After elections, Mesa County uses a
risk-limiting audit procedure to ensure that the results on paper ballots match the results reported by tabulation machines. The audit process involves a bipartisan group of staff and volunteers to randomly select a number of paper ballots and manually check those results against the results issued by a tabulation machine. On November 19, 2020, Peters signed off on the results of the risk-limiting audit for Mesa County, stating there were no issues or discrepancies with the results of the
2020 election in the county. Despite signing documents that agreed there were no discrepancies in the election results for the county, Peters met with individuals who promoted
the false claim that the 2020 election was illegitimate. In the months following the 2020 election, she allowed an unauthorized person to access the Mesa County's
Dominion electronic voting machines and to copy the hard drives of those machines. In 2024, Peters was convicted in
Colorado's 21st judicial district on felony charges relating to this unauthorized access and was sentenced to nine years in prison. She was also ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines. She was immediately taken into custody. Peters later stated that no law or election rule required security cameras that monitor election equipment to operate continuously; at minimum, they must be on 60 days before an election and 30 days afterward. Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland stated that Peters had not turned off the cameras after any of the eight previous elections that Peters had overseen since 2018. In the days following her order to turn off the surveillance cameras, Peters allowed Conan Hayes, co-founder of the clothing company
RVCA and proponent of
QAnon conspiracy theories, to access the room where Mesa County's electronic voting machines were stored and to copy sensitive information from those machines. Days later, Peters allowed Hayes to be present for a software update to the voting machines and to record video of the update taking place. Peters' chief aide, former deputy clerk Belinda Knisley, described Hayes as a "mystery man," and said that Peters told her she brought him in to access files from the voting machines because Peters "was afraid the Colorado Secretary of State's office was going to remove them." During the time Hayes was present, he used a staff access badge for Gerald Wood, and according to Griswold, Peters misled her staff by saying "Wood" was an employee and had been background-checked.
Publication of stolen voting machine data In August 2021,
Ron Watkins,
conspiracy theorist and site administrator of the
imageboard website
8kun, published computer files associated with the Mesa County election system, including "forensic images of Mesa County's voting machines along with video of [a software] update and partially blurred passwords" on a
Telegram channel. Mesa County
District Attorney Dan Rubinstein assigned an investigator to look into the security breach. Peters described the search as a "raid" and, saying that her chief deputy had not been allowed to be present, said: "I don't know what they did, but I can tell you I don't trust them." A day after state officials investigated the voting machines in Mesa County, Peters attended a 2020 election conspiracy conference held by
Mike Lindell, CEO of
MyPillow and conspiracy theorist. During the conference, Ron Watkins presented via livestream the computer files associated with the Mesa County election system he had shared on Telegram previously. On August 17, 2021, the
FBI investigated the alleged Mesa County election equipment breach alongside the Colorado Department of State's and County Treasurer's offices. A member of Lindell's own security team leaked the location, so she was moved to another unknown location. On August 21, 2021, a support rally was held for Peters in Mesa County; her supporters claimed there had been a security breach. On August 24, 2021, the all-Republican Mesa County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to replace 41 compromised pieces of election equipment with new equipment also from
Dominion Voting Systems. Thirty-four county residents spoke to the commission before the vote, all opposing the Dominion contract.
Removal from overseeing 2021 election On August 30, Griswold filed a lawsuit to prevent Peters from overseeing the 2021 election, because the authority to terminate Peters lay with the courts and not with her. The county commissioners voted to reject Reiner, the clerk serving the county prior to Peters having been elected to the position, and instead appointed Williams, the former Colorado Secretary of State, to oversee Mesa County elections. On August 23, 2021, Mesa County Human Resources Director Brenda Moore suspended Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley with pay due to accusations of unprofessional behavior and hostile work environment. Mesa County Elections Manager Sandra Brown was also suspended. deleted a total of 28,989 log files but did not state the purpose of the files or whether they were supposed to be replaced with new files as part of a software upgrade. It concluded: "Further investigation is required to determine the full scope of non-compliance with legal mandates for voting systems and election records, and whether the non-compliance is deliberate or simply negligent." Griswold's office responded, "Prior to the routine upgrade to voting equipment called the 'trusted build', counties are directed to save to external media all data necessary to completely audit and verify a prior election. This data may be restored to the EMS after the trusted build. No court has ever held that voting system event logs are election records within the meaning of 52 U.S.C. § 20701." Peters said she would appeal, but on October 21, the
Colorado Supreme Court declined to take up her appeal. On November 9, Mesa County Election Director Brandi Bantz fired Sandra Brown, who said she would file a lawsuit against the county for improper termination. On the evening of November 16, 2021, law enforcement authorities executed search warrants on the homes of Peters, Sherronna Bishop, and two others as part of the criminal investigation. Peters claimed on TV that the agents had broken down the door of one residence with a battering ram, but they denied this. No arrests were made. On February 7, 2022, during a hearing for Knisley, Peters was seen video recording the proceedings on her
iPad. She was charged with
contempt of court, though this charge was later overturned on appeal. When investigators tried the following day to execute a
search warrant to seize her iPad with the video footage, Peters tried to hide the iPad and repeatedly said that she could not provide the password to the iPad because it belonged not to her but to a "Tammy Bailey." She was additionally charged with obstructing government operations and obstructing a peace officer.
