The Pima County Sheriff’s Department could spend as much as $1 million on the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, straining the department's already overtaxed budget and inflaming already tense relations with the Board of Supervisors.
The bulk of the costs are tied to overtime as deputies continue searching for answers in the high-profile case, both Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher and Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed. Even though Nanos recently drew down the number of deputies working the case, the costs keep piling up as the investigation stretches into its second month with no big breaks.
“I am well aware of how critical cases can impact one’s budget,” Nanos told us, mentioning the costs incurred by his department during the attempted assassination of then-U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, the murder investigation of Gary Triano, and the various costs associated with handling the COVID pandemic.
But the department has a responsibility to assume the costs of unexpected, high-profile criminal cases, he said. Lesher said she is working closely with Nanos — and recently met with him — to absorb those costs as part of his department’s $190.7 million annual budget.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos at a press conference last month about the Guthrie case.
The costs tied to the Guthrie investigation are landing in the middle of a long-running tug-of-war between the sheriff and the budget-setting supervisors.
And it's clear those past battles are on the sheriff's mind.
“Unfortunately, in law enforcement, these events may occur and are often times viewed as unforeseen expenses,” Nanos said. “Which is why I have repeatedly asked the board for additional staffing to combat things like overtime. Or most recently, I asked for additional resources in technology to be more efficient in how we conduct day-to-day operations.”
Nanos said he has asked for specific tools that may have helped with the Guthrie investigation and its associated costs, but the supervisors shut him down.
“As always, the board denied my request. In spite of the fact their own finance and procurement departments advised the board my request made sense and could help save millions of taxpayers’ dollars in future expenditures,” Nanos said. “I will still have my budget in the black with no help from the board … not even an offer of help.”
While the supervisors have largely approved increases for the county’s largest department — including a 5% increase in salaries for deputies this fiscal year — they've become increasingly wary of his annual requests for budget increases, and skeptical of what to do when the Sheriff’s Department overspends its budget.
That overspending has happened several times under multiple sheriffs — not just Nanos.
Pima County budget documents show year-over-year increases in the Sheriff’s budget.
But the beef between the board and the sheriff isn't just over budgets.
During his last election, Nanos placed his Republican challenger, Lieutenant Heather Lappin, and Sgt. Aaron Cross — who supported Lappin — on administrative leave shortly before the election. The board initiated an investigation into whether Nanos misused his authority to silence political opposition during an election.
In 2023, Nanos threatened to remove deputies who provide security for Board of Supervisors meetings amid a budget fight with the board. He ultimately walked that back, but still cut security at the meetings down to one deputy from two.
Additionally, the board voted to request that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes conduct an independent investigation into the handling of an alleged 2022 sexual assault of a female deputy by her supervisor. The investigation focused on the Sheriff's Department's internal response and potential negligence by the chain of command, including Nanos.
While county officials are still tallying the final cost of the investigation, Nanos told NBC News this week that investigators are “definitely closer” to answers in the Guthrie case.
We are going to offer abbreviated coverage of yesterday’s marathon meetings, where the Pima County Board of Supervisors met for six and a half hours and the Tucson City Council met for about seven and a half hours. (Don’t let the city’s YouTube video lead you astray — they took a long break in the afternoon.)
Here are our top five takeaways:
County delays decision on masks: After a long debate, supervisors delayed a vote on a proposed ordinance requiring law enforcement — including federal agents — to wear masks. Republican Supervisor Steve Christy wanted protections to prevent officers from being doxxed, while Supervisor Jennifer Allen said she wanted a stronger ordinance than the version presented Tuesday, with the ultimate goal of forcing agents to unmask and wear identifying badges or patches.
No decision on Project Blue money: A majority of supervisors said they need more time to decide how to spend the $20.8 million the county received from selling county-owned property to the data center developers after receiving a memo last Friday outlining options. There wasn’t consensus on the board, and concerns ranged from whether to put more money into economic development to whether the funds could be directed to projects outside the list recommended by County Administrator Jan Lesher.
“Supercharging” early education: Boosters for the county’s Pima Early Education Program Scholarships (PEEPs) vowed during Tuesday’s meeting to privately raise an additional $1 million annually starting this year, with a long-term goal of raising $150 million a year from a coalition of national donors. Currently, the program’s annual budget is about $10 million.
