A transfer to oust Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos failed throughout a Board of Supervisors assembly on Tuesday evening, although the board voted to refer perjury allegations to the state legal professional common’s workplace as Nanos’ previous file and dealing with of the Nancy Guthrie case have been closely scrutinized.
Republican Steve Christy moved to have the board declare the sheriff’s workplace vacant and start the method to switch him instantly.
Nobody seconded the movement, although, and the bid to oust him failed.
Democrat Rex Scott then made a movement to refer allegations of perjury in opposition to Nanos to the state AG’s workplace, which the board accepted by a vote of 4-0, with Christy abstaining.
“My chief concern with what’s been happening inside the sheriff’s division is that our elected sheriff has taken no discernible efforts to restore relationships and belief inside our largest division,” Scott stated after that vote. “Essentially the most telling instance of that was the unanimous vote of the Pima County Deputy’s Group declaring no confidence in his management.”
The board’s actions capped a high-stakes showdown over allegations that the person main the Guthrie kidnapping investigation lied beneath oath about his previous police file.
The developments adopted weeks of mounting stress from inside the county’s personal management, with two supervisors, Christy and Democrat Matt Heinz, pushing to take away the elected sheriff or take formal motion in opposition to him.
“That is accountability for a man who has evaded accountability for many years,” Heinz instructed Fox Information Digital final week, calling Nanos a “public security menace.”
On the heart of the controversy are claims Nanos misled officers about his disciplinary historical past as a Texas police officer within the Seventies and Eighties.
The allegations stem from a deposition in a lawsuit, the place Nanos stated beneath oath that he had by no means been suspended as a regulation enforcement officer.
The timeline of the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother:
Information from El Paso, first obtained by the Arizona Republic and later posted publicly by the county, present he was suspended a number of instances and resigned in lieu of termination.
Christy stated the sheriff had already missed a deadline to reply questions beneath oath from the board — escalating the scenario.
“He’s already failed that request… so we’re into the subsequent section,” Christy stated, signaling a possible transfer to vacate the workplace.
As a result of the sheriff is an elected official, eradicating him is legally sophisticated, although supervisors have pointed to a not often used Arizona regulation relationship again to the 1800s as a doable path ahead.
Even with out removing, Heinz stated the board may nonetheless take different actions, together with passing a decision expressing a insecurity or referring the allegations for felony investigation by the state legal professional common.
He additionally famous {that a} conviction on perjury fees would finally pressure the sheriff from workplace.
Including to the strain, each side have retained exterior authorized counsel fairly than counting on the county legal professional’s workplace, a transfer Christy stated is costing taxpayers further cash.
In a written response to the board, Nanos pushed again on the claims, arguing the controversy stems from a misunderstanding, not perjury.
His legal professional says the sheriff’s testimony referred solely to his Arizona profession, noting he was by no means suspended throughout his many years with the Pima County Sheriff’s Division, although he confronted self-discipline earlier in Texas.
The memo additionally confirms Nanos resigned from the El Paso Police Division in 1982 fairly than settle for a proposed suspension following a dispute with a supervisor.
Heinz has disputed that characterization, arguing the file exhibits Nanos resigned in lieu of termination, not self-discipline.
The sheriff declined to reply questions in individual beneath oath, as a substitute submitting a notarized assertion to the board after the deadline, which Heinz stated should still be accepted however doesn’t resolve the underlying issues.
The investigation into Guthrie’s Feb. 1 disappearance has now stretched previous 100 days with few public breakthroughs.
The case, involving the 84-year-old mom of “Right now” co-host Savannah Guthrie, has drawn nationwide consideration and sparked stress between Nanos and the FBI, together with a public conflict with Director Kash Patel over whether or not federal brokers had been initially sidelined.
Heinz has additionally known as on the sheriff to hand over the investigation to federal authorities.
“It’s ridiculous,” he stated. “Virtually each different jurisdiction would have performed so by now.”
Greater than $1.2 million in reward cash is now being supplied for data that results in solutions, as her household continues to plead for assist.
