For Immediate Release | December 1, 2020

Town of Avon Asks District Court to Resolve Conflicting Legal Interpretation on Required Number of Signatures for Recall Petition

Avon, CO - The Town of Avon filed a complaint in Eagle County District Court today for an interpretation of law concerning the required number of signatures for a sufficient recall petition. The Avon Recall Committee re-submitted its recall petitions with signatures on November 3, 2020. The Town of Avon provided a Certificate of Insufficiency for the recall petitions concerning Mayor Sarah Smith-Hymes and Councilor Tamra Underwood on November 9, 2020, based upon the legal interpretation that the required number of signatures is 496 and the recall petitions failed to include that required number of signatures. The Avon Recall Committee submitted correspondence on November 5, 2020 describing its legal interpretation that the required number of signatures is only 330.

The constitutional right of recall is to be liberally construed in favor the citizens’ right of recall. The Town of Avon filed a complaint in Eagle County District Court to request a legal interpretation from the District Judge pursuant to a civil process known as a Rule 57 Declaratory Judgment action in deference to the conflicting legal interpretation from the Avon Recall Committee and the potential impact such interpretation may have on the rights of Avon citizens protected the First and Fourteenth Amendment. The Town of Avon hopes for a quick review and decision by the District Court to resolve this conflict in legal interpretations of the required number of signatures.   

# # #