Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin presides at a public meeting in Alamogordo, N.M., on Thursday, May 13, 2021, in a shirt with a "C4T" logo that stands for Cowboys for Trump. Recall supporters said Griffin had used the office for personal gain. Cowboys for Trump Founder, Facing Charges in Capitol Riot, Won't Be New Mexico allows recalls at the county level for malfeasance or misfeasance in office or violation of the oath of office by the official concerned. Those actions must have occurred during the officials current term of office in order for a recall effort to be approved to circulate petitions. The petition to recall Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin began circulation on July 1. The allegations in the recall effort arethat Griffinfailed to attend Otero County Commission meetings properly by attending them telephonically when he was doing work for Cowboys for Trump; conduct resulting inGriffin'sbanishment from the Mescalero Apache Reservation;usingOtero County resourcesfor Cowboys for Trump business;filing animproper travel voucherand failing to "exercise proper fiduciary responsibility; andviolating the Gift Actwhen he asked for and received $3,500 from a restricted donor, the petition states. Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter. "We are disappointed that Commissioner Griffin was not able to be here for the entire process. The recall committee needs to collect about 1,540 signatures from registered voters in Griffins district to trigger a vote on whether Griffin stays in office through 2022. (Griffin) chose not to take it. Abbey Smith is a staff writer at Ballotpedia. In a written order, state Supreme Court justices unanimously rejected an appeal from Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin and upheld a . Couy Griffin recall petition short signatures as deadline approaches On Monday, June 28, the New Mexico Supreme Court affirmedthe Second Judicial District Court determination that probable cause existed in the case to recall Griffin. "We are slightly behind the pace of signatures required to meet our goal and we are expanding our advertising and collection methods.". Federal prosecutors have offered Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin a plea agreement over charges that he illegally entered barricades during the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on January. petition to recall Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, Griffin recall to begin collecting signatures on Mescalero Reservation, banishment from the Mescalero Apache Reservation, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Only current Otero County District2 voters can sign the recall petition. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin has prevailed against efforts to recall him from office as a county commissioner in southern New Mexico. Griffin's motion for dismissal was heard in theApril 8 recall hearing and denied. They say Griffin. The fund drive highlights a photograph from the White House Oval Office of President Donald Trump posing with Griffin, who wears a shirt with the Cowboys for Trump insignia. The petition, filed by the Committee to Recall Couy Griffin, alleged he failed to perform his duties as an elected official by missing scheduled county meetings, failed to "exercise proper fiduciary responsibility" when he filed an improper travel voucher,violated the New Mexico Gift Act, acted in a way which resulted in a ban from the Mescalero Apache Reservation and improperly used County resources to further his work for Cowboys For Trump. The effort to recall Otero County District 2 Commissioner Couy Griffin failed by 345 signatures. In response to the allegations, Griffin said in the April 7 email that "As far as Im concerned I will stand on the same principle Ive stated over and over. Just a small donation to get the most dangerous County Commissioner we've EVER had removed from office! "He had as much right to due process as we do and the judge very much made it clear and afforded him that right. And I think Im in tune with them.. This ruling said the process of recalling Griffin from his elected office, a decision first assertedApril 8 byThird Judicial District Court Judge Manuel Arrieta, may proceed. Any person who makes statements like these does not have any place in Otero County Politics, no less an elected office. I make $23,000 a year (as a county commissioner) and I do a lot of traveling and I do a lot of work. Effort advances to recall Cowboys for Trump founder The regular Otero County Commission meeting that had begun at 9 a.m. and was still underway into the afternoon had recessed to allow him to attend the hearing. Couy Griffin - Wikipedia Supreme Court allows recall effort against Trump booster Retired military veteran Paul Sanchez and other members of the Committee to Recall Couy Griffin are accusing Griffin of using his elected county position for . The recall effort has about 30 days inthe 90-day window to gather the required signatures. I just want those that have already come to the conclusion that Im guilty, I just again ask you to put the brakes on a little bit and let the legal process take place, Griffin said. We are grateful for this opportunity to provide the registered voters of Otero County the chance to decide if Commissioner Griffin is still the person they want to continue to represent them on the county commission, as well as nationwide, the Committee to Recall Couy Griffin said in a statement. In a 50-minute online documentary and political origin story released in August, Griffin recounts his own travails inside a Washington, D.C., jail for nearly three weeks after his arrest in the run-up to President Joe Bidens inauguration. "The Committee to Recall Couy Griffin has received the official petition to Recall Otero County District . Griffin said the allegations against him were baseless and politically motivated. And yet he remains determined. Griffin, 47, once led his Republican posse on a ride from . Griffin filed a notice of appeal Monday with the high court that contends he was deprived of due process rights and raises other jurisdictional objections. Cowboys for Trump has held horseback-riding parades across the country in support of President Donald Trump. Griffin was accused of trespassing onto. "The Committee to Recall Couy Griffin has received the official petition to Recall Otero County District 2 CommissionerCouy Griffin today (July 1)," Committee to Recall Couy Griffin today,"spokesman Paul Sanchez said. Arrietaexplained that this case does not warrant a jury trial since the April 8 hearing was most likely to be the only hearing in the case and that a verdict was not to be administered and if a recall petition is successful and a recall election imminent, then the voters of Otero County's District 2 would be the jury. Contacted Monday, Griffin called the recall initiative frivolous and vowed to stand strong. Griffins term runs through 2022. New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Vigil