Supervisor Matt Heinz is calling on fellow board members to censure Sheriff Chris Nanos and investigate his recent suspension of a political opponent.
Heinz, a frequent critic of the sheriff, said Nanos’ recently suspended his election rival, a lieutenant at the jail, and a union leader in the department in an “attempt to silence his political opposition during an election.”
Heinz has requested an item on the matter be put on the board’s Nov. 12 meeting agenda, a week after the Nov. 5 general election.
Nanos would face possible censure for “putting his political opponent, Lieutenant Heather Lappin, on administrative leave in the middle of the 2024 election cycle,” and also “for violating the First Amendment rights of (Sergeant) Aaron Cross president of the Pima County Deputies Organization union, which has taken a vote of no confidence in Sheriff Nanos,” according to a news release from Heinz’s office.
Heinz is also requesting the board ask the state Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the state to investigate, Heinz wrote in an email Wednesday to Pima County clerk of the board Melissa Manriquez.
“Sheriff Nanos’ reckless and vindictive action against his political rival is nothing but an attempt to smear and silence his opponent,” Heinz said in the news release. “This is clear election interference and Nanos must not be allowed to use his office to manipulate the free and fair voting process in Pima County.”
Lappin, the Republican candidate for sheriff, as well as Cross were suspended last week. The department has said Cross was suspended because he campaigned for Lappin on two separate occasions while dressed in department-issued clothing that made him look like he could be on duty.
Cross, leader of Pima County Deputies Organization, has filed a federal lawsuit saying the suspension violated his free speech.
The department claimed its initial probe of Cross for the campaigning prompted a subsequent internal investigation that showed Lappin “colluded with a journalist to facilitate payment to an inmate in exchange for a news story.”
John Washington, a reporter for Arizona Luminaria, interviewed an inmate at the jail who paid to take the phone call. It reported that Washington, in a July text exchange with Lappin, wanted to reimburse the inmate the nearly $25 it cost to take the call.
