AURORA | Local activist Midian Shofner and the City of Aurora will settle a nearly year-long First Amendment lawsuit, which both sides say will mandate a “public invited to be heard” segment be held during city council meetings for three years.
“As a result of this settlement agreement, for the next three years, Aurora will continue to hold in-person meetings with a public comment period preceding the meeting, allowing at least one hour of public comment per meeting and up to three minutes of public comment per participant,” a joint statement from both parties said.
The settlement agreement, which was released by both parties, states that Shofner will also receive $75,000 for her lawyer fees.
The city had already resumed the public-comment session late last year.
In June 2025, Shofner filed a lawsuit against the City of Aurora, claiming the city and the city council violated her First Amendment rights to speak during “public invited to be heard” by repeatedly voting to limit, and later fully eliminate, the public speaking session between January and June 2025.
The settlement will now mandate city council to keep “public invited to be heard” without restrictions, while allowing a community-created code of conduct.
Shofner, and many other protestors, including family members and friends of those killed by Aurora Police, would chant and disrupt the council meetings by yelling or bringing large groups of people to the lectern with them. The disruptions became a regular battle between protesters and city lawmakers at every meeting for over a year.
“This settlement represents an important affirmation of something far greater than the resolution of a lawsuit; it affirms the fundamental right of Aurora residents to use their voices in the democratic process without fear of suppression or retaliation based on viewpoint,” Shofner said to the Sentinel.
Shofner has been an advocate for families in Aurora and the surrounding areas who have lost family members and friends, particularly Black men, to fatal Aurora police-involved shootings. Many of the people Shofner defends were unarmed when they were shot and killed by local police. Shofner has been protesting and demanding change from Aurora police and lawmakers for more than two years, mainly highlighting the deaths of Kilyn Lewis, Rajon Belt-Stubblefield and Jalin Seabron, who was killed in Douglas County.
Many of the city council majority members at the time, who were conservatives or Republicans, regularly spoke out against Shofner and other protesters with her, because they felt her tactics were disruptive and halted city business. When the city council voted to restrict and eliminate public listening sessions, Shofner and others would actively disrupt the rest of the public comment session during parts of the meeting.
In July, city lawmakers agreed to resume the public speaking session, but it was limited to a half hour, and people were only allowed two minutes to speak. In December, the Aurora City Council political majority flipped from Republican to Democrat, and the newly elected Democrats voted to bring “public invited to be heard” back for a full hour, while giving people the opportunity to speak for three minutes.
The lawsuit settlement between Shofner and the city stipulates three years of an hour-long “public invited to be heard,” and three minutes of speaking time for each speaker, according to the joint statement and settlement documents obtained by the Sentinel.
“I am encouraged that this outcome helps ensure that the citizens of Aurora will continue to have meaningful access to public comment and engagement with their elected officials,” Shofner said. “It also creates an opportunity for the City to thoughtfully cultivate how community and leadership engage one another moving forward.
The settlement also states that the city will be doing community outreach to create a code of conduct for the public during meetings.
“Aurora will also continue to have the Ad Hoc Rules Committee work in good faith on a code of conduct that will govern City Council meetings, and the public will have meaningful input in that process,” a joint statement from both parties said. “Ms. Holmes and Aurora are thankful to reach this resolution that affirms the value of the community’s perspective in the democratic process.”
Shofner’s maiden name, Holmes, was used in the lawsuit.
“Despite public attempts, including by Mayor Mike Coffman, to characterize this matter as being motivated by financial gain, this case was never about money or personal benefit. It was always about principle,” Shofner said. “The goal was to protect the constitutional right of residents to speak openly, especially when advocating for justice in moments of profound community harm. The resolution reached makes clear that public voices, even uncomfortable ones, cannot simply be silenced.”
The Executive Director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, Jeff Roberts, said that public comment is a crucial way for public officials to hear from their community members, even though it sometimes makes meetings harder to manage. He said that this settlement can be an impactful way for city officials and the community to reach an agreement that sets an example for other cities to follow.
“Who knows what they’ll come up with?” Roberts said. “I mean, maybe they’ll come up with a way to do this that gives everybody the chance to say what they want to say while still allowing meetings to be conducted in a way that lets everybody get the business done that they need to get done.”
The settled Aurora controversy goes in opposition to one in Douglas County, which recently started restricting public comment after receiving similar outbursts and protests from Shofner and the family of Seabron after he was shot and killed by a Douglas County sheriff.
Currently, there is no state legislation requiring public government meetings to include a public listening session, and state open meetings laws do not require them either.
“I remain committed to continuing this work in partnership with community members to ensure Aurora grows into a city where engagement is welcomed, dissent is respected, and justice is pursued openly,” Shofner said.