San Luis Valley District Attorney Alonzo Payne resigned Wednesday, a day after Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser found Payne systemically violated crime victims’ rights.
The embattled top prosecutor in the 12th Judicial District was also facing a recall effort led by the city of Alamosa and backed by residents who were upset with his style of prosecution, professionalism and treatment of victims.
Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday appointed Weiser as the new district attorney in the 12th Judicial District, which includes Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande and Saguache counties.
Weiser will hold the post until a new district attorney is elected, according to an executive order from the governor.
“The governor has asked my office to fulfill the responsibilities of the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office until he appoints a new DA,” Weiser said in a statement. “Our office is committed to serving the people of the San Luis Valley in this interim role as effectively as possible, and our aim is to help put a new DA on a path to success.”
In a letter of resignation Payne shared with The Denver Post, he wrote that his resignation will take effect at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday and that it was intended to “spare the cost and divisiveness of a recall election to overturn the will of voters.”
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
Weiser’s office found Payne and his staff systemically violated the rights of crime victims by ignoring them, being rude to them, yelling at them and failing to communicate. On Tuesday, the AG’s office announced it would put in place an independent monitor to oversee reform in the prosecutor’s office. That oversight was to last three years; if Payne was removed from office, the oversight would last at least six months into the new district attorney’s tenure.
Lani Welch, a victim of domestic violence who started the recall effort against him, said Wednesday that Payne’s resignation was “the right thing.”
“I would like to thank him for stepping up and doing the right thing for the victims and for the valley as a whole,” she said. “I now feel I finally have justice for what I have experienced for the past two years.”
In addition to issues with how Payne treated victims, city officials in Alamosa were also displeased by Payne’s reform-minded approach to prosecution and believed that he did not seek severe enough penalties for people convicted of crimes.
Heather Brooks, Alamosa city manager, said Payne’s decision to resign will save the region about $100,000 in taxpayer money that officials expected to spend on a special election.
“I can’t imagine this has been easy on him,” she said. “It hasn’t been easy on us and it’s a very responsible step for him to take, especially from a taxpayer perspective.”