A Senate panel on Thursday decided to investigate the actions of a legislator accused of showing up intoxicated at a city council meeting in her district. 

The panel unanimously agreed that a probable cause exists to look into an ethics complaint filed by the Northglenn City Council against Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, for her behavior during the April meeting. 

Northglenn’s councilmembers alleged that Winter failed to uphold her duties as a senator when she appeared to be intoxicated on April 3, in which the city council and residents discussed a proposal to locate a behavioral center in Northglenn.

Meeting attendees noted Winter “appeared to have glassy eyes, slurred speech, and some individuals smelled alcohol on her breath,” and that she seemed to be “disinterested, annoyed, and combative” during the meeting. 

The day after the meeting, Winter entered treatment for substance use disorder. 

On May 1, Northglenn City Council sent a letter to Senate President Steve Fenberg, requesting he launch an official complaint against Winter. The Senate Committee on Ethics held its first hearing on June 13. 

‘The moment one is sworn in as Senator, the rule applies’

During its second meeting, the Senate panel debated whether Winter was acting in official capacity as a lawmaker at the city council meeting. If so, the panel’s members would need to determine if she violated the chamber’s ethical rules.

Winter told the committee she was never asked to speak at the meeting. Emails from city officials indicated she was an invited panelist.    

Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, argued it is irrelevant whether Winter had been asked to speak at the meeting or not because, in his view, she was acting in her official capacity as a senator regardless. 

“I believe the moment one is sworn in as a senator, the rule applies,” Gardner said in reference to Rule 43. “It becomes clear that Sen. Winter attended this meeting at invitation, and whether she sat at the dais and whether she responded from the audience, I think we have to judge from her conduct that clearly she was acting as a senator.”

“Her purpose of being there was with relationship to her representation of those citizens,” he said. 

Democratic Sen. Julie Gonzales of Denver, the panel’s chair, highlighted a “point of contention” between Winter’s statements and communications from the City Council.

Gonzales said Winter claimed no one had contacted her about concerns regarding her behavior that evening, but that video from the meeting showed constituents expressing annoyance with her and several individuals, including City Council, reached out to the Senate panel to voice their concerns about the incident. 

“While it might be true that she didn’t receive any individual correspondence from specific individual constituents, the Northglenn City Council are her constituents,” Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, said. “She represents that city and every single person that’s on that Council.” 

9News on Thursday reported on a body cam video that showed Winter talking to Northglenn police officers, who advised her to get a ride home rather than driving. 

‘Does that rise to the level of an ethics violation?’

Gardner noted that, while Winter had acknowledged her substance use disorder and sought treatment after the City Council meeting, she never explicitly stated that she was intoxicated at the event — only that she had consumed alcohol.

Gardner expressed skepticism about allegations of Winter being combative at the meeting, suggesting she was reacting as anyone would if they were being “heckled.” 

“I can see acknowledging that maybe you didn’t handle something appropriately, but does that rise to the level of an ethics violation?” he asked. 

Gonzales mentioned the letters of support for Winter provided to the ethics panel but said she would be disregarding most of them when making her decision as they were written by lobbyists, aides, and even a fellow senator.

Gardner also said letters of support are not particularly effective in this stage in the investigation but they would be more useful as testimony later on. 

Gonzales said she believes there is probable cause to further investigate the claim against Winter due to the number of complaints from her constituents, including from members of the Northglenn City Council. 

“‘Legislative office is a trust to be performed with integrity in the public interest,” she said, quoting Senate Rule 41, which outlines the ethical guidelines for senators and says that a legislator must be “respectful of the confidence placed in that member by the other members of the Senate and by the people of the state of Colorado.”

“In my mind, we have received a complaint and additional evidence in support of that original complaint, from not an individual, but an entire public body of local government,” Gonzales said.  

Roberts, who agreed with Gonzales about probable cause to move forward, emphasized that more information is needed to determine whether Winter committed an ethics violation. 

Gonzales acknowledged the difficult task the panel members, who consider Winter a friend.

“This is hard,” she said. “This entire situation has just been really challenging because when she is at her best, Senator Winter is phenomenal in upholding trust and integrity.”

Winter has one week to request for an evidentiary hearing. If she chooses to make that request, the panel has tentatively scheduled the hearing for July 8. If Winter does not request an evidentiary hearing, the panel opted to allow her to make a formal statement should she chose to do so.