Indictment, trial and conviction Peters was
indicted on March 9, 2022, on 13 counts: three counts of attempting to influence a public servant (class 4 felonies), two counts of conspiracy to commit attempting to influence a public servant (class 5 felonies), first-degree official misconduct (a class 2 misdemeanor), violation of duty (a misdemeanor), failing to comply with the secretary of state (a misdemeanor), obstruction, contempt of court, criminal impersonation, and
identity theft of Gerald Wood. She was reported to have "sought to prove that widespread fraud had occurred in the state's 2020 presidential election", Knisley was indicted alongside Peters, on six counts: attempt to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty, and failure to comply with the requirements of the Secretary of State. Peters was barred from supervising local elections in 2022 as well. In April 2022, at an appearance with Peters, Lindell disclosed having personally donated an amount in the $200,000 to $800,000 range to her legal defense fund and campaign. As this was also in apparent violation of the $65 state limit, the Colorado ethics commission approved a second ethics complaint that had been made in January 2022 and investigated Peters' elections fund. despite previously directing supporters to Lindell's legal defense fund. In July 2022, a warrant was issued for Peters' arrest after she traveled out of state without the required court permission to appear at another Lindell event in Las Vegas. Peters claimed not to know of the restriction, her three attorneys claimed not to have told her, and the arrest order was canceled; but later the same month, a second warrant for her arrest was issued because she emailed multiple county clerk's offices informing them that she was seeking a recount with hand counting, violating the bond conditions of her arrest for election machine tampering. Peters turned herself in, was arrested, was allowed to repost bond, and was again released. County Elections Manager Sandra Brown also turned herself in for arrest on July 11, 2022, on an affidavit naming her in a conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and attempt to influence a public servant. She was released from custody after posting a personal recognizance bond. Peters claimed in a July 29 press release that El Paso County's logic and accuracy test (LAT) failed "in a spectacular fashion, with over a 50% error rate out of the 4,000+ ballots tested." The release also claimed that "Griswold did not provide reasonable advance notice of the LAT to the Tina Peters Campaign, thereby denying them their right to have appointed watchers present during the test," however, the Colorado Springs
Gazette showed representatives for Peters' campaign present at the test. Peters filed suit challenging methods used in the recount, and on August 6, 2022, that suit was dismissed. On August 7, 2022, Peters pled not guilty to all charges related to the alleged election machine tampering, and a trial was set for March 2023. On August 20, 2022, Peters and Sherronna Bishop appeared in a documentary released by Mike Lindell titled "[S]election Code". On August 25, 2022, Knisley pled guilty to three misdemeanor counts of trespass, official misconduct, and violation of duty, having cut a plea deal with prosecutors to keep her out of prison in exchange for testifying against Peters and others in the case. Court documents say Knisley admitted she knew about and participated in a "scheme with Tina Peters and other identified people to deceive public servants from both the Colorado Secretary of State's Office and Mesa County." The document continues to state, "This scheme, which was significantly directed by Tina Peters, ultimately permitted an unauthorized individual to gain access to secure areas inside the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office so that this person—fraudulently held out to be improperly titled as Gerald Wood, but who was later identified to actually be Conan Hayes—could participate in Mesa County's trusted build with Tina Peters and Sandra Brown." On November 30, 2022, Sandra Brown pled guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor, as part of a plea agreement that required her to testify against Tina Peters and her performance on the witness stand would play a factor in her eventual sentencing. Brown's deal, which 21st Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett did not decide whether to accept until sentencing, would require her to serve up to 30 days in jail for the misdemeanor, and would erase the felony conviction after two years if she complied with his conditions, such as requiring community service, for those two years. "There were things going on that I should have questioned and I didn't," Brown told Judge Barrett. In March 2023, Peters received a Mesa County jury trial for charges related to her recording the court proceedings of Knisley with an iPad and for obstructing investigators who tried to execute a search warrant to seize her iPad with the video footage the next day. During the trial, testimony and statements from Peters' attorney revealed that Tammy Bailey was an alias that Peters had created for herself; during the time of the search warrant, Peters had repeatedly told investigators that the iPad did not belong to her and that she could not provide the password because it belonged to someone else named Tammy Bailey. The jury ultimately convicted her on a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of government operations but acquitted her on the charge that she obstructed a peace officer. Sandra Brown began her 30-day sentence for the misdemeanor of official misconduct. Brown's deal would expunged her felony conviction of attempting to influence a public servant after two years if she complied with Judge Barrett's conditions. On May 5, 2023, Peters was held in contempt of court for lying to Judge Barrett about recording court proceedings involving Knisley using her
