Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ bond at risk after she traveled to Las Vegas without court permission

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters traveled out of state this week without court approval to speak at an event for a conservative sheriffs organization, violating her bond conditions.

Peters was not allowed to travel out of the jurisdiction during her time in Las Vegas, Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein confirmed to Colorado Newsline.

Peters was barred from leaving the state without prior approval as a condition of her bond release in March, and Rubinstein is now seeking to revoke her bond.

Peters was in Las Vegas speaking at a press event for the Constitutional Sheriff and Peace Officers Association, as reported by the Colorado Times Recorder. A candidate for an Arizona county supervisor seat tweeted a photo of her with Peters and election conspiracist Jovan Pulitzer on Tuesday.

Peters is facing a grand jury indictment on felony and misdemeanor charges for her involvement in a security breach in her county’s election office during a routine secure software update last year. The Republican has advanced election conspiracy theories.

Previously, Peters could travel out of state as a candidate for secretary of state simply by giving notice to the court, Rubinstein said. That procedure changed, however, after her loss in the June 28 primary. As she is no longer a candidate, she must ask permission to leave the jurisdiction and allow a period of time for other party response and the judge to rule on the request. She amended a notice to travel on July 11 to include her dates in Las Vegas, but the waiting period under the new procedure ends on July 15. She appears to have traveled anyway without court permission.

Separately on Tuesday, Peters addressed a request to the Colorado secretary of state’s office asking for a recount of the results of the Republican primary for secretary of state. Peters lost by a wide margin to Pam Anderson in that race but now claims there was “extensive malfeasance” in the race, according to a copy of the request obtained by Colorado Newsline.

Notary Laurince Lovelife confirmed to Colorado Newsline that the document is authentic and he notarized it yesterday afternoon while Peters was physically present in Clark County, Nevada. A spokesperson for Secretary of State Jena Griswold said she has not yet received the document.

Peters did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Editor’s note: This story and headline was updated at 8:34 p.m., July 13, 2022, to include that District Attorney Dan Rubinstein will seek to revoke Tina Peter’s bond.