on June 28 affirmed a lower courts ruling to allow an effort to recall Couy Griffin (R) from his position as the District 2 representative on the Otero County Commission to move forward. The Otero County Commission discussed the aftermath of Couy Griffin's statement. He is fighting for his political future amid a recall initiative and state probes into his finances. An effort to recall Couy Griffin (R) from his position as the District 2 representative on the Otero County Commission in New Mexico did not go to a vote in 2021. Effort advances to recall Cowboys for Trump founder Retired military veteran Paul Sanchez and other members of the Committee to Recall Couy Griffin are accusing Griffin of using his elected county position for personal gain. Bill) Richardson appointed judge in Manuel Arrieta," Griffin said in an email April 7. This story has been updated with a statement from Couy Griffin and more information about the recall process. A probable cause determination is not a guilty verdict, rather it is a determination that the defendant most likely committed the crimes/issues alleged against him or her. The hearing was held in the old Otero County Commission Chambers in the Otero County Courthouse across the street from the Otero County Administration Building. These allegations are that Griffin failed to attend Otero County Commission meetings properly when he attended them telephonically while he was on his political group, Cowboys for Trump, business outsidethe county; conduct resulting in Griffin's banishment from the Mescalero Apache Reservation; using Otero County resources for Cowboys for Trump business; filing an improper travel voucher and failing to "exercise proper fiduciary responsibility; and violating the Gift Act when he asked for and received $3,500 from a restricted donor, the petition states. Griffin appeared at the hearing telephonically. It states his conduct resultedin his banishment from the Mescalero Apache Reservation, that he used county resources for non-commission reasons namely forGriffin's political advocacy companyCowboys for Trump, filing an improper travel voucher and violating the Gift Act when he received approximately $3,500 from a restricted donor to pay back the travel reimbursement from the travel voucher. As of Aug. 24, the petition to recall Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin has collected 853 of the required 1,574 signatures. If you agree that he needs to go, please like the @RecallCouyGriffin FB page. [2] Retired military veteran Paul Sanchez and other members of the Committee to Recall Couy Griffin are accusing Griffin of using his elected county position for personal gain. Griffin formed Cowboys for Trump in 2019 with a group of rodeo acquaintances, vowing to hold horseback-riding parades nationwide in support of Trump. 296. Griffin has not been charged with any crime by the New Mexico Attorney General's Office as of July 1, 2021 and the investigation of him is ongoing as of that date. Recall supporters said Griffin had used the office for personal gain. Cowboys for Trump founder survives county recall campaign The vicious Democrat recall against Republican Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin has officially failed, collecting only 1,229 signatures from voters, short of the amount needed to trigger a special election. Commissioner Griffin's rhetoric is only getting worse. Once the recall petitions are signed by the lower court justice who initially approved them, recall supporters will be given 90 days to collect 1,574 signatures to get the recall on the ballot. Griffin appealed Arrieta's ruling to the New Mexico Supreme Court which in turn affirmed the ruling. ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico A political committee has begun circulating a petition to recall Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin from public office as a commissioner in Otero County. The case cannot be reheard and the "order serves as the Court's mandate returning jurisdiction to the district court,"New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts spokesman Barry Massey said. FILE - In this May 13, 2021, file photo, Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin presides at a public meeting in Alamogordo, N.M., in a shirt with a "C4T" logo that stands for Cowboys for Trump. Trump cowboy Couy Griffin seeks second act in politics after Capitol Griffin was present at the hearing for for about 45 minutesbefore he excused himself and returned to the Otero County Commission meeting. Bidens victory was certified by officials in each of the swing states he won and by Congress on Jan. 6 after Trumps supporters, fueled by false allegations of widespread election fraud, stormed the House and Senate chambers in a failed attempt to prevent certification of how Americans voted nationwide. Among the listed causes for recall were Griffin's attendance of Otero County Commission meetings by phone rather than in person,his banishment from the Mescalero Apache Reservation andthe alleged use of Otero County Commissioneroffices for personal business. After Griffin was arrested, District 1 Commissioner Gerald Matherly (R) and District 3 Commissioner Vickie Marquardt (R) called for his resignation, as did New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas (D). Those voters in my district are constitutional conservatives. Backers of the petition drive in Otero County say they still need to collect several hundred additional signatures by next Wednesday to trigger a special recall election against Griffin. Effort to recall Griffin from County Commission falls short Time is running out for a petition drive to recall Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin from office as a county commissioner in southern New Mexico. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. A state district court judge says an effort can move ahead to try and recall Griffin, the Cowboys for Trump founder from his seat as an Otero County commissioner on accusations of using his public office for personal gain. Supreme Court allows recall effort against Trump booster The petition alleges that Griffin neglected and misused his position as a county commissioner while skipping public meetings and. Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter. SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court as he seeks to fend off an effort to recall him from office as a county commissioner in southern New Mexico. It was unclear how soon the state Supreme Court will decide whether to intervene. Griffin deniedthe allegations claiming they were"frivolous and devoid of merit," court records state. SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) An effort to recall the founder of Cowboys for Trump from his public office as a county commissioner can move forward, under an order Monday of the New Mexico state Supreme Court. Countless registered voters from the other Otero County districts were turned away from signing since only District 2 signatures counted for the recall effort.