After the Douglas County sheriff sent a stream of anti-union emails to employees and held mandatory “captive audience” meetings — and the county commissioners released a YouTube video using public funds to oppose the effort to form a union at the sheriff’s office — the state Labor Department has found that county officials illegally committed unfair labor practices.

Several top officials took part in opposing the effort to unionize. The state Labor Department found that Sheriff Darren Weekly, Undersheriff David Walcher, and county Commissioners George Teal, Abe Laydon and Lora Thomas committed unfair labor practices.

“Indeed, the Commissioners’ claims included an embellishment about how the community as a whole would suffer if the employees formed a union,” the ruling from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment says. “In this context, it is clear that these many comments amounted to a threat that the Commissioners would respond unfavorably to union demands.”

For months, county officials have been fighting a proposal to unionize the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, a change that would enable employees to negotiate salaries, benefits and other aspects of their jobs through collective bargaining.

It’s a fight that’s taking place in a new legal environment. Douglas is one of several counties across the state where employees have voted for, or are considering, unionizing their sheriff’s office, a possibility allowed by a 2022 state law called the Collective Bargaining...

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