The era of former Morphew case prosecutor Linda Stanley may be over, but three of the four counties she oversaw in the 11th Judicial District are getting the last word.

Fremont, Chaffee and Custer counties filed a lawsuit against Stanley, asking a judge to force her to return nearly $112,000 of taxpayers’ money that she used to pay her legal fees. The fourth county in the 11th, Park County, is the only entity that did not join in the lawsuit.

It took nine days to serve the lawsuit because Stanley was living in a remote cabin in Park County, according to an affidavit obtained by The Gazette. When processors located her this past Saturday, denied who she was and threw the paperwork into the dirt, Fremont County Commissioner Kevin Grantham confirmed.

To date, Stanley has not answered the complaint. It asks her to repay $330,000 — three times the money she spent defending herself in an ethics investigation. The inflated amount is being sought because the county is allowed to seek damages.

The lawsuit contends that despite being told in June that she was misappropriating public funds for personal use, Stanley continued to write checks from her office account to pay her mounting legal fees.

Commissioners said they are “red in the face” over the situation.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Grantham. “We’re having to deal with this individual who missed the law classes when she went to law school. We’re reeling a little bit.”

When Stanley was accused of mismanaging her office during this summer’s two-week state disciplinary hearing, she fought back, saying that rural districts like hers are strapped for resources. She noted that despite the lack of funds, she was able to assemble a team of veteran prosecutors to litigate the 2020 murder of 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew, who went missing on Mother’s Day that year and whose remains were found and identified in 2023.

The rare disciplinary hearing was similar to a trial with witnesses and competing sides, except there was no jury. Stanley’s fate was decided by a three-person board including a presiding judge, an attorney, and a regular citizen. The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel officially disbarred Stanley last month and her former number two Jeff Lindsey was sworn in days before the election, which he won as the only candidate.

The Morphew case appeared doomed when in April 2022, Judge Ramsey Lama moved to dismiss the charges against Suzanne’s husband Barry Morphew without prejudice. He had been held in jail for months awaiting trial.

Stanley relinquished the case to the 12th Judicial District headquartered out of Alamosa not long after that, but continued to head up the 11th Judicial District.

‘A disaster’

Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper, who described Stanley’s reign as “a disaster,” did not buy Stanley’s explanation about underfunded rural districts.

“I have no sympathy for her because DAs before her did a credible job,” he said.

Cooper filed several complaints against Stanley with the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel accusing her of lying in court and then blaming his investigators for problems. He remembered court hearings on big cases during which no one from Stanley’s office showed up.

There was such a lack of trust between the two offices, that Cooper put four homicide cases dating back to 2020 on hold to wait for the next district attorney to take over.

New documents obtained by The Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS show Stanley had been long gone from her job as DA, even before she actually lost her job.

It was so bad, incoming DA Lindsey submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court about Stanley’s work ethic.

Stanley was elected as District Attorney for the 11th Judicial District in November 2020 and assumed office in January 2021.

“She has not been seen in the office since early Spring of 2024,” Lindsey wrote.

“The state of the office is currently chaotic and there is no hope it will improve,” he added.

Stanley did not respond to a request for comment.

Gazette news partner 9NEWS contributed to this report.