Updated May 2, 2023
Lora Thomas was first elected Douglas County Commissioner, District III, in November 2016 and began serving her first term in January 2017. She was re-elected in November 2020 and began serving her second term in January 2021.
Ms. Thomas is a third-generation Coloradan who has called Douglas County her home for 31 years.
As a Douglas County Commissioner, Lora Thomas will bring leadership, valuable life lessons and conservative values to the Office, and her door will always be open to listen and learn from all Douglas County residents.
In addition to her fundamental responsibilities as a County Commissioner, Ms. Thomas also serves as a representative of Douglas County, by way of Board appointment, to the following area organizations: Douglas County Mental Health Initiative; Douglas County Housing Partnership; Chatfield Basin Watershed Authority; Highline Canal Conservancy; Douglas County Emergency Telephone (9-1-1) Authority; Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Forfeiture Board; and the Unified Metropolitan Forensic Crime Lab Board. She also serves as Chair of the State Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Advisory Council (SEMTAC) Prevention Committee.
Additionally, Commissioner Thomas shares in the Board’s responsibility for the County’s presence on the Partnership of Douglas County Governments; the Denver South I-25 Urban Corridor Transportation Management Authority; the Denver South Economic Development Partnership; and the Metro Area County Commissioners.
Thomas also serves on the Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI) Board of Directors as Secretary, and on the following CCI Steering Committees: Justice and Public Safety, Taxation and Finance and Tourism and Economic Development. Thomas was appointed by CCI to represent counties on the State Department of Human Services Works Allocation Committee and in December 2020 was appointed to the Public Safety Communications Subcommittee. She also serves on the National Association of Counties Justice and Public Safety Policy Steering Committee and on the State’s Behavioral Health Transformational Task Force Subpanel.
In 2018, Ms. Thomas was appointed by the Governor to serve on the State Emergency Medical Trauma Services Advisory Committee, as well as Chairman of its Prevention Committee. She was reappointed to these committees in 2023.
In 2023, Commissioner Thomas was appointed as the local government representative to the Colorado Ethics Commission (IEC). The IEC is a constitutionally created independent commission charged with the implementation of the Ethics in Government Amendment to the Colorado Constitution, approved by voters in 2006.
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.
While living in Douglas County, Ms. Thomas has been involved in the community through her service as the Chairman of the Victim Compensation Board for the 18th Judicial District; a member of the Public Issues Committee for the Highlands Ranch Community Association; and a Board Member for the Men’s Crisis Connection.
She currently serves as President of “A Night with the Coroner,” a non-profit that raises funds for suicide prevention efforts.
Thomas first ran for public office in 2010, was elected and served a four-year term as Douglas County Coroner, from 2011 to 2015.
