Polis Silent on Colorado’s County Clerks Demand He Reject Feds’ Ploy to Free Tina Peters

Tina Peters, the former Mesa County, Colorado clerk, spent her second Thanksgiving in state prison, as local Democrats struggle to keep her there–despite the national ambitions of their governor.

The organization representing the 64 Rocky Mountain State county clerks sent a Nov. 21 letter to Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared S. Polis urging the governor to reject entreaties from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, specifically its Bureau of Prisons, and move Peters from state to federal custody.

Transferring Peters into federal custody without any federal crime or sentence would not give the Department of Justice, through the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the ability to amend her sentence or grant her parole. The transfer would give the federal government control over Peters’ living conditions and confinement rules, potentially improving her quality of life while serving her time until Colorado elects a more sympathetic governor who could parole or even pardon her.

“We, the multi-partisan Colorado County Clerks Association, respectfully ask that you not transfer former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters to federal custody,” read the letter, which was not signed, but sent on CCCA letterhead. 

The 70-year-old Peters was convicted in October 2024 of various charges related to her efforts, with other individuals, to review the voting machines her county used during the 2020 presidential election. 

Peters, a Republican, who buried her Navy SEAL son in 2017, after he was killed in an air show accident, was sentenced to nine years in state lockup and assessed thousands of dollars in fines. 

Peters expressed her gratitude for those fighting to free her from prison with an X-post Friday. 

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who kept me in their thoughts and sent prayers yesterday. This is the second year that I have spent Thanksgiving in prison,” she wrote.

“Even when life challenges us and tragedy strikes, may we always remain grateful for the countless blessings we have each day,” she wrote. Complicating the clerks’ demand to keep Peters in her cell has been the failure of Polis to react directly to the federal request.

The clerks wrote that the governor needs to speak out about what he is going to do–and requested a face-to-face meeting with Polis. “This personal meeting is crucial to ensure that the voices of those who bore the brunt of these events are fully heard.”

A spokesman told Politco the governor was vigilant against an intrusive federal government, but would not address the Peters matter directly:

“Governor Polis takes his responsibilities seriously and has been clear that he will take threats from the federal government head-on – especially when they undermine our democracy – which is why we have vigorously defended Colorado’s values during this turbulent time,” Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman said.

Just as Polis has played it soft regarding Peters, he has not dodged questions about his White House ambitions, which, if acted upon, would require he reach out to voters outside the safe confines of deep purple Colorado. 

In 2022, the governor told the host of “Real Time with Bill Maher” that he would not rule out running for president. In February, appearing at the Politico Governors Summit, he claimed that seeking national office after his term ends in 2027 is not on the table. “I don’t have any plans to even think about that.”

Of course.

“Colorado’s clerks, Republicans and Democrats, and unaffiliated, have spent decades building one of the most accessible, secure, and transparent election systems in the nation,” the clerks said.

“Every clerk in the state adhered to Colorado’s meticulous certification, audit, and oversight requirements,” they said. “These officials did their work with professionalism, accuracy, and integrity, even under tremendous pressure.”

Peters’ actions were the exception, they said.

“Ms. Peters was the one clerk who chose not to,” they said. “Her actions were not mistakes or misunderstandings; they were deliberate violations of Colorado law and or attempts to undermine public trust.”

Colorado Public Radio reported that the Federal Bureau of Prisons sent a Nov. 12 letter to the Colorado Department of Corrections requesting custody of Peters.

“Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) can confirm that on November 12, 2025, we received a letter from the Federal Bureau of Prisons regarding Tina Peters,” a DOC spokesperson wrote.

“The letter is currently under review in accordance with all applicable departmental policies and procedures.”

The department said there is a multi-step process to formally approve the transfer of an incarcerated individual to another jurisdiction, including a multi-disciplinary assessment, and that it can’t be initiated by an outside entity.

“This process is typically reserved for complex cases involving significant, long-term safety and security needs,” said a DOC spokesperson.

Inmate swaps between states and with the federal government are common, and the procedures are codified in the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, as well as with court-sanctioned writs. 

The BOP request for an inmate transfer comes eight months after the Justice Department filed a March 3 Statement of Interest related to Peters’s own Feb. 6 federal habeas corpus petition, asserting to the judge that Justice was reviewing Peters’ conviction.

A habeas corpus proceeding is a challenge to the government’s circumstances for, literally, holding the body, or incarcerating an individual. It has a long history in English law, evolving from the centuries of conflict between the English monarchs and their nobles. The concept of this right to contest government detention was brought to the American colonies, and included in the Constitution’s Article I. 

The DOJ statement, which functioned as an amicus brief, was rejected March 11 by a state judge, and Aug. 18, Colorado’s Democrat Attorney General Philip J. Weiser filed a motion to dismiss the habeas corpus petition formally.

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