Polis shortens Tina Peters’ prison sentence, making her eligible for parole on June 1

This story first appeared at cpr.org

DENVER — Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has reduced the state prison sentence of Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk convicted of tampering with election equipment, making her eligible for parole on June 1, 2026.  

“She committed a crime. It did not interfere with any election, did not have to do with ballot counting, but it was illegal access to the computer room,” Polis said in an interview with CPR Friday morning from the governor’s office.

“She thought she was trying to back up the software before it was updated. She did it illegally. There's no question about it. And she deserves to go to prison. And I think this is a more appropriate, even harsh, frankly sentence for that crime.”

Polis said he was effectively cutting her nearly nine-year sentence in half to four and a half years. She was sentenced on Oct. 3, 2024, so that means on June 1, she will have spent more than 600 days incarcerated.

Peters’ 2024 conviction and nearly nine-year sentence have stood out because legal efforts to hold President Donald Trump and many allies accountable for attempts to overturn that election have faltered.

Polis’ decision stands to be deeply unpopular among Democrats and election officials in the state, and puts the governor directly at odds with his own party. But he said he has remained focused on the facts of the case. 

“And in this case, there is absolutely both the appearance and frankly, I believe the likelihood that her speech was considered in her sentencing,” he said. 

Polis noted that his commutation doesn’t change the fact that she will be a felon for life. 

“It's about doing what's right,” he said. “Even though, of course, I disagree with her speech, just as the judge incorrectly stated that he did. But that's not a factor in, it should not be a factor in the sentencing.”

Polis’ commutation follows a months-long pressure campaign from the Trump administration to free Peters from state custody. Trump has long praised Peters for her efforts to try to prove his false claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him.  

It also follows a decision from the Colorado Court of Appeals that upheld her original conviction but ordered a new sentencing hearing.  The ruling sided with Peters' argument that, were it not for her public comments about election integrity, she would have received a lesser sentence.  

Peters claimed that the trial judge in Grand Junction, Matthew Barrett, violated her First Amendment rights when he strongly rebuked Peters during sentencing, with a blistering critique of her actions and attitude, saying that she was an attention-seeking former official who only thinks about herself. He said she was continuing to push false claims about rigged voting machines and a stolen election.

“You are no hero,” Barrett told Peters in 2024. “You're a charlatan who used, and is still using, your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that's been proven to be junk time and time again.”

Polis’s commutation pre-empts the resentencing order.

Polis says he made the commutation because Peters was 'over-sentenced,' not to get Trump's approval

Polis, who is in his last year of office because of term limits, maintains that his decision is not an effort to curry favor with Trump, who has referred to Peters as a hostage “being held in a Colorado prison by the Democrats, for political reasons,” and at one point said state leaders should "rot in hell.” Trump issued a pardon to Peters in December that was considered symbolic, because a president doesn’t have jurisdiction over state-level crimes.

He said he would continue to push back against any illegal attempt from the president to pardon Peters. 

“This is not a pardon. It's really making sure that her free speech was not a criteria for her overly harsh sentencing,” Polis said. “So I really think that in the scheme of things, this will take the wind out of the sails of those who argued that there was something awry here. Because I think there's a point that those have, and the reason we got thousands of calls saying she was over-sentenced.”

Previously, Polis has mentioned Peters’ age as a reason she might deserve a commuted sentence, but Friday said that was not the reason: “Tina Peters also, of course, is older than 70, but this is primarily a disparate sentence based on punishment for her free speech.” 

Polis said in her clemency application that Peters also admitted to making a mistake, which is not something she’s ever publicly said. 

“And then critically, she understands and has committed in this process to following the law going forward. I don't believe her beliefs will change. I think she's going to say nutty things. I think she's going to believe in different things that are demonstrably false, but that's not a crime in our country,” he said. 

Democrats and election officials asked Polis not to commute Peters' sentence

Democrats and election officials from across the political spectrum have told Polis that commuting Peters’ sentence would amount to a capitulation to Trump and urged him not to do it. Democrats have said it won’t stop Trump’s attacks on the state, such as moving to strip federal funding or shut down entities like the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. 

“I don't think that anything that we do is going to change Trump's mind,” said Democratic state Rep. Kyle Brown in an interview earlier this year. “I do not support the idea of clemency for Tina Peters. Tina Peters put our elections at risk and I believe that she needs to suffer the consequences of those actions.”

Election clerks in Colorado from across the political spectrum said Peters has shown no remorse and will likely push others to act illegally if given the opportunity. 

“Doing the right thing still matters,” said Routt County Clerk Jenny Thomas, who’s politically unaffiliated, during an earlier effort by the Trump administration to move Peters to federal custody. “Uphold the justice that was earned under Colorado law, keep her in Colorado custody. If you don't, you are telling every clerk in this state that the threats we face don't matter.” 

Peters’ legal team maintains she has been targeted, as other Trump supporters have been. 

“Tina Peters is a proud American, and she's not embarrassed or ashamed in any way. She's proud of what she's done because she's not a criminal,” said Peters’ attorney Peter Ticktin, in an earlier interview. “She's just a good person.”

Polis: Peters’ sentence ‘stands out’

Initially, it appeared Polis would resist the Trump administration’s efforts to help Peters. 

Last March, in response to word that some Republican leaders in Colorado wanted the Trump administration to withhold federal funding to the state to force a pardon from Polis, the governor’s office said he would only consider a clemency application on its own merits, “regardless of bullying and threats.” Later, the state Department of Corrections denied a request to move Peters to federal custody.

But then in January of this year, Polis appeared to express concerns about the length of her sentence. In an interview with CPR News he said, “absolutely, her sentence stands out” when compared to other people who have been convicted for nonviolent, first-time offenses. 

Polis said he reviews the hundreds of applications for clemency and pardons his office receives. 

“And in my final year as governor, I do want to lean into the value of mercy and do what we can to give people a second chance,” he said.

Peters’ commutation wasn’t the only one Polis issued Friday. He said in total he issued nine commutations and 35 pardons. 

“It's not the last round of pardons and commutations I'll be issuing,” he said. “We had an application deadline of April 3, and we did get several hundred applicants in March and April that we haven't had the chance to go through yet.”