Tina Peters Acquitted of Assault in Prison Scuffle; Convicted of Lesser Disciplinary Violation

Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was cleared of assault but convicted of a lesser violation following a January prison scuffle in Pueblo, Colorado.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 17, 2026, 12:22 PM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from The Denver Post

Disciplinary Ruling in Prison Altercation

The Colorado Department of Corrections has released the results of a disciplinary hearing involving Tina Peters, the former Mesa County Clerk currently serving time in a state facility. The hearing, conducted on March 10, focused on a scuffle that occurred on January 18 at a prison in Pueblo. While Peters was facing a primary charge of assault, the hearing officer found her not guilty of that specific offense. However, she did not walk away entirely cleared; the department confirmed that Peters was convicted of a lesser disciplinary violation stemming from the same encounter.

Surveillance Evidence of the Scuffle

The incident was brought to public attention after video obtained by The Denver Post showed a brief but physical confrontation. In the footage, Peters appears to grab a fellow inmate by the neck and shove her into the center of a common room. The altercation lasted only a few moments before it was broken up. Despite the physical nature of the interaction shown on camera, the internal disciplinary board determined that the actions did not meet the legal or administrative threshold for a formal assault conviction within the correctional system's framework.

Context of Incarceration

Tina Peters is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence following her high-profile 2024 conviction for several felonies. Those charges were related to a 2021 security breach of Mesa County’s voting system, an act she claimed was necessary to investigate claims of election fraud. Her tenure in prison has remained a point of public interest, particularly as her legal team continues to pursue various appeals of her original sentence.