Colorado Gov. Jared Polis punts Tina Peters clemency decision until after appeals court weighs in, his office tells lawmakers

Seth Klamann, The Denver Post on Mar 11, 2026

Published in News & Features

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DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis’ office has told lawmakers that he will delay his decision on whether to commute Tina Peters’ prison sentence until after the Colorado Court of Appeals issues a ruling in her case.

Polis’ staff members privately told some lawmakers late last week that the governor would wait, and House lawmakers were told of the delay during a caucus meeting Monday morning.

The update — which came shortly before Democratic lawmakers sent Polis a letter urging him not to intervene — is the first time the governor or his office has offered any sort of timeline for when he may reduce the former Mesa County clerk’s nine-year term of incarceration. It came days after many Democratic officials, in the state Capitol and elsewhere, blasted Polis for a social media post that appeared to confirm that he intended to reduce Peters’ sentence, which he has called “harsh.”

Polis’ office declined to comment on the delayed timeline Tuesday. In a mid-January hearing, a panel of judges at the Court of Appeals signaled skepticism about the length of Peters’ sentence. But there is no firm timeline for when the court will issue a ruling on her appeal.

Polis has said he is considering a clemency application from Peters, but not a pardon. His office denied a public records request from The Denver Post this week that sought Peters’ clemency application.

The news on the timeline was delivered to lawmakers as they openly criticized Polis’ hinted intention to reduce her sentence after he’s faced months of pressure both in opposition and support of clemency, including from the president. After some lawmakers said they would push for a legislative response, Democrats at the Capitol sent the governor the letter Tuesday night, asking him to let the judicial branch handle any changes to Peters’ sentence.

All of the legislature’s 66 Democratic lawmakers, including the leadership of both the House and Senate, signed the letter, according to a copy obtained by The Post.

“We urge you not to empower those who seek to undermine our elections and Republic by providing them with a figurehead to rally around and near assurance that, when you tamper with our elections, you will escape justice,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers noted that Peters’ estimated parole eligibility date is November 2028, which they said would amount to an appropriate term “for attempts to tamper with and sow discord around our elections.” Peters was sentenced in October 2024.

Peters was convicted of several charges for providing unauthorized access to secure voting equipment to a third party. She was Mesa County’s clerk at the time, and she — along with members of her legal team — has been a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

Trump has repeatedly and publicly called for her release since his return to office last year, and he’s castigated Polis for not pardoning her or transferring her into federal custody. Polis rebuffed a custody transfer request late last year, and the Trump administration began targeting the state through funding cuts and the closures or relocations of federal facilities. Trump also vetoed a bill that would’ve financed a drinking water pipeline in southeastern Colorado.

Polis told reporters in January, and reiterated in a 9News interview last week, that he wanted Peters to show remorse for her behavior. In a radio interview Monday, Peters attorney John Case called Peters a martyr but said “anyone has second thoughts about what they’ve done.”

9News first reported the radio interview Monday.

In their letter, the Democratic lawmakers said Peters had shown “a total lack of remorse” and noted that she was involved in a violent encounter with a fellow inmate in January. Video of that incident shows Peters grabbing the other woman and shoving her into the center of a hallway. The state Department of Corrections has said it was investigating the incident.

Last week, The Post sought an update on that investigation. On March 4, Corrections spokeswoman Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia initially said she would check for updates. She has not responded to subsequent emails.

Democratic lawmakers wrote in their letter to Polis that they worried that reducing Peters’ sentence would drive more county clerks and election workers to resign. By reducing Peters’ sentence, they wrote, the governor would “further embolden these conspiracies and those who propagate them.”

“We ask for your approach to consider — beyond all else — that the impacts of your decision ripple far beyond fairness in carceral sentencing,” the lawmakers wrote. “This is not about any of us, or you, or even Ms. Peters. This is about the security and assuredness of our elections as a whole. This is about the future of our democracy, and of free and fair elections in our nation. We ask you to stand with us in safeguarding that future.”

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