Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is seeking re-election and has a number of lawsuits

Throughout his political tenure, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has garnered both public support and calls for his resignation amid mounting complaints of abuse and deaths at the prison he runs.

After Nanos, a Democrat, was appointed to the office in 2015, he ran again the following year and lost to Republican Mark Napier. He ran again – again against Napier – and won in 2020, taking office in January of the following year.

Now Nanos is running – for a third time – for the highest police post in the district under the campaign slogan: “We still need Nanos.”

As a two-term incumbent with 40 years on the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Nanos has a lot of legal history to draw on. Other sheriffs before him have also been frequently sued for alleged problems with the department. Nanos is named in more than two dozen lawsuits, ranging from deaths in jail to minor traffic accidents involving his deputies.

In January, the Pima County Deputy’s Organization, which represents half of the department’s deputies, voted almost unanimously no confidence in Nanos.

“The vote was called after years of frustration over the lack of competent leadership and mismanagement by Sheriff Nanos and his leadership,” a statement accompanying the post said.

Nanos remained calm as his political opponents brought up his past during a candidate forum on June 17.

Republican challenger Terry Frederick said he had seen “how bad things got in that department” and called Nanos’ leadership “toxic.” In an earlier debate on June 8, Nanos’ Democratic challenger Sandy Rosenthal said he would not commit to voting for Nanos in the general election if Nanos wins the primary.

Nanos focused more on his record and his plans for the future than responding directly to the criticism. “It’s a tough job, but I wanted it because I believed I could do it,” Nanos said, asking voters to trust him for another four years.

Voters will soon decide whether Nanos or his Democratic challenger Rosenthal will assume the Democratic nomination. Meanwhile, three Republicans are planning to challenge the Democratic nominee in November: Heather Lappin, Bill Phillips and Frederick.

The primary election will be held on July 30, with early voting beginning on July 3. The winners of each primary will face off in the general election in November.

Arizona Luminaria checked the background of every candidate running for sheriff this year. See background checks for other candidates. Arizona Luminaria found that neither Rosenthal nor Phillips had a significant legal history — as the other three candidates did — that would have warranted a statement to voters.

RICO investigation and other allegations

Nanos ran into serious legal trouble in 2016 when the FBI investigated the department for misusing RICO funds during his tenure as sheriff.

RICO funds are funds seized as part of a criminal investigation under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The seized money is distributed to law enforcement agencies, who can use it for further law enforcement purposes. Requests must go through the county prosecutor’s office for approval.

The sheriff’s department’s misuse of funds dates back nearly 20 years, more than a decade before Nanos became sheriff. But the financial irregularities – including the use of seized money for awards banquet dinners and to finance a cafe run by the niece of one of the department’s top officials – did not come to light until Nanos was in office. One deputy was criminally prosecuted and another, a person of interest to the FBI, committed suicide in 2016.

No charges were brought against Nanos, but the controversy cast a shadow over his time at the helm of the department.

Most recently, in November 2023, the Arizona Attorney General opened a criminal investigation into Nanos’ handling of an alleged sexual assault of a female deputy by a sergeant in December 2022. This state investigation followed the Pima County Board of Supervisors’ vote to request an independent investigation into Nanos’ conduct.

According to a letter sent to Luminaria by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, an agent from the Tucson Special Investigations Division has been assigned to the case. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office informed Luminaria on June 19 that it could not comment on the ongoing investigation.

Arizona Luminaria asked Nanos for comment on the Attorney General’s investigation into his handling of the sexual assault investigation and the various lawsuits in which he is named, including those involving deaths in jail, and how he thinks those cases will impact his duties as sheriff. Nanos did not respond to the specific lawsuits, but emphasized that he inherited a “number of lawsuits” from the previous sheriff.

Shortly after former Pima County Councilwoman Sharon Bronson called for a formal independent investigation into the sheriff’s handling of the investigation in September 2023, Nanos announced that his deputies would no longer provide security at board meetings. Days later, Nanos reversed his decision and sheriff’s officials continue to provide security at the meetings.

The Pima County Deputy Organizationa union representing sheriff’s deputies in the county said the female deputy filed a formal internal complaint against her lieutenant, captain and chief following the attack. The complaint alleges that sheriff’s department leaders “were aware that she was being actively sexually assaulted by her sergeant, Ricky Garcia, and refused to intervene for 80 minutes,” according to a November 2023 report in the Arizona Daily Star.

In June 2023, the deputy also sued Pima County, two of her supervisors, and Nanos, seeking $900,000 in damages.

Aaron Cross, a leader of the Pima County Deputy’s Organization, is suing Nanos for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights after speaking out against Nanos on a local radio show in April. An internal investigation found that Cross did not violate any department policies.

Nanos’ lawyers responded to the lawsuit in May, denying any wrongdoing and stressing that Cross was ultimately not punished for his comments.

Later that month, Nanos’ lawyers filed a petition in U.S. District Court for Arizona seeking immunity from the lawsuit, saying the internal investigation was “conducted in accordance with rules and policies.”

According to a May filing in the same court, Cross’s lawyers fought back, arguing the investigation was retaliatory and unnecessary. As of July 1, neither Nanos’ lawyers nor the judge in the case have responded to the latest petition.

Aside from legal issues, Nanos also came under pressure from the board in 2023 after his division was expected to exceed its budget by more than $3 million in the last fiscal year.

Former Supervisor Sharon Bronson said at a July 11, 2023, meeting that she was baffled how the department could go so far over budget. Nanos responded, “You can’t come to that sheriff and say, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re giving you a million and a half to two million dollar raise, but we’re not funding it,’ and then yell at the sheriff for going over budget.”

Deaths in Pima County Jail

Prison deaths have sparked both a number of lawsuits and intense public outrage. After 10 people died in prison in 2021, a per capita death rate more than three times the national average, protesters began taking to the streets and attending public meetings to demand action.

There were another ten deaths in prison in 2022 and eight in 2023.

Families of people who have died in prison fear that some deaths may go unreported.

During his tenure, Nanos has faced more than a dozen lawsuits related to jail deaths, including from his first term as sheriff. A local citizens group called No Jail Deaths, founded by family members of people who have died in jail, has been among Nanos’ biggest public critics.

Frances Guzman’s son Cruz Patino Jr. died in prison in 2021. Guzman is actively campaigning against Nanos, including holding regular rallies and vigils outside the prison. “I will do everything I can to vote him out,” she said. “My mission is to save lives.”

So far, no deaths have been reported in the prison in 2024. Nanos attributes the sharp and sudden drop in deaths to his own measures, including requiring stricter strip searches for drugs and more consistent checks by guards.

Among other things, Nanos is trying to deal with the criticism he faces in the prison by asking the county for raises for his deputies (which he will receive in late 2022) and by proposing that the county build a new prison.

The idea of ​​a new jail was discussed publicly and studied by a Blue Ribbon Commission appointed by the county. After nearly a year of analysis, the commission offered county officials several options for how to proceed, including building a new jail at a cost of more than $850 million.

Rather than making a final decision, county officials are continuing to review the idea, with the next report due in August.

In his closing remarks at a candidate forum on June 17, Nanos emphasized his willingness to work with diverse communities and groups such as the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He also boasted of his track record of increasing staffing levels in his department.

At the June 17 forum, Nanos said that when he took office, the ministry had fewer than 1,300 employees. That number has now risen to almost 96 percent, he said in his closing remarks at the forum.

Nanos attributes the fact that there have been no deaths since September 2023 to increased staffing levels and policy changes, such as more thorough checks on staff and inmates admitted to the prison.

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