Douglas County to switch official website to .gov for added security

Douglas County residents paying taxes, renewing vehicle paperwork or searching property records will soon see a new web address in the browser: douglasCO.gov. The county said the switch to a .gov domain will begin the week of April 17 and is meant to make official messages easier to separate from scams, phishing emails and fake payment sites.

The change is not a website redesign. Douglas County said existing bookmarks, links and email addresses will keep working through automatic redirects, and residents do not need to take any action during the rollout. After April 17, the .gov address will appear in the browser bar, and county officials urged people to update bookmarks once the transition is underway.

County leaders framed the move as a security upgrade as much as a branding change. Commissioner George Teal said the switch is designed to help residents trust that they are reaching official county information and services at a time when phishing attempts and spoofed websites are becoming more common. The county said the .gov domain adds stronger controls, including mandatory HTTPS and multifactor authentication for registrar accounts, which are intended to protect both the public and county staff from impersonation and cyberattacks.

The county is also moving official email addresses to the .gov domain, a step aimed at reducing the chance that residents will be tricked by look-alike messages. That matters for everyday transactions that carry financial risk, especially motor vehicle services and property records. If an email or payment page asks for money, personal information or login credentials, residents should check that the address ends in douglasCO.gov and that the connection is using the secure https:// format before clicking or paying.

The move also fits a wider shift in how local governments handle online identity. CISA says .gov is reserved for verified U.S. government entities and that it manages the domain space by checking applicants’ identity. The agency says .gov can reduce impersonation risk and improve email security, and it links .gov adoption to eligibility for certain cybersecurity grant funds. CISA took over oversight of the domain in 2021 under federal law passed in 2020.

Douglas County is not the first Colorado jurisdiction to make the switch. Adams County has moved its website and employee email to .gov, and Weld County has also shifted to the domain as a cybersecurity improvement. In Colorado, where the Attorney General’s Office says residents reported more than 800 imposter scams in 2023, the county’s new web address is meant to do more than look official. It is meant to help prove it.