Commissioner Abe Laydon, District I

Updated September 2024

Abe Laydon was elected Douglas County Commissioner, District I, in November 2018 and began serving his second term in January 2023. He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of County Commissioners. During his two terms, Douglas County has remained the healthiest and most prosperous county in the state, according to U.S. News and World report.

Laydon’s focus has remained “doing the greatest good for the greatest number” while always looking for the “both/and solution” to build bridges where there are differences of opinion.

Laydon is the founder and Chairman of the Douglas County Homeless Initiative and the creator of the HEART Team, which effectively ended panhandling, encampments, and unsheltered homelessness in Douglas County during his tenure. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Douglas County Wildfire Action Collaborative where he was responsible for securing and expanding the state’s only county Helitac team, which has protected not just the county but the entire region from the greatest potential threat  it faces – wildfire. Laydon is also the the Founder of the Douglas County Water Commission, ensuring the county has a dependable long term Water Plan. Laydon is Co-Chair of the state’s Region 12 Opioid Counsel, which encompasses Douglas County and administers millions of dollars to address the opioid crisis for young people and adults.

Laydon is the chairman of the Douglas County Youth Initiative and led the creation of the Douglas County Youth Commission.

Laydon was the architect of the Douglas County Economic Development Collaborative and its merger into what is now the Douglas County Economic Development Collaborative, encouraging citizens to “Dream in Douglas” and ensuring the county attracts the top businesses, with the greatest jobs, to help keep Douglas County the best place to live, work, play, and raise a family.

Laydon spearheaded the innovation in school security efforts following the tragic STEM shooting, to ensure critical entryway technology provided peace of mind and saved lives. Through his leadership, the county now has the highest number of School Resource Officers in the state. Laydon also Initiated the change of Lucent Boulevard in Highlands Ranch to Kendrick Castillo Way in an effort to remind all who travel to the county of the courageous way of life led by one of its greatest heroes.

While in office, Laydon has joined his board in keeping Douglas County debt free with a balanced budget and healthy reserves, annually providing historic levels of tax relief and property tax reductions, all under the strongly held belief that government has enough of the people’s money and should do more with less.

During the global pandemic, Laydon and the Board led the county to be statistically the most healthy (lowest cases, hospitalizations, and deaths) as  well as the most open in the Denver Metro Area. While many communities remained shuttered, Laydon declared an end to the pandemic in April of 2021 based on the data and joined his board in creating the new Douglas County Health Department in order to be more responsive to citizens.

On the mental health front, Laydon was on the front lines leading the national, state, and local efforts alongside elected colleagues at all levels to create the new 988 mental health line which now provides mental health crisis response to be analogous to 911 in emergencies.

Laydon led the successful ballot measure to ensure the county had $220 million for roads and also spearheaded the even more successful ballot measure to ensure the county had over $330 million for parks, open space, and historic resources for future generations, developing the Strategic Master Plan for this investment and preserving special sites like Sweetwater and Toepfer as parks for the community.

In addition to his fundamental responsibilities as a County Commissioner, and his aforementioned roles, Laydon also serves as a representative of Douglas County, by way of Board appointment, to the following area organizations: Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority Board, Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Investment Board, Centennial Airport Community Noise Roundtable, Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Control Authority, Denver South Economic Development Partnership Board of Directors and Denver South I-25 Urban Corridor Transportation Management Authority, Community Services Block Grant Tripartite Board, Developmental Pathways Board of Directors, Douglas County Community Foundation, Douglas County Youth Initiative Advisory Board, and the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. He previously served on the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health 988 Implementation Planning Committee.

Laydon led the reimagining of the Douglas County Community Foundation to be the philanthropic arm of the county administering the Philip S. Miller funds and establishing the community emergency relief fund to be prepared if disaster strikes. Mayors, elected leaders, and C-Suite Executives from the county’s most significant businesses, partners, and nonprofits are now members, caring for the community and raising funds through its signature event, the Annual Heroes Gala.

Additionally, Commissioner Laydon shares in the Board’s responsibility for the County’s presence on the Chatfield Watershed Authority, Denver South Economic Development Partnership, Denver Regional Council of Governments, Metro Area County Commissioners, and Partnership of Douglas County Governments.  In September 2021, Governor Polis appointed Commissioner Laydon to the Colorado Forest Health Council and reappointed him in 2024.

Laydon has served on the Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI) subcommittees on Health and Human Services, Land Use and Natural Resources, and Transportation and Telecommunications. He also served on the National Association of Counties Transportation Policy Steering Committee.  In addition, he is a member of the Douglas County Mental Health Initiative Workgroup for Development of Programs and Interventions, and the Sky Ridge Community Council.

The Board of Douglas County Commissioners also serves as the Board of Adjustment, the Board of Human Services, and Liquor Licensing Authority, and the Board of Social Services.

Prior to being elected as County Commissioner, Laydon was an attorney and equity partner in South Denver’s largest business law firm, served as a Douglas County Planning Commissioner for two terms, and was the Douglas County Republican Party’s first vice-chairman and treasurer. A graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies, Laydon has been involved in philanthropy and civic service his entire life. He has sat on the board of many local nonprofits, was an officer and member of Denver Children’s Foundation and the Metro Denver Board of Christian Legal Society. Laydon is the first Latino as well as the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community elected commissioner in Douglas County’s history.

Laydon is a proud fifth-generation Coloradan and a graduate of Colorado State University and the University of Colorado School of Law, completing post graduate studies at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School. Laydon is a proud father of three, a man of deep faith, and makes his home in Lone Tree.