PUEBLO — Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk convicted of orchestrating a security breach of her county’s election system, was released Monday morning from a state prison, Colorado corrections officials said.
Alondra Gonzalez, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson, said officials won’t say when she was released or provide details about her whereabouts or plans upon release. But conditions of her parole, obtained by The Colorado Sun through a records request, show that Peters must seek her parole officer’s permission before leaving the state.
The conditions don’t state what type of travel might be permitted and it’s not known if Peters could make short trips for campaign purposes or to visit President Donald Trump. Many supporters on social media have called for Peters to be feted by the president in Washington or at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Peters, 70, has been imprisoned since 2024 after she snuck an outside election denier into the off-limits Mesa County Elections Division office so he could copy the hard drive from the county’s voting system.
Sentenced to nine years in October 2024, Gov. Jared Polis cut her sentence in half May 15 and ordered that she be released Monday. The decision set off a firestorm of national controversy with supporters of Peters and President Donald Trump cheering the release of a figure hailed by election conspiracy theorists as a hero. Democrats and elections officials, including some Colorado Republican clerks, viewed the commutation as an action that could embolden people who want to interfere with the coming midterm elections this year.
It’s not clear when exactly Peters was released, but around 8:30 a.m. clips from “Bannon’s War Room” were posted on the social media platform X featuring Apollo Pappas, host of “The Truth Matters,” sitting in a room with Peters.
“After 606 days in prison, it has been quite the ordeal, but I really want to thank God for his faithfulness and getting me through it,” Peters said in an interview kicked off by ex-Trump advisor Steve Bannon. “It’s still a long road. I am going to spend the next few weeks regaining my health and just being with loved ones and family. … It’s a miracle.”
Peters said she hoped to become more involved in prison reform.
“I understand if someone has committed a crime, they need to do the time … but there’s no way to rehabilitate them with the way that the prisons are run currently. So I would like to be part of that, if that’s the way the Lord leads me, as well as election reform,” Peters said.
In the interview, the former county clerk accused Democrats of “cheating” and referred to faulty election equipment, despite a lack of evidence of election fraud or malfunctioning voting machines.
“No one is really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for — and that was for exposing the election machines that allow votes to be flipped,” Peters said.
Early Monday morning, a handful of supporters and a group of reporters stood outside the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo, hoping to catch a glimpse of Peters on the way out.
Standing atop a hill, with a clear view of the prison’s front door, Mack McClelland held a sign that read, “Tina Peters Mahalo for your sacrifice. Fight Fight Fight.”
McClelland, 69, said he arrived at 6 a.m. and was one of five Peters supporters outside the prison Monday morning, alongside a dozen reporters. He flew from Hawaii, where he lives, to Washington, D.C., for an event for America’s 250th celebration and when he heard about Peters’ release, he postponed his plans to head back to the Big Island.
He said he didn’t feel Peters should have gone to prison and hoped she would see his sign as she left prison.
“She’s got integrity, in my opinion. She stuck to her guns,” said McClelland, a pilot and real estate broker with an American flag tucked into the pocket of his Hawaiian shirt.
“The justice system is totally out of whack, totally skewed,” he said. “There ain’t no justice. Depends what lawyer you got, how much money you got.”
Peter Ticktin, Peters’ attorney, said she was released from prison before reporters arrived, citing “a major concern” for her safety.
“The new warden made Tina’s release work like clockwork. He took no chances and had her moved before the press showed up,” Ticktin said in an emailed statement. “She would have let the press know, but couldn’t, and she is grateful to the warden.”
Peters was convicted in August 2024 of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant; conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation; official misconduct; violation of duty in elections; and a failure to comply with an order from the Secretary of State.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Monday called Polis’ grant of clemency an “affront to democracy, the people of Colorado and election officials across the country.”
“It sends a dangerous message about accountability for those who would attack elections,” the Democrat said. “Peters’ release also will embolden the election denial movement; since the grant of clemency, she has continued to spread election falsehoods and conspiracies.”
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat who is running for Colorado governor, said Peters’ remarks “within hours of her release” showed she had not changed her views while imprisoned. He also said he opposed any efforts to provide Peters with financial compensation, adding that if elected, he would seek to ensure any such payments are taxed.
“She cannot get a cent from Trump’s slush fund,” Bennet wrote in a post shared on X. “As Governor, I will tax any payouts at 100%. No taxpayer money for Tina Peters, ever.”
Attorney General Phil Weiser said he remains concerned about Peters’ conduct in Mesa County, considering her “lack of remorse for her crimes.”
“I will continue to fight Tina Peters’ efforts to overturn her conviction in the courts,” Weiser, who is vying with Bennet for the Democratic nomination for governor, said in a statement. “The safety of our elections and the rule of law require it.”
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, also vowed to keep any federal payouts from Peters.
“Tina Peters handed over sensitive voter information and was caught red-handed. She was prosecuted by a Republican district attorney — and convicted by a jury of her peers,” Hickenlooper wrote on X. “Despite this, she walked out of prison today. But let’s make this perfectly clear: she doesn’t deserve one penny of your money.”
News of Peters’ release drew praise on social media from high-profile conspiracy theorists and election skeptics, including Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that played a major role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“HAPPY FREE TINA PETERS DAY! I know what she’s feeling right now. She’s not sleeping. She’s awake. Anxious. Excited. Knowing her entire life is gonna change in hours,” Tarrio wrote.
“My political prisoner sister….Congratulations!”
In a lengthy post on Substack on Sunday, Polis again defended his decision to grant Peters clemency, saying he did not agree with her election claims, but did so because he felt her sentence was too long.
“Tina Peters committed real crimes. She violated the public trust. She broke the law. Her actions imposed real costs on Mesa County. She deserved to be convicted. She deserved to serve time in prison,” Polis wrote.
“None of that was ever in question. What I could not ignore was that the sentence itself had become disconnected from the crime.”
When making his decision, Polis noted that Peters was a first-time offender and committed nonviolent crimes. He also cited a ruling by a three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals that ordered Peters be resentenced because her original sentence “improperly considered her constitutionally protected speech and beliefs.”
Critics contend that Polis should have waited for Peters to be resentenced.
Additional conditions of Peters’ release require her to enroll in a cognitive behavioral therapy program, participate in a community parole program, take prescribed medications and receive a mental health assessment, according to the agreement.
Peters is prohibited from possessing drugs, alcohol or weapons and must find a job or enroll in a full-time educational program, unless waived by her parole officer in Grand Junction, the agreement said.
The parole agreement, which was signed May 28, also requires Peters to comply with a restraining order, but details of that order were not listed.
Peters’ attorneys last month filed an appeal with the Colorado Supreme Court attempting to wipe her record clean. They argued that she was only carrying out her federal duties as an election official when she took measures to preserve election records.