Tina Peters posts bond after arrest following alleged protection order violation

Election-denying Mesa County clerk turns herself in to Pitkin County authorities on arrest warrant

By: Zoe Schacht - July 22, 2022 12:33 pm

Then-Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters addresses a crowd gathered on the steps of the state Capitol for an event called the “Colorado Election Truth Rally,” organized by activists who question the results of the 2020 presidential election, in Denver, April 5, 2022. (Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters on Thursday was booked into the Pitkin County Jail at 9:22 p.m. on an arrest warrant. She was released after posting a $1,000 bond at 10:24 p.m.

Tina Peters turned herself in to the Pitkin County Jail Thursday July 21, 2022. (Courtesy of Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office)

A warrant for her arrest was issued earlier Thursday from the Fruita Police Department after she allegedly violated a protection order and her bond conditions by emailing an employee of the Mesa County elections division. Peters turned herself in.

Peters allegedly sent the email to Brandi Bantz, the Mesa County elections director, on Wednesday. The email included a request from Peters for a recount of the Colorado secretary of state primary election. Peters lost the GOP primary and failed to provide $250,000 for a recount. Peters is barred from contacting Bantz.

Peters is an election conspiracy theorist who denies the 2020 presidential election results. She is currently under a grand jury indictment related to a security breach in Mesa County’s election office that she allegedly facilitated last year.

Peters has a hearing for the case at the Mesa County District Court on Aug. 5. It’s uncertain whether the Thursday charges will be added to the case, according to Stephanie Reecy, a public information officer for Mesa County.

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Zoe Schacht

Zoe Schacht is a freelance journalist and former reporter for Colorado Newsline. When she was a student at the University of Colorado Boulder, Zoe was Editor-in-Chief for the CU Independent, where she gained a passion for journalism and storytelling.