The fight over the political future of Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos may hit its breaking point tomorrow, as the Pima County Board of Supervisors again heads behind closed doors to decide what to do about the controversial Democratic lawman.
At this point, the four Democrats and one Republican on the board have a choice to make: Either use a territorial-era law to try to remove Nanos over his failure to include a sworn statement in his answers to the board, or finally bring this long-running political feud to an end.
There have also been whispers about pursuing a different strategy: Asking Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate possible perjury charges tied to the answers Nanos provided to supervisors three weeks ago. Some of his critics argue those responses were misleading or incomplete.
The board has floated similar ideas in the past, but none have resulted in charges against the 70-year-old, two-term sheriff.
Nanos remains under political fire from supervisors over:
A formal confrontation with the Pima County Board of Supervisors over allegations he lied on his job application
Disciplinary actions against his political rival — and one of her supporters — weeks before the 2024 election
PCSD’s interactions with federal immigration officials
Management of the department’s budget
However, the more immediate issue may be whether Nanos complied with the law. He did not submit a sworn statement addressing the supervisors’ questions by the deadline they set. The sheriff submitted answers one a week afterward, but for critics on the board, that may technically be too late.
Because this appears to sit in a murky legal gray area, any move by supervisors to remove Nanos would almost certainly trigger a court challenge.
Not the only issue
While the board may hold the power to remove Nanos from office, it is hardly the only battle he is facing.
Last week, FBI Director Kash Patel took a break from handing out personalized bottles of bourbon to criticize Nanos on Sean Hannity’s podcast over his handling of the Nancy Guthrie case.
Patel is just the latest critic to target the Democratic sheriff and his department’s actions during the Guthrie investigation.
Nanos is also being sued by both former Lt. Heather Lappin, who ran against him in the 2024 election, and Sgt. Aaron Cross, who supported Lappin. Both were suspended by Nanos in the weeks leading up to the general election.
Republican Daniel Butierez, who is again running for Congressional District 7, is also leading a recall campaign against Nanos (though that’s probably a longshot — the last time Pima County voters successfully removed a county official from office was in 1994, when they recalled former Pima County Assessor Alan Lang).
The Pima County Democratic Party has meanwhile spent months debating whether to censure Nanos, but party leaders appear deadlocked. The issue is expected to come up again next month.
The Pima County Deputy’s Organization also recently issued a vote of no confidence in Nanos. And while that vote is now in the rearview mirror, it remains unclear how — or whether — Nanos could mend those fences if he survives Tuesday’s vote.
Protests against Project Blue and other proposed data centers here in Southern Arizona are fairly common at this point, including tactics ranging from passionate speeches during call to the public to activists briefly blocking traffic near the construction site.
But activists tried something new on Thursday, taking their protest inside the offices of the project’s legal counsel, Tucson-based Lazarus & Silvyn, P.C.
“Yesterday, more than 20 masked individuals arrived at our offices in opposition to data centers and physically threatened and harassed our employees,” the attorneys said in a statement to the press. “We believe in the right to peaceful protest. Yesterday crossed the line. No cause, however sincerely held, justifies intimidating legal professionals and their staff at their place of work.”
In a statement on Instagram, protesters said they entered the office peacefully while playing music and making noise with drums, pots and pans.
The group left a letter demanding that the law firm sever its ties with Project Blue developer Beale Infrastructure.
The Lazarus & Silvyn staff called the Tucson Police Department. While no arrests have been made, the case remains open.
Mother’s Day message: An unknown person placed a sign with a message to Nancy Guthrie’s abductor in front of her home, per KGUN’s Don Davis. The message says “Your Mom would be ashamed if she knew what you did” and urges the abductor to return Guthrie so her family can celebrate Mother’s Day.
Heading in the wrong direction: Opioid-related deaths are dropping across the country, but not in Arizona, the Tucson Sentinel’s Paul Ingram reports. The tally in Pima County rose to 553 deaths last year, after dropping 20 percent the year before. Fentanyl is still the main cause of concern, particularly the blue pills that are widely used locally. But health officials say the crisis is playing out in ways you might not expect. At least half the deaths from those pills are occurring at homes, not people on the street.
Prying eyes: University of Arizona professors and staff are upset about a proposed policy that would allow UA administrators to monitor their email accounts, the Arizona Daily Star’s Prerana Sannappanavar reports. The Faculty Senate is calling for an array of changes to the policy, including setting a mandatory evidentiary standard for searching a professor’s emails and making sure their words aren’t cherry-picked or twisted to distort their meaning.
Back in town: Former KOLD meteorologist Chuck George, known for his enthusiasm for teaching the public about weather, is now teaching personal finance at Sahuaro High School, Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller writes. George left his gig at KOLD in 2013 to deal with personal issues and went on to teach in Oklahoma and Texas. But “Mr. George,” as he’s known in his classroom, felt the draw of Tucson and started teaching here in January.
We’d like to stay in the journalism game as long as possible. But we can’t do it without financial support from our readers!
Booted from the ballot: The No Labels candidate in Southern Arizona’s 6th Congressional District won’t be on the ballot after a judge said he hadn’t collected enough signatures, the Republic’s Laura Gersony reports. Iman Bah has launched several long-shot bids for local elected offices in recent years. For his current congressional run, he raised less than $200. Lawyers aligned with the Republican Party tried to keep him on the ballot, believing he would siphon votes from Democratic candidate JoAnna Mendoza.
The funniest part of the newly released personnel file for Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos may not be what’s inside it.
It’s what the Sheriff’s Department decided to black out.
A public records request forced the release of Nanos’ personnel file, but the records were redacted by his own department — which apparently decided that decades-old written evaluations of their current boss are too sensitive for public viewing.
Curiously, glowing letters of praise survived the black marker just fine.
Arizona’s public records laws on redactions are fairly straightforward, which raises an obvious question: What exactly was the legal theory here?