Aurora will hold in-person city council meetings with public comment sessions for at least the next three years, after a settlement was reached in a First Amendment lawsuit stemming from a council decision that temporarily did a way with public comment last year.The city will also pay out $75,000 for attorney's fees, the settlement states.The lawsuit stemmed from Aurora's June 2025 decision to suspend in-person meetings until a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Kilyn Lewis, who was shot and killed by an Aurora SWAT officer in May 2024, was settled. He was unarmed. That lawsuit is still pending, according to an Aurora spokesperson.Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman previously said city council meetings had been disrupted in the year since Lewis' death, alleging that protesters had ignored the city council's rules of conduct.This lawsuit filed by MiDian (Holmes) Shofner, CEO of the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership and lead advocate for the family of Lewis alleged that council's elimination of public comment violated the First Amendment."The reason that this lawsuit has been filed is because, by law, our elected officials cannot silence the voices of the people they represent," Shofner told Denver7 at the time. "We need to take a stand, and we need to ensure that the voices of the people are prioritized and remind the council that inside of those chambers, the most powerful place in that room is the podium that the people come and stand from."Public comment was eventually reinstated for virtual meetings in July 2025, and in-person meetings returned in November of that year.The new agreement requires that council allow at least one hour of public comment per meeting and give each participant up to three minutes of comment. It allows exceptions to in-person meetings when there is a threat of physical violence, a public health emergency or when council chambers are under construction. Aurora's Ad Hoc Rules Committee will also "work in good faith on a code of conduct that willgovern City Council meetings and the public will have meaningful input in that process," the settlement said."Ms. Holmes and Aurora are thankful to reach this resolution that affirms the value of the communitys perspective in the democratic process," the parties wrote in a joint statement. ...read more read less