iPad on February 7, 2022. Eagle County District Judge Paul Dunkelman gave Peters a fine of $1,500. Her trial was pushed back to February 9, 2024, with the jury selection process to take place on the two preceding days. On July 19, 2023, Tina Peters fired her attorney, Harvey Steinberg, and hired new attorneys, Douglas Richards and Madalia Maalik. They requested to push the trial to October 18–30, 2023. On November 13, 2023, Peters filed a lawsuit in the
U.S. District Court in
Denver, Colorado against the
United States,
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland,
21st Judicial District Court Attorney Daniel Rubinstein, and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. The suit alleged that these government officials violated her constitutional rights by retaliating with investigations and charges against her for her alleged misconduct as an election official when she raised election integrity concerns in the 2020 General Election. In February 2024, Peters was scheduled to go to court for her criminal case but had fired her attorneys again, claiming to have
COVID-19. Attorney Michael Edminister took over the case from Douglas Richards and other attorneys in the Richards Carrington law firm, making him the fifth attorney of record and the fourth time her case has been postponed. The trial was again delayed until the July and August 2024. Peters attempted to have the charges against her dismissed several times. U.S. District Court Judge
Nina Y. Wang dismissed Peters' motion to dismiss the criminal investigation citing a failure to state a claim, a lack of standing, and a lack of jurisdiction to dismiss the case. The
10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied her appeal of that decision, with a unanimous 3–0 ruling affirming the lower court's decision. Then, the
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Neil Gorsuch denied Peters' application for an injunction to dismiss or halt a criminal trial against her. The trial then proceeded.
Conviction and sentencing Peters was convicted in August 2024 on seven of ten charges of engaging in a security breach to advance a false conspiracy theory of election fraud. Four of the convictions were for felonies. On the day after her conviction, she appeared on the
Steve Bannon War Room podcast to insist she would continue to pursue her allegations, referring to a debunked theory originating from former Michigan politician
Patrick Colbeck and amplified on Twitter by
Rasmussen Reports alleging Dominion engineers based in
Serbia could change votes over the internet. Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison and immediately taken into custody in October 2024. At her sentencing, District Court Judge Matthew Barrett told Peters, "Your lies are well documented... I'm convinced you'd do it all over again if you could." Peters told the judge, "I've never done anything with malice to break the law. I've only wanted to serve the people of Mesa County." Subsequent to the sentencing the courthouse increased security after receiving threats to the judge and staff. On February 7, 2025 Peters filed a federal habeas corpus petition in U.S. District Court of Colorado, arguing that she should be released on bond pending the appeal decision. Peters asked the court to appear at the hearing remotely from jail in
Pueblo, but the judge denied the request. Her petition for release pending appeal was denied by Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak on December 8, 2025. In May 2025, President Donald Trump directed the
U.S. Department of Justice to take actions to secure Peters' release. In August 2025, Trump issued a social media statement warning that "harsh measures" would be imposed on Colorado if Peters was not released. On November 12, the
Colorado Department of Corrections received a letter from the
Federal Bureau of Prisons asking to move Peters to federal custody, a request denied by state prison officials and Colorado Governor
Jared Polis. On December 11, Trump said he had pardoned Peters, despite having no jurisdiction over convictions under state law. Colorado officials rejected the pardon for lack of jurisdiction. On December 23, Peters asked the state appeals court to recognize the federal pardon. On December 31, Trump posted to social media that the governor was a "Scumbag" and the district attorney was "disgusting". He said: "I wish them only the worst. May they rot in Hell." As of December 2025 Peters was housed at
La Vista Correctional Facility in
Pueblo, Colorado. Her current
parole eligibility date is December 20, 2028. In January 2026, a representative for Peters alleged that she was attacked by another inmate inside a maintenance closet, that she had been placed in
solitary confinement, and that she would be charged with felony assault.
The Independent reported that surveillance footage showed that Peters "emerges from the doorway and appears to wrap her hands around the inmate's neck". The Colorado Department of Corrections responded that no one was injured and that Peters was simply moved to a different housing area. Polis is under pressure from Trump to commute the sentence of Peters. In March 2026, Polis suggested that the sentence is overly severe for a first time offender. Democrats in Congress in Washington, D.C. are concerned that clemency to Peters would lend credence to Trump's false claims of election fraud. Polis has suggested he is closer to granting clemency to Peters. On April 2, 2026, a Colorado appeals court in a 3–0 ruling upheld Peters's conviction and did not release her from prison, but it threw out her prison sentence and asked the trial court to resentence her. The appellate judges noted that Peters "is no longer the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder" and thus the sentence would not serve to deter future crimes, and they found that the trial judge had violated her free speech rights by calling her a "charlatan" and a "snake oil saleswoman". The appellate judges also rejected Trump's pardon attempt saying “the President’s pardon does not reach Peters’s state offenses.” ==Personal life==