Pima County Attorney

The People's Office

Serving the residents of Tucson & surrounding communities across southern Arizona.

PCAO Issues Addendum on Investigation of Officer-Involved Shooting of Bradley “Alex” Lewis

April 23, 2021

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Laura Conover Marks First 100 Days of Change with Cumbias & Breakfast Burritos for PCAO Staff

April 12, 2021

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PCAO Gets $253,000 Grant from Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to Go Paperless

April 7, 2021

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PCAO is hoping to hire the most talented legal researchers, litigators & professional staff in southern Arizona

Use our Fraud Complaint Form to notify PCAO of potential fraud in southern Arizona

Find it on the new Fraud Unit page.

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Love of Reading Week with Pima County Attorney Laura Conover

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover reads “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman.

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#JusticeinPimaCounty: Week 18 #FromLaura After ov

#JusticeinPimaCounty: Week 18
#FromLaura

After over a year of empty jury boxes, trials have finally resumed. This is a big deal for the victims who had to take the “we just don’t know yet” call every 30 days, for the people in custody, for the delay in resolution.

The Court took the well-being of all parties, and especially the general public, so very seriously. Every possible health precaution and Covid guidance is in place. We have YOU in mind, our jurors & our grand jurors.

For some 18 years now, I have always stopped anytime I see a juror in the hallway or elevator and said, “Thank you for your service,” because without the public, our system would fall. It is such a truly honorable thing to do, to put your whole life on hold and devote some days or a week or maybe more in helping the process unfold and in seeking justice for one of your fellow community members.

There were, of course, some bumps along the way… I like how Mike O'Hearn, our courtroom technology guru and senior project coordinator, put it: The moratorium on jury trials was as if all “the batteries” of the system had run down and needed to be recharged. Onward and upward.

In other news:

- #NationalLawDay was also celebrated this week, and the theme for 2021 was Advancing the Rule of Law, NOW! The American Bar Association and Krisanne LoGalbo, the public information officer at Superior Court, created a space where high school students across the County could ask their questions about the justice system directly to the Chief Presiding Judge, Court Administrator, Jury Commissioner, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, their top prosecutor and defender. This is what accessibility looks like!

- This week, some of our most experienced Prosecutors met with ASU data analysts to explain our intake process and walk them through the charging of a case. This important meeting provided a "day in the life" of an issuing attorney. This context will help them better understand the data they are reviewing, pinpointing exactly how we can adjust our policies to make them outcome-driven & address racial, ethnic & socioeconomic disparities that persist.

#ToBeContinued
Laura

📸 Courtesy of UA College of Law

In March 2020, due to restrictions caused by COVID

In March 2020, due to restrictions caused by COVID-19, we suspended services provided by both our Court and Crisis volunteer programs.

In November 2020, we were excited for the opportunity to bring our crisis volunteers back to serving our community by providing telephonic responses to those in need. After a large effort to get our volunteers vaccinated, we were then able to bring back our volunteer Court advocates to provide support in the courtroom in mid-April 2021.

And now, as of 5/1/21, our volunteer Crisis advocates are back in action, providing in-person advocacy and support to crime victims in our community. We are so proud to have such a dedicated team of volunteers within the Victim Services Division, doing such important work!

Photo (from left to right): Volunteer Victim Advocates Dave Sielken, Helene Brown and Glenn Summers

📸 by: Colin Wolff

#ICYMI: We had a busy #MayDay2021, first with Mayo

#ICYMI: We had a busy #MayDay2021, first with Mayor Regina Romero, Cecilia Valdez & Sandy Ochoa at the Menlo Park May Day celebration, and then with Pillars & Bridges & Tucson PD at Mansfield Park, where hundreds of free food boxes were delivered to folks who needed them.

Thanks to everyone who came out and joined us in building community and caring for one another. 💗 ✊🏽

#JusticeinPimaCounty: Week 17 #FromLaura Pima is

#JusticeinPimaCounty: Week 17
#FromLaura

Pima is a big, beautiful County. And when I say big, I mean a million-plus residents and over 9,000 miles of stunning desert, streams and sunsets. This couldn’t be more true than in Ajo, a town it takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to get to from Superior Court in Tucson to the Pima County Justice Court-Ajo.

We arrived early to sit quietly in the back of the courtroom to watch Judge John Peck preside in service to the 2,500 or so residents of the pueblito. We observed traffic citations, misdemeanors, and acts of compassion from the Court. Most defendants appear in court pro se (without an attorney), and it’s critical that judges and prosecutors carry themselves with patience and compassion for people who are facing a courtroom alone. We observed just that. Judge Peck lives in the community, and he reported that Michael Colmenero, our specially-assigned deputy prosecutor, has been commuting out to Ajo from Tucson on and off for years and invoking compassion in the way he treats unassisted defendants, communicates with victims, and represents our Office to the entire town.

Ajo is an adorable, historic town and a haven for environmentalists and artists. It is also, in part, impoverished and lacks sufficient employment opportunities following the closure of the mine and then the smelter in the mid-80s. I met with Michael and Pat Gonzalez, our dedicated legal staff, Judge Peck, court administrator Yvette Montijo, Sheriff’s Lieutenant Olsen and his new group of young recruits, and Sr. José Castillo, who at 82 years young and born in Ajo, remains the honorary Alcalde, or Mayor of Ajo.

All day, the word “equity” kept ringing in my head. As we continue to build out our restorative justice program, how will we make sure the residents of Ajo benefit from their own program? And perhaps on an even grander scale, how do we create partnerships in the community so that the prosecutor who follows Michael and the new recruits trained by Lt. Olsen are born and bred in Ajo?

Maybe the first small step we can take is another community cleanup. Next stop, Ajo!

#ToBeContinued,
Laura

📸 by Joe Watson

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