Is Your County Assessor Moonlighting in Real Estate? A New Bill Wants Answers.

What This Bill Actually Does

At its core, Senate Bill 26-105 is about addressing a very specific, age-old problem in local government: the conflict of interest. In many of Colorado's counties—especially our more rural or rapidly growing areas—it is incredibly common for local officials to wear multiple hats. The county assessor might also be a real estate investor. The county clerk might have family ties to a local auto dealership. Right now, the rules forcing them to put those connections on the public record are surprisingly patchwork. This bill creates a strict, uniform disclosure mandate for three specific offices: Coroners, Clerks and Recorders, and Assessors.

Here is how the new rules would work. If you hold one of these offices, you have exactly 30 days from taking office (or 30 days from acquiring a new business interest) to file a formal, written disclosure with the county. The bill casts a wide net, defining a financial interest as any ownership stake, employment relationship, management role, contractual relationship, or direct financial benefit. Specifically:

• Coroners must disclose ties to mortuaries, funeral homes, crematories, or other death-care businesses.
• Clerks and Recorders must reveal interests in auto dealerships or motor vehicle brokers (since they handle titling and registration).
• Assessors have to disclose stakes in real estate brokerages, property management, title insurance, or appraisal firms.

But the bill doesn't stop at just telling the public about the conflict; it requires action. Once that interest is disclosed, the official cannot participate in any official action that would directly and specifically affect that business. Furthermore, the bill zeroes in on a very sensitive area: county coroners handling the disposition of human remains when there is no known next of kin. Under SB26-105, coroners must publish an annual aggregate report showing exactly how many of these remains they referred to specific funeral homes or crematories. They aren't allowed to share personal identifying information about the deceased, but they absolutely must show the public where the county’s death-care business is going.

What It Means for You

For the average Colorado resident, this bill is fundamentally about trust and fairness in your daily interactions with local government. Think about it: when you get your property tax valuation in the mail, it has a massive impact on your monthly budget. If you decide to appeal that valuation, you want absolute confidence that the County Assessor evaluating your neighborhood isn't heavily invested in the property management company buying up homes down the street. SB26-105 gives you the legal right to pull a public record and verify exactly who your local officials are doing business with.

This also touches on deeply personal moments for families. The provisions around County Coroners are designed to prevent grief exploitation. If a tragedy occurs and a family member passes away before the next-of-kin can be located, the county has a statutory duty to handle the remains. This bill ensures that those remains aren't just being treated as a guaranteed revenue stream for a coroner's side-hustle mortuary. By forcing the county to publish exactly where those referrals are going, it keeps the process respectful, transparent, and driven by public duty rather than private profit.

Here is what you can do to get involved right now:

• Look up your local officials: Take five minutes this week to search for your current County Assessor, Clerk, and Coroner. Do you know what they do in their private lives?
• Make your voice heard: This bill is currently sitting in the Senate Local Government & Housing Committee. If you believe local government needs more transparency—or if you think these rules might unfairly target small-town officials who have to work second jobs—contact the committee members and share your perspective before the first hearing.

What It Means for Your Business

If you operate a business in real estate, auto sales, or death care, this bill is designed to level the playing field. Have you ever felt like a competitor was getting their vehicle titles pushed through the clerk's office just a little bit faster? Or perhaps you own an independent funeral home and have noticed that the county morgue seems to exclusively refer unclaimed cases to one specific competitor across town? This bill gives you a paper trail. By making these disclosures a public record, you can finally see if an unfair market advantage is actually the result of a glaring conflict of interest at the county level.

However, if you are a business owner who also serves in local government—a scenario that is incredibly common on the Western Slope and the Eastern Plains—you need to prepare for immediate compliance changes. The definition of a financial interest in this bill is broad. It doesn't just mean you own the business outright. If you sit on the management board, if you are a W-2 employee, or even if you just have a contractual relationship with a regulated firm, you must formally disclose it. More importantly, the mandatory recusal provision means you will need to establish clear operational firewalls in your office to ensure you aren't taking "official action" on anything that directly affects your outside business.

Here are the action items business owners should focus on THIS WEEK:

• Audit your county contracts: Review any contracts or referral agreements your business currently has with county executive offices. Are you dealing directly with an official who holds a financial stake in your company?
• Prepare your data (for death-care providers): If you run a mortuary or crematory that handles county referrals, assume those numbers will soon be heavily scrutinized. Make sure your intake records for county-referred remains are perfectly reconciled, as the coroner will soon be legally required to publish this data annually.

Follow the Money

Because this bill was just introduced, the official state fiscal note hasn't been published yet, but we can read the tea leaves on the financial impact. The direct cost to state and local taxpayers should be negligible. SB26-105 doesn't create a massive new regulatory agency or require expensive new software. It simply requires existing county officials to fill out a written disclosure form and hand it to the county clerk to file as a public record. The administrative cost for counties to store and provide access to a few extra sheets of paper a year is virtually zero.

The real financial impact of this bill happens in the private market. By forcing these relationships out into the light, this legislation threatens to disrupt cozy, lucrative arrangements that may have quietly existed in county politics for decades. When a coroner is forced to publicly reveal that 90% of county-funded remains referrals are going to a business they hold a financial stake in, you can bet that the county commission—and competing businesses—will step in to demand a more equitable, competitive bidding process. Ultimately, this is a transparency measure that protects taxpayer dollars from being quietly funneled into the pockets of the very officials elected to manage them.

Where This Bill Stands

Senate Bill 26-105 was officially introduced in the Senate on February 11, 2026, by a trio of sponsors: Senator Nick Hinrichsen and Representatives Matthew Martinez and Tisha Mauro. It has been assigned to the Senate Local Government & Housing Committee, which is where it will face its first major test.

Because this is fundamentally a "good government" and transparency bill, it has a strong trajectory on paper—nobody wants to vote against transparency. However, expect some rigorous debate in committee. Representatives from rural counties often argue that strict recusal requirements are impractical in small towns where the talent pool is small, "everyone knows everyone," and officials are practically required to have private sector jobs to make a living. If it survives committee and passes the full legislature without being petitioned to the ballot, these new disclosure rules will take effect on August 12, 2026.