Handrup throwing hat in for 2nd ward

Aurora native Kirk Handrup served the community for 30 years as Hamilton County Sheriff and he announced this week that he would like to continue his involvement in local affairs as a Ward 2 representative on the Aurora City Council.
Though he can’t officially file the paperwork necessary to throw his hat in the ring until January, Handrup said he has made the decision to run and decided to make his plans public.
“Well, they had those two pink postcard meetings and I went to the first meeting and voiced my concerns about the property taxes being quite high,” Handrup explained, referring to the public hearings hosted by the city in September of 2024 and 2023. “They increased taxes and I was a little concerned with the increase in the city budget. I thought if I can complain about things, I want to be part of the solution also, so that’s basically when I decided I was going to run.”
Asked why he decided to announce his decision a full year before the May 2026 primary, Handrup said he wanted to give the community time to learn more about him and his views on city government. Voters will make the final decision on city council representation in the November 2026 General Election.
“I wanted to get the name out there to let people know that I’m interested in becoming a councilman, to give them plenty of time to think about it,” he said. “If they have any research they need to do on myself, they sure can.”
Handrup grew up in Aurora, graduating from AHS in 1975. He then pursued a career in law enforcement, ultimately serving as the Hamilton County Sheriff for 30 years. He retired in 2021, and since that time has been enjoying traveling and spending more time with his wife, Barb, and extended family.
“I don’t have any axes to grind with anybody,” he stated. “It’s just the taxes, that’s one thing, and one person can’t solve the issue with the taxes. It’s going to take the entire council. If a person says I’m going to lower taxes, that can’t happen. It takes a council to do it and that’s one thing I hope to do.”
One factor raised during the city’s audit report in March was the impact on local taxes the city-based ambulance service is having. Handrup is somewhat familiar with the ambulance service, since it was a county-run operation during his time as sheriff.
“The ambulance is a concern,” he said. “We do need to look into better ways to do things. You can’t make it profitable. It’s not going to be a profitable business. One thing we should probably check into is communities our size and how they operate and how they do it. Aurora and Hamilton County said a long time ago that they do want an ambulance service, so we need to figure out a way to do it.”
Handrup suggested that the county’s contribution to the city-run ambulance may have to be revisited as part of a long-term solution.
“At that time, they wanted the city to help out in some way,” he said of conversations during his time as sheriff. “I don’t recall if they did get the city to help out, but now the shoe’s on the other foot. Now we need to go back to the county and ask them for assistance. I believe they are helping out, but they might have to ask for a little more help because the ambulance (service) also goes out into the county.”
Delving into the numbers involving the ambulance service and overall city finances is a challenge Handrup said he would look forward to.
“I worked for the Sheriff’s Office for 30 years and I worked with budgets every year during that time, so I am familiar with how budgets work,” he said. 
Other attributes he hopes to contribute if elected are access and openness.
“One thing that we need, and I guess the key word nowadays is transparency,” he concluded. “The citizens need to know what’s going on and I feel they should be able to ask their councilman, their mayor, and they should give an answer. I look forward to the opportunity, if citizens give me that.”
Handrup and his wife, Barb, have two daughters, Sarah Nelson and Kathryn Gray, who both live in Castle Rock, Colo. They also have three grandsons.