investigation into potential illegal conduct by Thomas. The investigation was conducted by the Arapahoe County Sheriff, and she was cleared in that report, as well.

The first censure took place just weeks after the second report.

Thomas has filed a lawsuit to recoup her legal expenses, which started at $5,800 for the first investigation. The county sought a dismissal of the lawsuit, which was denied, and she has since spent another $14,000 from her retirement fund to continue her fight.

Thomas has a lifelong career in public service. She previously served four years as Douglas County coroner and before that, she spent 26 years with the Colorado State Patrol, including as its first woman captain. 

She identified three areas that she was most proud of during Friday’s press conference: the creation of the 23rd Judicial District, which she started and led to legislation in 2020 to create the district. It goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

She said Laydon and Teal kicked her off the project earlier this year.

She also led the move to remove Douglas County from Tri-State Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, which saved the county $1 million. She also led the efforts to reallocate county sales tax money away from the Justice Center and toward badly-needed fixes to Douglas County roads.

“These guys have canceled me,” Thomas said Friday.

She plans to spend time with family, rest and heal, and decide next steps, she said, indicating she isn’t done with public service.