City still backing Public Power: You have to read between the lines a bit, but the Tucson City Council appears interested in continuing to explore forming a city-run electric utility. While the city is broke — and a billion-dollar proposal to acquire Tucson Electric Power would face major hurdles before ever reaching the ballot — there may be smaller steps in the meantime. Some councilmembers want to see a solar-and-battery microgrid powering an entire neighborhood, while another proposal would power a city-owned facility such as the planned Southside police annex.
City passes ICE ordinance: The council passed an ordinance governing civil immigration enforcement actions on city-owned property, but the policy still lacks much enforcement muscle. It remains unclear how the Tucson Police Department would respond if ICE agents attempted a sweep at Reid Park, but Tucson City Attorney Roi Lusk told us any confrontation would likely end up in federal court, with the city seeking an injunction to stop future enforcement actions.
Wheeling and dealing: A last-minute addition to the RTA Next plan is raising red flags, Nick Rommel reports for Arizona Public Media. Moore Road in Marana is set to get a $120 million interchange that connects it to Interstate 10 if voters sign off on the plan at next week’s election. What’s stirring up questions is how the project got added just two weeks before the final plan was adopted, when most projects had been under discussion for months or even years. Marana officials say they moved the project up the priority list last spring to avoid having all traffic in the area forced onto just one interchange. Then, an unrelated project in Tucson was taken off the list, which made room for the Moore Road interchange.
In other RTA news: Environmentalists are worried that wildlife linkages will lose funding if voters reject RTA Next, the Tucson Sentinel’s Jim Nintzel reports. Under the original RTA plan, officials set aside $25 million for more than 30 wildlife crossings in Pima County. The RTA Next plan includes another $50 million to create wildlife crossings under roads that get widened, but the big project is a wildlife bridge over I-10 near Avra Valley Road that would connect the Tucson Mountains and the Tortolita Mountains.
Completely preventable: A Haitian man died from an infected tooth while he was detained at an immigration detention center in Florence, the Arizona Daily Star’s Emily Bregel reports. Emmanuel Damas, a 56-year-old asylum seeker, had been in ICE custody for four months. Damas complained about the toothache and detention staff gave him ibuprofen. Two weeks later, the infection worsened and he collapsed, according to Chandler City Councilwoman Christine Ellis, who is also a registered nurse.
“Nobody should die from a toothache,” Ellis said. “Something has to be done.”
Inch by inch: Federal immigration agents in Southern Arizona are ticketing legal immigrants for not carrying their papers with them, Alexandra Markovich reports for the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. Over the past year, agents issued more than 100 citations, which generally don’t involve huge fines, but create complications for people trying to become citizens. Meanwhile, Bisbee residents are urging the city council to block ICE from using city-owned property to stage immigration raids, Matt Hickman reports for the Herald/Review. But for now it’s just a citizen petition and the council members haven’t said whether they would support an ordinance to block ICE.
File a citizen petition to support local journalism by upgrading to a paid subscription.
Dispatch from the Legislature: Democratic Rep. Kevin Volk penned an op-ed in the Star comparing Arizona’s Legislature to Congress, including the “ideological posturing,” “declaring recess before the job is done” and “not wanting to negotiate the budget.” Volk, who is running for re-election in the Tucson-area’s Legislative District 17, points out that both the Legislature and Congress are run by Republicans and noted “we always have an opportunity to change who’s in charge.”
You’ve seen the headlines. Now you can poke around for yourself.
The Arizona Department of Education released an audit of all the unallowable purchases made with school voucher money, which the Arizona Republic turned into a searchable database.
Folks, it is wild in there.
Check out this batch of purchases we spotted, all lumped together:
Spam / mac and cheese / assorted fruit box / applesauce / oatmeal / Veinna Sausage / Slim Jims / Doritos / JackLinks / Marzipan / Rice krispies / Shampoo and conditioner / Pringle potato chips / Nintendo switch lite / Takis / Chips Ahoy / Oral Spray / HandiSnacks Ritz Crackers / Method Body Wash / Nabisco Crackers / Motorcycle helmet / Cisto Cleaning oil
Did you see the Nintendo Switch in there? How about the motorcycle helmet?
There’s also a portable sauna, bathroom organizer, heated hammock chairs, memory foam mattresses and credits for the Rainbow Six Siege video game.
And of course, what classroom would be complete without “Gas Masks Survival Nuclear and Chemical”?
