It’s too late this year to get a district-wide resolution passed to remove term limits for 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly, but the Valley’s commissioners may seek to give Kelly more time as the Valley’s top elected law enforcement officer.
Colorado district attorneys are term-limited, unless their district removes those limits. Reporting by the Grand Junction Sentinel shows four counties – Mesa, Boulder, Denver and El Paso – that have extended terms for their district attorneys to three four-year terms; Pueblo County has eliminated term limits on the DA office altogether.
Kelly is still in her first term and told the commissioners that “unless something crazy happens” she plans on running for a second term.
During Monday’s San Luis Valley Board of County Commissioners meeting, Alamosa County administrator Roni Wisdom said the deadline for commissioners to pass a resolution is Aug. 4. Each county within the 12th Judicial District – which are the six counties of the San Luis Valley – would have to pass a resolution with the exact same language by the deadline date and “make sure every county is in agreement,” Wisdom said.
Because of this tight deadline, Wisdom suggested putting the item on the agenda for the first part of 2026 to give each county’s commissioners and clerk and recorder enough time.
Otherwise, a citizen group would have to bring forward a district-wide petition by Aug. 4. This is the second time the commissioner group has been approached to extend Kelly’s term limits.
Kelly was appointed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2022 after former district attorney Alonzo Payne left his office in a state of disarray. The public view of the DA’s office was at an all-time low at that point. A Valley-wide recall effort was launched. Mishandled cases, controversial charges, and violations of the Colorado Victim Rights Act put Payne’s office in an unwelcome spotlight.
A series of complaints from the Crime Victim Services Advisory Board and a complaint from the Rocky Mountain Victims Law Center drew the attention of Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. Weiser’s office appointed a special monitor to oversee Payne’s office in July 2022. The following day, Payne resigned.
It was the first time in the 30-year history of the Victims Rights Act that a district attorney was investigated for violations.
Payne left Kelly with a backlog of more than 300 cases and an alarming lack of enforcement in certain cases, such as domestic violence.
Since taking office, Kelly has dealt with a series of officer-involved shootings and high-profile cases. Kelly prosecuted a then-17-year old charged with shooting Alamosa Police Officer Mollee Heeney and resident Ricardo Rangel. The teenager was tried as an adult and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Most recently, Kelly prosecuted a shooting that took place in June 2024 where local resident Henry Corral shot and killed two people and attempted to kill a third at the Sunset Inn in Alamosa. Corral then led Valley law enforcement on a multi-day pursuit. Corral was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parol.
During Monday’s commissioner meeting, Kelly said that it took a “Herculean effort” to prosecute the Corral case and get a conviction. She said it took hundreds of hours of prep time and involved thousands of pages of discovery, hundreds of gigabytes of data and dozens of witnesses.
She said it was the biggest trial she’s prosecuted since taking office in the 12th Judicial District.
In an unprecedented move, Kelly told the Costilla County Commissioners during a July 9 special meeting that she doesn’t trust the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office. Kelly brought forward a series of alarming allegations and accusations against the Sheriff’s Office, including the mishandling of evidence, the use of drugs amongst deputies and employees and assisting drug dealers in the area.
Kelly’s ability to pursue these issues are limited, she said on July 9, and suggested seeking help from the Attorney General’s office for investigation assistance. When asked if the AG’s office is investigating, AG spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco told Alamosa Citizen in an emailed statement, “The attorney general’s office cannot confirm or otherwise comment on an investigation into the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office.”
Though she has autonomy when making hiring decisions, when Kelly took office she emphasized her commitment to transparency with the community and on Monday brought the commissioners her plan to replace one of her investigators. The current investigator who specializes in sexual assault has to move back home due to family issues, leaving Kelly down an investigator. Her plan is to hire her fiancé to fill the role.
Her fiancé, Mickey Finn, is currently a marijuana investigator for the Colorado Department of Revenue. Finn was formerly a detective sergeant with the Colorado Springs Police Department. Kelly said Finn is over-qualified for the position, which is what makes him ideal. She said Finn would be directly overseen by her chief investigator, Michael Martinez, and all HR issues, if any were to arise, would be handled by her office administrator, Megan Martinez.
Alamosa County Commissioner Arlan VanRy saw no issue with hiring Finn and Saguache County Commissioner Liza Marron said Saguache County has a policy of allowing the hiring of spouses as long as they are not directly supervised by one another and noted that because the hiring pool in the Valley is limited she saw no issue with hiring Finn.
