The clock is ticking on a showdown between Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos and the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
This isn’t the first time that Nanos and the Democratic-controlled board have clashed, but it could potentially be the last.
The supervisors directed their outside contracted attorney1 to draft a series of questions that Nanos will have to answer or potentially be fired from his elected office.
The Board is relying on a territorial-era law to compel Nanos to answer questions abut his past, although several supervisors declined to elaborate on precisely what they wanted to ask him about.
Supervisor Matt Heinz, who has been openly critical of Nanos, said on Tuesday he believes Nanos has committed fraud, referencing a 177-page personnel report his office received on Monday via public records request.
Two handwritten applications Nanos filled out over 40 years ago — one for his initial job as a corrections officer and a subsequent application for a promotion as a patrol officer — gave two varying accounts as to why he left his job with the El Paso Police Department.
Nanos said his reason for leaving was “personal + better paying job” in September 1983 and "personal (divorce) and betterment of myself" in another application for deputy sheriff in November 1983.
However, documents released by the El Paso Police Department stated that Nanos left the Texas law enforcement agency by "resignation in lieu of termination" following a series of disciplinary actions.
Notes from the hiring panel when Nanos was interviewing for the deputy position show that Nanos never volunteered information about disciplinary actions while in El Paso.
One person suggested Nanos was a “high achiever in El Paso PD” and was well-qualified for the position.
Nanos received rave reviews during his interview in 1983, right after being pushed out of the El Paso Police Department.
Nanos acknowledged last week on “The Bill Buckmaster Show” that he made mistakes early in his career, but said he wanted to be judged on his record over the past four decades of public service here in Pima County.
The law that supervisors are leaning on to potentially fire Nanos has rarely been utilized, and it’s open to some legal interpretation.
The “nuclear option” is an obscure territorial-era law that has rarely been employed.
It’s unclear, for example, what happens if Nanos sidesteps the questions posed by the supervisors.
“If we ask him about his work history and he rambles on about, say, I don't know, his Corvette, that would be then a decision of the board,” Heinz told us. “We kind of get into uncharted territory.”
He also confirmed that Nanos doesn’t necessarily have to report in person to the board, he could simply send a written response to the supervisors’ questions.
Those questions will likely be finalized by the supervisors in executive session at the April 7 meeting.
While Heinz has been clear that he’s past the point of trying to repair the relationship with Nanos, and he simply wants the sheriff to resign, not all supervisors have hit that point yet.
Board chair Jennifer Allen told the Tucson Agenda that she wants to hear from Nanos “on how he can restore trust in his leadership” at PCSD.
Nanos told us that he will cooperate with the supervisors and answer their questions.
“I look forward to answering any questions the Board may have regarding my past,” Nanos said.
But the supervisors aren’t the only ones gunning for the sheriff.
Activists recently began gathering signatures to force a recall election against him in an attempt to cut short his term, which will otherwise end in 2028.
Meanwhile, the Pima County Democratic Party is expected to discuss him at their next executive committee meeting, and could end up censuring the sheriff.
The Pima County Deputy’s Organization recently voted unanimously to urge Nanos to resign.
And the Arizona Attorney General’s Office may also be sniffing around after supervisors voted to refer AG Kris Mayes to look into how Nanos’ office handled the investigation into a sexual assault of a deputy by her supervisor.
The victim said the supervisor had bragged that he was “best friends” with Nanos.
We asked Mayes yesterday whether she is investigating Nanos, but she declined to comment.
The worst people: When ICE raided Colt Grill in Cottonwood earlier this month, they arrested Ingrid Ayón, a woman who had been in the U.S. since she was four months old, had no criminal history and worked six days per week, the Republic’s Daniel González writes in an ongoing series about last year’s raid of the Trump-supporting restaurant. The percentage of people being deported without any criminal record has been steadily climbing in the second Trump administration, though it’s now basically impossible to say how many deportees have criminal records because the Trump administration stopped releasing detailed deportation data.
People vs. power: Tucsonans are not happy about Tucson Electric Power’s request to raise its rates by 14%, and a dozen of them showed up to complain to the Arizona Corporation Commission about the proposed rate hike, Arizona Public Media’s Katya Mendoza reports. The all-Republican commission regulates utilities and has reliably approved steep increases for utility providers. If you also don’t want your rates to increase, there are a few more public comment hearings scheduled in April, and Mendoza has the details.
“There are going to be lots of health effects and deaths attributable to corporate greed, mismanagement and questionable practices,” TEP ratepayer Betsy Wilkening told the commission.
Meanwhile, in DC: KGUN’s Denelle Veselik caught up with Southern Arizona’s representatives in Washington, where they detailed their ongoing projects. Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani is jazzed about his bill to turn Chiricahua National Monument into a national park, which has already passed the House with bipartisan support. Democratic U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva is trying to bring home the bacon for a host of federally funded projects, including funding for transportation infrastructure and libraries.
Lawyers, water and money: Gov. Katie Hobbs announced she had struck up a contract with a big New York City law firm in anticipation of lawsuits over the stalled Colorado River negotiations, the Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers reports. Arizona and the other Colorado River Basin states have already blown multiple deadlines for negotiations, and Hobbs’ office says she wants to be prepared for probable litigation this summer. The state has so far put aside $3 million in a legal fund, and the current water-use agreement expires in October.
We’re not asking for a $3 million legal fund — just $12 in support from readers like you.
Not cool, but not criminal: The Arizona Attorney General’s Office cleared the Tombstone Marshal’s Office of criminal wrongdoing after the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office flagged potential misconduct, per KGUN. After a yearlong investigation, the AG’s Office found procurement issues in the K9 program, which was suspended after a dog bit a handler and the handler shot and killed the dog in response. The investigation also found that the office failed to conduct thorough background checks and other non-criminal failures by the Marshal’s Office.
Correction: If you read yesterday’s edition and noticed we screwed up the gender of author Byrd Baylor, you’re not alone. We got a lot of emails about it! Thanks for flagging it — we added her correct pronouns and a correction in yesterday’s edition.
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Bisbee residents are being warned of a scammer impersonating their police chief.
In the scam calls, Bisbee Police Chief Tim Cox threatens to arrest people for serious crimes unless they send him gift cards.
We’re not sure what genius decided to pick the head of law enforcement in a town of roughly 5,000 residents, but we’re guessing that the scammers aren’t raking in the dough — or in this case, gift cards.
AI can probably do a decent impression of his voice, but we’re guessing half the town has probably met the chief.
1 The supervisors hired an outside lawyer because the county attorney is required under state law to represent both the supervisors and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.