Embattled San Luis Valley District Attorney Alonzo Payne resigned Wednesday afternoon just a day before Governor Polis was set to announce the date of his recall election. Colorado District Attorney Council Executive Director Tom Raynes confirmed that Payne sent his letter of resignation to the governor’s office Wednesday afternoon. 

In the letter, Payne said that he wanted to spare the citizens of the San Luis Valley the expense and divisiveness of a recall election. “It is apparent to me that the elite of the San Luis Valley and the judicial activists amongst us do not want to see criminal justice reform enacted. I hope they soon realize that incarcerating the poor and underprivileged is not the solution to address the overarching poverty and substance abuse issues that are rampant in the San Luis Valley and statewide.” 

Minutes before the close of the business day on Wednesday, Governor Polis’ office appointed Attorney General Phil Weiser to step in as interim district attorney starting tomorrow, until they decide on a replacement. “This interim appointment follows the resignation of District Attorney Alonzo Payne on July 13, 2022,” the office confirmed in a press release. 

The grassroots campaign to recall Payne was started earlier this year by a domestic violence victim who said Payne disrespected her, yelled at her and even called her “hysterical” on the eve of her fiancee’s trial in which she was expected to testify against him.

“We’re done. The recall is over. Today the citizens/ victims of the. San Luis Valley have truly been heard,” said Lani Welch of Alamosa. “I never thought it would happen.”

Just last week, the Secretary of State’s office notified Welch that her petition campaign had garnered enough signatures to set a recall election in motion. 

The recall election was not the only sign of trouble in the 12th Judicial District. 

Tuesday, Attorney General Phil Weiser held a press conference to reveal the results of a seven month investigation into Payne by his office regarding this treatment of victims. Representatives of the AG’s office traveled to the San Luis Valley to talk with victims who had problems with Payne’s treatment of them.

Weiser confirmed that his office had investigated nine complaints from crime victims and that the allegations were valid. The AG’s office said that Payne’s office would be scrutinized by a committee to ensure that he was treating victims fairly. 

The 7 month investigation found that the allegations were truthful but that Payne did not do anything to rectify his behavior. “It says to me that the lack of compliance in this case is deeply problematic happening in the face of prior efforts to do something about it,” said Weiser.

Weiser said that the number and severity of complaints against a district attorney are unprecedented in Colorado. In a statement, Weiser said that the residents of the San Luis Valley deserve a fresh start with a new district attorney and acknowledged that the problems within Payne’s office were “systemic.” 

Payne, a San Luis Valley native who has been the top law enforcement officer there for a year and a half, did not respond to a request for comment. He ran for office on a platform of criminal justice reform, was opposed to mass incarceration, and stressed that the poor were all too often criminalized because they couldn’t afford an attorney to represent them.

He was endorsed by Bernie Sanders in June 2020 as a criminal justice reformer.