Election-denying Colorado clerk turned herself in to police

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters turned herself in to law enforcement on Thursday, Pitkin County officials said

Election Security Colorado Clerk (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A rural Colorado official known for being the state’s most prominent election denier turned herself into law enforcement on Thursday for violating the terms of her release as she awaits trial for breaking into her county’s election system.

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was booked at the Pitkin County jail at 9:22 p.m. on Thursday, Parker Lathrop, the county's chief deputy of operations, said.

She was released after paying bond later that night, according to Lathrop. The warrant was issued less than a week after the embattled official convinced a judge not to send her back to jail for improperly traveling out of state while awaiting trial on felony charges.

Authorities say Peters violated another term of her $25,000 bail — a prohibition on contacting workers at the Mesa County elections office.

Peters is under indictment for a break-in of the county’s election system to search for evidence of former President Donald Trump’s election conspiracy theories. A judge barred Peters from overseeing last year’s local elections or this year’s.

Peters lost her bid for the Republican Party nomination for Colorado Secretary of State last month. After the Secretary of State’s office told her she was not entitled to a hand recount under the law, Peters contacted dozens of county election offices asking them to do their own. One of those was Mesa County, in violation of her release, authorities.