Colorado state officials declared a small southeast town abandoned after years of turmoil among its residents and local government leaders.
Hartman, located near Colorado’s border with Kansas about 30 minutes east of Lamar, has a population of 30 residents and has lacked elected officials since January.
The town, established in 1910 and home to the historic Hartman Gymnasium built as part of the Works Progress Administration in 1938, faced years of issues that culminated in an abandonment order signed on July 28.
The most recent crisis began after a public meeting on January 13 when the town’s mayor pro tem was reportedly charged with disorderly conduct following an alleged physical altercation with a citizen.
Following the town’s last government meeting on January 23, former mayor pro vice Melissa Venegas confronted trustee Tammy Lucero over a water bill issue, and the two had a physical altercation, after which both women were charged with misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace and given deferred sentences.
A second trustee, Velma Cassanova-Cooper, suffered a seizure and went to the hospital, according to the police report.
Casanova Cooper said she is undergoing physical therapy for the shoulder she injured during the January incident, calling it a “traumatic experience.”
A brawl ensued between four women, three of whom are in their 60s and 70s.
“I’m imprisoned in my own home because of these people,” Casanova Cooper said.
The Department of Local Affairs received letters of resignation from each of the town’s trustees in January 2026, leaving Hartman without any government officials authorized to approve contracts, spend funds, appoint replacements, certify elections, or make decisions about the town’s water system.
Following the incident, the board of trustees paid the electric bill to keep the water pump running through June and resigned, bringing town records and property to Prowers County officials.
The fight centered on Hartman’s water system, for which the Colorado Department of Health and Environment gave over $1 million in reimbursement grants to work on, with trustees wanting to get the contracts rolling to fix the water.
Without government officials, the town cannot enter contracts to fix the broken water system and receive the reimbursements.
The town government oversaw the local water supply, and without government officials, water infrastructure drastically deteriorated, with the water tower supplying water to about 40 homes and the town on a boil order since October 2025.
The town faced a public health threat with the water on a boil advisory since October 2025, and the water needing testing and chlorine.
CDPHE reports related to deficiencies of Hartman’s water system date back to 2001, with multiple orders and penalties amounting to more than $100,000 issued between 2023 and 2025 for failure to properly operate water infrastructure and fix holes in the town’s storage tank.
Hartman resident Jesse Simmons submitted a petition for abandonment on June 18, but did not appear to testify at the hearing, and all who signed up to speak did so against declaring the town abandoned.
“Why can’t good old Colorado help this little town?” Hartman resident Greta Caddick asked.
“This isn’t a simple question of whether we have a government. I want to make sure you know why this happened,” said Hartman resident Shauna Casey, testifying on her 70th birthday.
“This isn’t a simple question of whether we have a government. I want to make sure you know why this happened,” said Hartman resident Shauna Casey, testifying on her 70th birthday at the hearing.
Shawna Casey, a recent Hartman transplant, has been one of leadership’s most vocal critics, alleging a pattern of noncompliance, abuse of power and malfeasance, writing in a July letter that “this mismanagement was never hidden.”
“Our town is in crisis, and those in power, from local officials to state authorities, have failed us,” resident Shawna Casey wrote in a June 2025 letter to the Secretary of State’s office.
During the hearing, the Deputy Secretary found that the Department of Local Affairs received letters of resignation from each trustee in January 2026, and there was no clerk or governing body to call, conduct, or certify a municipal election.
“There is no government currently elected in the town of Hartman,” Eric Bergman, director of the Division of Local Affairs, testified, adding that “there is no clerk or water operator and all their materials were turned over to the county of Prowers.”
Unable to hire a water operator or pay the bill to run the groundwater pump, Hartman would have been left with few options and no running water through 2030.
Officials with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs traveled to Hartman more than 30 times since 2022 to support the town with elections, resignations, budgets, audits and training new officials.
In the viral moment that sparked the government collapse, trustees ended their mid-January meeting and turned off the lights when they were confronted by a former trustee and another woman at the door.
As the trustees went to turn off the lights at their mid-January meeting, they were confronted by a former trustee and another woman who, locals say, had once appointed herself clerk pro tem.
Hartman’s weekly Monday evening trustee meetings had consistently devolved into yelling matches, with a sheriff’s deputy at times standing in the chambers to keep the peace, and town business languishing amid the shouting.
“It is clear that there are town residents that ‘remain present, active, and willing to serve,'” Deputy Secretary of State Andrew Kline said in his order, noting that “the Town of Hartman is not a place that is uninhabited, but rather a place where the resignation of all elected officials effectively prevents its residents from electing a new government.”
The state’s 15-page order argued that declaring Hartman abandoned was the only way to restore clean water, despite objections from residents who said the town was “failed by the systems designed to protect it.”
Deputy Secretary Kline said a decision against determining the town abandoned would place residents in further jeopardy given the health hazards presented by its crippled water infrastructure with nobody to run or fix it, noting that abandonment was the only mechanism that creates an avenue for residents to access clean water.
Prowers County will now control Hartman’s streets and property, while handing over the water system to a professional operator—something outside agencies had previously been reluctant to do because of the town’s contentious reputation.
Following a town meeting with Hartman residents in late February, state officials concluded that abandonment was the best solution for a community on the verge of collapse, noting that dissolving town government means nobody has to move and the community continues as an unincorporated part of Prowers County, and that it was the only way to have another entity take over the water system and prevent a health crisis.
In May 2026, an amendment to the state’s Determination of Town Abandonment created an exemption for the five-year period requirement when a town does not have a board of trustees or town clerk, is unable to hold an election, and owns or operates critical water infrastructure.
On February 12, the Prowers County Board of Commissioners formally wrote to Governor Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold requesting assistance for Hartman residents.
The county will take over the water infrastructure and direct a water treatment or delivery entity to run it.