Updated January 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.
Laydon’s top priorities as County Commissioner include cutting taxes, providing real transportation solutions, ensuring responsible growth, working collaboratively with law enforcement and the school board to make sure we have proven safety solutions ready and in place to protect our kids, and making certain we have clean and abundant air and water for generations to come.
As County Commissioner, Laydon seeks to collaborate with everyone in Douglas County – citizens, the press, business leaders, civic servants and nonprofits – to deliver good things for the community. He has an open-door policy and invites the opportunity to connect with all constituents and collaborators.
In addition to his fundamental responsibilities as a County Commissioner, 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 Housing Authority; Douglas County Youth Initiative Advisory Board, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health 9-8-8 Implementation Planning Committee.
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 he also leads the Douglas County Wildfire Initiative.
Laydon also serves on the Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI) subcommittees on Health and Human Services, Land Use and Natural Resources, and Transportation and Telecommunications. He also serves 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 served as a Douglas County Planning Commissioner for two terms, and as 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 sits on the board of many local nonprofits, was an officer and member of Denver Active 20-30 and the Metro Denver Board of Christian Legal Society.
A 15-year land use and business attorney, Laydon was a senior partner at Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC. He is a member of the Denver Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
Laydon is a proud fifth-generation Coloradan and a graduate of Colorado State University and the University of Colorado School of Law. Laydon and his wife reside in Lone Tree with their three children. The family attends and are members of Cherry Hills Community Church.
