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We bid adieu to 2023 with a month that saw the start of a new partnership to promote community safety, a new way of sharing our stories, and a new face on the Senior Leadership Team at The People’s Office.
December also was a month filled with holiday-oriented community outreach and many saying farewell to a national legal legend who called Arizona home.
As the third year of this administration winds down, we have released our annual report of our work designed to provide glimpses inside the world of criminal justice and its evolving reform and the many other ways PCAO serves the 1.1 million people who call Pima County home. Your December PCAO newsletter has arrived.
The growing number of partnerships the “People’s Office” is forming to make Pima County a safer and healthier place continued in December with the unanimous approval of an intergovernmental agreement for PCAO to provide free gun locks to all Tucson Unified School District schools.
With the earlier unanimous approval by the TUSD board, our office is now poised to provide 10 free locks to schools and to increase that number as we see increased demand for lifesaving devices.
Distributing free gun locks is among the most important initiatives of our community outreach efforts. Using the simple cable lock, combined with other gun safety measures, can help prevent tragic accidents and potential suicides.
In the past two years, our office and our 88-Crime partners have given out more than 30,000 gunlocks at resource fairs and other outreach events, and this IGA gives us a new way of getting them into households where they can do the most good.
The Civil Division here at PCAO traveled up Interstate 10 on Dec. 12 to argue in favor of reproductive rights before the Arizona Supreme Court. Because this office was party to an action addressing legal abortions when Roe v. Wade went into effect 50 years ago, the awesome responsibility to continue that case stayed with The People’s Office.
Unlike PCAO circa 1973, our team joined with attorneys from Public Rights Project and Planned Parenthood to argue against a near-complete ban on abortion services in Arizona. Chief Civil Deputy Sam Brown delivered a short and compelling argument before the state’s high court that conflicting laws in place with Roe v. Wade no longer in effect call for clarity for both doctors who provide abortion services and the people who seek them.
The argument entailed making the case that a 15-week ban approved prior to the passage of the landmark abortion law should go into effect, rather than a 150-year-old territorial law that imposed a near-total ban on abortion services, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Check out PCAO’s social media to get some images from the day as well as our live broadcast of a press conference featuring Laura and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes following the court appearance.
You also can watch County Attorney Conover discuss the struggle to preserve reproductive rights on the national PBS program “To the Contrary.”
We now await the decision from Arizona’s Supreme Court justices and anticipate Arizona voters having their say regarding the future of reproductive rights in the state.
The 2023 Year in Review from PCAO is out and ready to hit your coffee table.
The electronic and video versions will be posted here on our PCAO website next week.
Keeping the people of Pima County informed about issues and initiatives of our office takes many forms here at PCAO, with frequent media coverage, our website, social media platforms, and ongoing community outreach events. This month, we added “The People’s Office Podcast” to the mix.
This new podcast, produced right here in the Pima County Legal Services Building, will feature Laura and others from PCAO talking about what matters in the realm of public safety and community health. The first episode focuses on Laura’s trip to Alabama to learn more about what’s happening in criminal justice reform.
Watch our website and our YouTube channel for future podcasts. Audio episodes are available here.
Getting out to events and meeting those we serve is a year-round pursuit at the Pima County Attorney’s Office, but as with most people, the holiday season kicks that into high gear. Here are some of the ways our office spent the month.
88-Crime open house
Laura joined 88-Crime Director Babette McDonald, Chief of Detectives Fabian Pacheo, and other staff at the annual Holiday Open House hosted by our anonymous witness program. It was a chance to connect with 88-Crime board members and the public and a fine way to get the month of December started.
Shoe and jacket giveaway
We joined the United Hearts of Arizona/Corazones Unidos de Arizona’s shoe and jacket giveaway at the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, where 200 students from 10 southside schools received gifts and had their photos taken with Santa, Mrs. Claus and one of their elves.
We appreciate Maria Vianey for inviting us to volunteer and are grateful for all of the community partners who made this important event happen.
We want to thank Ms. Oliver for inviting us back to the Valencia Middle School Tucson career fair. Students met and chatted with the County Attorney, our courthouse dog handler, and our chief detective to find out more about what we do every day to serve our community. We had a great time interacting with all of the awesome and inquisitive students!
The passing of Arizona native Sandra Day O’Connor on December 1 evoked many tributes and remembrances of the first female justice in U.S. Supreme Court history.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover shared her thoughts on the life and legal contributions of O’Connor, who rose from the tiny community of Duncan in Greenlee County to the highest court in the land when she was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
You can read Laura’s description of what Justice O’Connor and other women in legal leadership meant to her as her own justice career took shape.
Josh Moser takes the helm in Criminal Division
Veteran prosecutor Josh Moser has been selected to take the post of Chief Criminal Deputy County Attorney upon the retirement of Bruce Chalk in the new year. Josh has most recently served as supervisor of PCAO’s Community Protection Bureau, where he gained the legal experience and connections to make him an outstanding fit for CCD. Mark Hotchkiss will assume the post of Assistant Chief Criminal Deputy while continuing in his role as Bureau Chief of the Major Offenders Unit.
We can wish Bruce a wonderful retirement knowing that the Criminal Division here is in excellent hands.
Former Judge Brammer joins PCAO
Imagine how thrilled we were here at The People’s Office to have retired Court of Appeals Judge Bill Brammer express interest in joining our team. We wasted zero time bringing him on board to head up our Appeals Division, he starts in January. Talk about a great gift for the holidays!
Crime victims in Pima County will benefit from a $147,348 grant from the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith, and Family.
PCAO was among 23 agencies across the state to receive a share of $3.3 million in grant funding to support efforts that address sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, and dating violence. Our share will provide salaries, benefits, and training for two full-time victim advocates who will work in our Victim Services Division and one half-time advocate.
Here’s a look at some of the links to social media messages we shared throughout December.
Celebratory Gunfire is Illegal
Happy Kwanzaa
Jingle Mingle
People’s Office Podcast Promo
Odometer Fraud Tips
Prevent Package Theft
Check out these pictures from Jingle Mingle 2023. SEE YOU NEXT MONTH!!
The PCAO Community Newsletter is published and distributed monthly.
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