Boulder, Colorado — A former Boulder County child welfare caseworker is charged with official misconduct and abuse of public records after a man’s audio recording of a meeting with his family did not match what she wrote in the family’s official case file, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office announced Oct. 27.
Stephanie Perez, a former caseworker with the Boulder County Department of Human Services, faces two counts of first-degree official misconduct and one count of abuse of public records, all misdemeanors, according to the DA’s office. A warrant was issued Oct. 19, and Perez turned herself in without incident, the office said.
What prosecutors allege
The case began in May 2026, when a community member reported concerns about a meeting between Perez and his family. He had recorded the meeting. After he obtained the official report on his family’s case, he found significant discrepancies between the recording and what Perez had documented, The Denver Gazette reported.
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Supervisors then reviewed Perez’s other cases and found more inaccurate documentation, according to the DA’s office. Some visits she recorded as in-person had actually taken place by phone or virtually, contrary to the department’s protocol requiring in-person visits.
After Perez was told she would be placed on administrative leave, she forwarded several work emails from her county account to her personal email account, prosecutors said. Some of those emails contained confidential or protected information.
How the case reached prosecutors
Boulder County conducted an internal investigation. The County Attorney’s Office then notified the District Attorney’s Office, which reviewed the matter and decided criminal charges were appropriate, according to the release.
Accurate documentation and the protection of confidential information are essential to maintaining public trust.
Michael Dougherty, Boulder County District Attorney, in a press release
If convicted on all counts, Perez faces up to 28 months in jail and $2,750 in fines, The Denver Gazette reported. The charges are accusations, and Perez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Where the system failed
A caseworker’s written account of a home visit or family meeting is the record that supervisors, agency lawyers and judges rely on. It can shape whether a parent is labeled a risk, what services are ordered and whether children stay home. In this case, the problems surfaced after a family member recorded a meeting and compared it with the official file. The review of Perez’s other cases came after that complaint.
The county’s public release does not say how many families’ files contained inaccurate entries, over what period the visits were misreported, or whether any case decisions relied on the disputed records.
What’s next
Perez is scheduled for a hearing on advisement on Nov. 3 at 8 a.m., according to the DA’s office.
This case turned on something many families do not have: their own record of what was said. Parents in a child welfare case can be judged by notes they do not see until the case is well underway, and errors in those notes can follow a family long after the case closes. Accountability for false or careless documentation should not depend on a parent happening to press record. FAN’s guide to parents’ rights in CPS cases explains what families can ask for and how to protect themselves during an investigation.
Key facts
- Stephanie Perez, a former Boulder County Department of Human Services caseworker, is charged with two counts of first-degree official misconduct and one count of abuse of public records, all misdemeanors.
- A community member’s recording of a May 2026 meeting with his family did not match Perez’s documentation, prosecutors say.
- Supervisors found other visits recorded as in-person had taken place by phone or virtually, the DA’s office says.
- Prosecutors say Perez forwarded work emails, some with confidential or protected information, to her personal account after learning she would be placed on leave.
- A warrant was issued Oct. 19; she turned herself in without incident.
- She faces up to 28 months in jail and $2,750 in fines if convicted on all counts, The Denver Gazette reported.
- A hearing on advisement is set for Nov. 3.
Sources
- Boulder County — District Attorney’s Office files charges against former BCDHS caseworker (2026-10-27)
- The Denver Gazette — Boulder caseworker charged with misconduct, abuse of public records (2026-10-27)
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