A legislative ethics panel found that Sen. Faith Winter failed to uphold Senate ethics standards when she appeared intoxicated at a Northglenn City Council meeting on April 3.

But the committee decided against recommending a reprimand, censure or expulsion. Instead, the panel requested that Senate President Steve Fenberg “prepare and deliver” a letter to Winter admonishing her behavior on April 3 and encouraging her to continue treatment for substance abuse.

Following a a 90-minute executive session on Monday, the five-member The Colorado Senate Committee on Ethics voted, 4-1, that Winter violated Rule 41, which requires Winter, as a member of the Senate, to perform her “legislative duties at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and independence of the Senate and of the General Assembly.”

Sen. James Coleman, a Denver Democrat, offered the only “no” vote.

Winter, a Democrat from Westminster who appeared before the committee and accompanied by former State Rep. Matt Gray, expressed little emotion throughout the 3.5 hour hearing, only looking at her fingernails and texting occasionally.

“The evidence that we received indicated that this was part of a larger pattern, that it was not the first instance,” said Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs.

While committee members largely agreed that Winter’s behavior was questionable, they disagreed over whether it merited the full gamut of disciplinary measures available.

“For me, this has been pretty emotionally costly,” said Sen. Julie Gonzales, the committee’s chairman. “I don’t pretend to imagine how this has been for Senator Winter.”

In addition to a letter admonishing Winter, the ethics panel decided that she will “invited” to speak to the body about her behavior in the upcoming session in January.

“This isn’t about the policy. This isn’t about her legislation,” Gonzales said. “It’s about the conduct at that meeting.”

Winters’ troubles began in April when she attended a Northglenn City Council meeting. During the meeting, residents and the council discussed a proposed transitional mental health living home to be built in the 11000 block of Grant Drive.

In a letter to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Winter said she had “a drink” before walking into the meeting because she “expected it to be emotionally charged.”

Meeting attendees complained her speech was slurred, and some said they could smell alcohol on her breath.

Footage obtained by 9News shows Winter parking her car in a fire zone before entering the meeting. Additionally, body camera footage from a Northglenn police officer shows the cop advising Winter not to drive home, to which she agreed.

Northglenn Mayor Meredith Leighty wrote to Fenberg, asking for an official investigation.

The Senate Ethics Committee held its first meeting on June 13.

Shortly after the committee adjourned, Gray, a former legislator, took to X to defend Winter.  

“Yes, this happened. Of course, none of the hundreds of lawmakers who have been intoxicated at work objected. Sure, most of them never apologized or were asked to. But it’s over. And the most important part is that I get to marry this girl and you don’t,” he said.

Also in 2022, Gray was arrested on suspicion of a DUI while at his children’s’ elementary school. Gray maintained that he was not intoxicated, but that his symptoms of anxiety and depression “are such that too many people are worried when they’re around me.”

The investigation into Winter’s behavior has lawmakers to openly discuss what many had described as the state Capitol’s culture of substance abuse. In letters to support Winter, some described drinking as pervasive, suggesting that the ethics probe against Winter is “selective enforcement.”

Marissa Ventrelli contributed to this report.