In 1996, Barbara LaWall was the first woman to be elected Pima County Attorney. She is completing her second term, and is seeking a third. Previously, she had been a Deputy County Attorney in the office for 20 years, prosecuting criminal cases as a trial lawyer, managing the criminal division as the Chief Criminal Deputy, and overseeing administration, budget and policy matters as Chief Deputy.

As Pima County Attorney, tough prosecution, holding criminals accountable, crime prevention, providing quality victim services and running a cost-effective office have been her top priorities. Her office works to target serious, dangerous and chronically repetitive offenders for maximum prosecution. In addition to having the highest trial rate of any Arizona prosecutor’s office, her office has increased the percentage of violent offenders taken to trial from 24% to 59%, a rate unsurpassed by other Arizona prosecutors’ offices.

She has led the state in creating and implementing innovative programs to protect children, such as the SafeBaby program and the AMBER Missing Child Alert. She developed and created an innovative Community Prosecution Unit that assists landlords with criminal evictions, runs a nationally studied and recognized truancy enforcement program, operates School Multi-Agency Response teams at each local school district and has established numerous neighborhood Community Justice Boards that deal with non-violent juvenile offenders in a non-court setting.

A nationally recognized expert in criminal prosecution issues, Barbara LaWall has been appointed to numerous commissions and task forces. She is a current member and past chair of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, currently serves on the Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission, and in 2003 was appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano to chair the search committee for the new director of the Arizona Department of Corrections.

She is a lecturer and presenter for various law enforcement agencies, nation and state prosecutor associations, the community, businesses and schools. She has lived in Tucson, Arizona all her life. She has one daughter who is married and lives in California.