Home>About Barbara LaWall
County Attorney Barbara LaWall
In 1996 Barbara LaWall became the first woman ever to be elected Pima County Attorney. Previously, she had been a
Deputy County Attorney for 20 years, during which she prosecuted criminal cases as a trial lawyer; managed the Criminal
Division as the Chief Criminal Deputy; and oversaw administrative, budgetary, and policy matters as Chief Deputy County
Attorney.
Her top priorities as Pima County Attorney have been holding criminals accountable through tough prosecution, working to
prevent crime in our community, providing a variety of supportive services to victims of crime, and running a cost-effective office.
Her Criminal Division targets serious, dangerous, and chronic offenders for maximum prosecution.
In addition to having the lowest plea bargaining rate of any Arizona prosecutor's office, her
Office has increased the percentage of violent offenders taken to trial from 24% to 67%, a rate
unsurpassed by other Arizona prosecutors' offices.
She leads the state in creating programs that protect children, such as the Safe Baby Program and
the AMBER Missing Child Alert. She developed an innovative Community Prosecution Unit that assists
landlords with criminal evictions, implemented a nationally studied and recognized truancy enforcement
program, operates School Multi-Agency Response Teams in each local school district, and has established
neighborhood Community Justice Boards that deal with nonviolent juvenile offenders in a non-court setting.
A nationally recognized expert on 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 and
currently serves on the Arizona Prosecuting
Attorneys' Advisory Council. In 2003, she was appointed by Governor Janet
Napolitano to chair the search committee for the new director of the Arizona Department of Corrections and, in 2006,
chaired the statewide Methamphetamine Task Force.
Honors and Awards
2011
- Arizona’s Children Association - Las Familias Centennial Legacy Award
- Arizona Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for Advocacy and
Victim Services
2010
- Tucson Police Foundation Chairman’s Award for
Leadership and Service
- American Bar Association Criminal Justice
Section Norm Maleng Minister of Justice Award
2009
- LULAC/FBI Community Service Award
- MADD Southern Arizona Community Champions Award
- Arizona Women’s Political Caucus Mim Morris Women Making History Award
- University of Arizona Program in Criminal Law and Policy Certificate of Appreciation
- State Bar's Michael C. Cudahy Criminal Justice Award
- Office of the Governor Certificate of Appreciation for professionalism, support and exemplary
work as Chair of the Governor's Methamphetamine Task Force
2008
- Compass Award
- National District Attorney’s Distinguished Faculty Award
- U.S. Attorney's Office Law Enforcement
Coordinating Council (LECC) Ethical Leadership Award
- LULAC 19th Annual Youth Leadership Conference’s Presidential Citation Community Service Award
