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We hope that your holiday season was filled with the warmth of family and friends and that you all are safe and healthy as we enter the new year.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office wrapped up 2024 with a flurry of activity in and out of the courtroom designed to expand our ability to serve you in ways to help keep you safe and healthy, including plenty of staff training and community outreach aimed at making your holidays brighter.
Your December 2024 Community Newsletter has arrived.
County Attorney Laura Conover joined other top officials in Pima County and the City of Tucson in penning an op-ed that ran in the Arizona Daily Star assuring the community that they don’t intend to use their respective offices to assist proposed immigration roundups in our area. Along with Pima County Supervisor Chair Adelita Grijalva, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, and Sheriff Chris Nanos, Laura reinforced that local resources would not be used to divide the community that she serves.
As we began December, a major question lingered from the November General Election – who would be Pima County’s Sheriff for the next four years?
The race between incumbent Sheriff Chris Nanos and challenger, Heather Lappin, was so close when the November counting was done that election law dictated a recount to ensure the will of the voters was fulfilled.
Our Deputy Chief Civil Attorney, Dan Jurkowitz, appeared in Superior Court on behalf of the people to receive the final vote count, which grew even closer while determining that Sheriff Nanos would serve another term. The Pima County Superior Court certified the re-election of Nanos, who hung on to defeat his Republican challenger by 495 votes out of the more than 487,000 votes cast in the race.
Upholding election law is one of the many ways PCAO’s Civil Division attorneys serve and protect the rights of Pima County residents throughout the year.
Members of our communications team joined a tour of Pima County’s Transition Center, a small space with a big impact on people being released from custody at the Pima County Jail. The Transition Center, which opened in June 2023, is designed to provide information and services people need to re-enter the community and keep them from returning to incarceration.
The tour was provided by our partners at the Pima County Department of Justice Services, and Pillars and Bridges, a local non-profit dedicated to building stronger connections between local government and the community. In its first 18 months of operations, the Transition Center has made a difference in the rate of recidivism for those who take advantages of its services.
Members of PCAO’s Senior Leadership Team hit the road in December to build on our already seasoned approach to public safety and the law.
County Attorney Laura Conover and Chief Civil Deputy Sam Brown traveled to Chicago for the Public Rights Project conference to learn more about equitable and fair civil rights practices, guidelines, and procedures. While there, they also connected with other agencies from across the nation to share ideas about how to effectively move forward during these changing times.
Meanwhile, Criminal Bureau Chief Mark Hotchkiss and prosecutor John Strader went even farther north to Minneapolis, joining Tucson Police and the local U.S. Attorney’s Office in a Public Safety Partnership Summit. The goal of that summit was to share tools, strategies, data, and technologies aimed at reducing violent crime in cities across the USA. They also delved into victim-centered approaches to dealing with violent crime and finding reasonable solutions to the widespread problem.
And Chief Criminal Deputy Josh Moser made the shorter, warmer trip up Interstate 10 to Mesa for the Arizona Association of Counties annual conference. That gathering provided the opportunity to collaborate, learn, and network with officials from other Arizona counties about public policy choices and the challenges we all face.
We often talk in this space about the priceless service our 88-CRIME team provides in working with the community in a safe and anonymous way to solve crimes and keep all of us safer.
On December 6, some of our criminal prosecutors and detectives joined other law enforcement, 88-CRIME Director Babette McDonald and her team to celebrate them at an open house at Pima Community College’s Downtown Campus.
In addition to using anonymous tips from the public to solve violent crimes – and providing reward money to those who give valuable information to solve them – our 88-CRIME team is partners in helping to distribute many thousand free gun locks each year.
We are grateful for all they do on behalf of Pima County and its residents.
About a dozen people who work for you at the Pima County Attorney’s Office walked for you on December 7 in the Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s Walk Like MADD 2024 event at the University of Arizona campus.
The annual walk is MADD’s signature fundraising event designed to also increase awareness to eliminate drunk driving and other forms of unsafe motoring. The event takes place during National Impaired Driving Prevention Month – which is a December-long campaign aimed at increasing awareness about the perils of driving impaired or distracted. Be safe, Pima County!
Along with joy, there is plenty of need to go around during the winter holidays and The People’s Office was there for a final flurry before that big day on December 25.
On Saturday, Dec. 14, we sent our outreach team and volunteers to a couple of holiday events intended to bring cheer into the lives of families in need.
We set up a festive table at the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona campus for the Homicide Survivors Inc. Hope for the Holidays event, joining other local law enforcement and social service agency partners in handing out holiday gifts to families at the drive-through event.
At the same time, we had folks at the United Hearts of Arizona/Corazones Unidos de Arizona’s 11th Annual Shoe and Jacket Drive at the El Pueblo Senior Center. There, we joined a host of others in handing out donated shoes and jackets to families in need of assistance.
They say that it’s better to give than to receive. We couldn’t agree more.
We recruit legal researchers, litigators, and professional staff who use their unique talents to move our Office forward. You’re invited to apply to work for a progressive prosecuting agency that values accountability, public service, and outcome-driven thinking.
We offer excellent work-life balance, great incentives, and a generous benefits package, including:
All open PCAO positions APPLY HERE
There are a variety of positions to apply for at PCAO
2024 PCAO Recap
Check out our 2024 photo wrap-up!!
Here’s a look at some of the links to social media and podcast messages we’ve shared throughout the year.
All Podcast episodes are available here:
https://thepeoplesofficepodcast.podbean.com/
Social Media Posts:
Holiday Safety
Impaired Driving Prevention Month
The PCAO Community Newsletter is published and distributed monthly.
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