The County Attorney’s Office is divided into Operations and Human Services.

Operations Section
The Operations Section provides legal advice and representation to the Board of County Commissioners, Elected Officials, County Departments and appointed committees, and Boards & Commissions, as authorized by the Board of County Commissioners. 

The Operations Section handles a variety of general civil litigation matters and prosecutes zoning violations. Operations also handles transactional matters including real estate, land use, contracts and finance.

Human Services Section
The Human Services Section provides advice, training and representation to the Department of Human Services in the areas of adult and child protection, child support enforcement and public assistance appellate issues. The Human Services section also handles cases involving mental health, legal disabilities and drug and alcohol commitments.

Board of Equalization
Administration for the JCBOE is handled through the County Attorney's Office, including administration for property tax abatement petitions.

The JCBOE hires hearing officers to hear appeals of property valuation and classification by the Assessor and appeals of determination of eligibility by the Assessor for the Qualifying Senior and Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemptions. The Board of County Commissioners sits as the Jefferson County Board of Equalization (JCBOE).

The County Attorney's Office is not allowed to give legal advice to the public.

Please see our Jeffco Legal Resources or Colorado Legal Resources pages for information available to the public.

Ellen Wakeman began as County Attorney on January 16, 2009, after serving as acting county attorney since January, 2007. She began in the County Attorney’s Office in 1987 after five years with a large firm in Denver.

Ellen grew up in Sacramento, California, and received her B.A. from the University of California at Davis. Ellen graduated from University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law after a year in an exchange program at Harvard Law School.

Last Modified: Jan 29, 2010 04:05 PM