Attorney General Phil Weiser and Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein are urging Gov. Jared Polis not to grant the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ request to transfer Tina Peters to federal custody.

On Thursday, Weiser and Rubinstein sent a letter to Polis, arguing the federal government has “no legal basis” to interfere with Peters’ sentence.

Peters, who previously served as the Mesa County Clerk, was sentenced last year to nine years in state prison for her role in a voting system data breach following the 2020 election.

She was charged with multiple felonies, including attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and official misconduct. She is currently being held at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo.

Earlier this month, the Federal Bureau of Prisons sent a letter to the Colorado Department of Corrections requesting Peters be transferred from state to federal custody. President Donald Trump has advocated for her release on social media, calling her a “brave and innocent Patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians.”

In March, the U.S. Department of Justice unexpectedly inserted itself into the case, filing a statement of interest to say it was reviewing whether Peters’ prosecution was “oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives.”

Peters has maintained that the charges against her were politically motivated.

While the president has constitutional authority to make pardons and commutations on individuals who have violated federal laws, that power does not extend to those charged and convicted under state laws, Weiser and Rubinstein said.

“This was a state prosecution for violations of state laws, conducted by state officials, and heard by a state judge and jury,” they wrote. “Coloradans, specifically Mesa County citizens, and the employees of the State of Colorado, were the victims of Ms. Peters’ crimes. Those citizens, to whom we are both accountable, elected us to oversee prosecutions of state laws, as was done in this case.”

The officials speculated that transferring Peters to federal custody could lead to the unauthorized or illegal release of a convicted felon by the federal government, which they said “would not be surprising” given Trump’s statements calling for her release.

“The State of Colorado should not be complicit in either such arrangement,” they wrote. “Failing to meet that principle will further strain confidence in our judicial process and embolden those lawbreakers that believe they can evade justice through political connections and pressure.”

Colorado Politics has reached out to the Governor’s Office for comment.