Who governs Lyons, and where the official information is
Lyons is a statutory town under Colorado law, governed by an elected mayor and six trustees. It runs its own utilities, parks and planning; Boulder County, two special districts and the school district provide the rest.
This section is a neutral route to the official bodies. ExploreLyons.com is not one of them and takes no position on Town business. Last verified September 17, 2026.
Mayor and Board of Trustees
Seven members, all elected at large by the town's voters for two-year terms in April of even-numbered years. The mayor presides and votes; a mayor pro tem is chosen by the Board from among the trustees. A Town Administrator runs the staff day to day.
- Mayor
- Mark Browning
- Trustees
- Julie Jacobs, Greg Lowell, Mariah McCreary, Amy Schwartz, Leigh Williams, Jen Wingard
- Next election
- April 2028. The Town Clerk runs the municipal election by mail ballot; candidate packets go out in January.
Names are as certified by the Town after the 2026 election. Vacancies are filled by Board appointment; the Town's page is the current list.
Elections, Town of LyonsShirley F. Johnson Council Chamber, Lyons Town Hall, 432 5th Avenue. Meetings are hybrid, with a livestream and remote public comment. A holiday Monday moves the meeting, usually to Tuesday; the agenda, posted the week before, is the authority. Public comment on items not on the agenda is taken near the start.
Boards and commissions
Residents appointed by the Board, most meeting monthly at Town Hall or the library. Openings are advertised on the Town site and filled by application.
Boards & Commissions, Town of Lyons- Planning & Community Development Commission
- Reviews land-use applications, rezonings and the comprehensive plan before they reach the Board.
- Utilities & Engineering Board
- Advises on the water, wastewater and electric utilities, rates and capital projects.
- Arts & Humanities Commission
- Curates the heARTS of Lyons public-art collection and the annual call for artists.
- Historic Preservation Commission
- Reviews changes to designated historic buildings and the downtown district; meets at the library.
- Parks & Recreation Commission
- Advises on the parks, the campground, trails and recreation programs.
- Lyons Urban Renewal Authority
- A separate authority, with the Board as its commissioners, that manages tax-increment financing for downtown redevelopment.
- Ecology Advisory Board and others
- Sustainability, housing and the Main Street program each have an advisory group; the Town's page lists the current set and their meeting days.
The Town, the county and the districts
Incorporation in 1891 means the Town has the powers a Colorado statutory town gets: its own utilities, streets, parks, zoning, building code and sales tax. It contracts out policing and belongs to districts for fire, the library and schools.
Town of Lyons
Water, wastewater and electric utilities; streets and snow; parks, the campground and recreation; building permits, planning and zoning; the municipal court; the April municipal election; and the Town's sales and property taxes. Town Hall, 432 5th Avenue, 303-823-6622.
lyonscolorado.comBoulder County
The Sheriff's Office polices the town under contract from a substation on Railroad Avenue. The county runs public health, property records and assessment, motor vehicles, county roads outside town, the open-space parks around it, and, through the Clerk & Recorder, every election but the Town's.
bouldercounty.govSpecial districts
Fire and emergency medical response come from the Lyons Fire Protection District, the library from the Lyons Regional Library District, and schools from the St. Vrain Valley School District. Each is a separate public body with its own elected board and its own mill levy.
Which body handles which serviceElections in Lyons
Two systems run side by side. The Town Clerk conducts the regular municipal election on the first Tuesday of April in even-numbered years, by mail ballot, for the mayor and trustees and any Town ballot questions. The Boulder County Clerk & Recorder conducts everything else: the November coordinated elections for county, school-district, library-district, state and federal offices, and any Town question the Board chooses to place on a November ballot.
Voter registration is statewide through the Colorado Secretary of State; a registered Boulder County voter with a Lyons address is automatically on the Town's rolls. The county's ballot drop box for the area is listed on its elections page before each election.
Official bodies
Each line names the body and what it is the authority for. For everyday services, the resident resources list goes one step further, to the page that handles each task.
- Town of Lyons Board of Trustees
- The elected governing body; ordinances, budget, utility rates, land use
- Agenda Center
- Boulder County Commissioners
- The elected governing body for the county; the unincorporated land around the town
- Commissioners
- Boulder County Clerk & Recorder
- County, state and federal elections; recording; motor vehicles
- Clerk & Recorder
- St. Vrain Valley School District
- Lyons Elementary and Lyons Middle/Senior High; elected board
- svvsd.org
- Colorado General Assembly
- Find the state House and Senate members for a Lyons address
- Find my legislator