Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Held in Contempt

The presiding criminal judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court issued an order today holding one if the sheriff's deputy chiefs in contempt of court and fined him over $10,000. The contempt finding arises from a long standing dispute between the court and the sheriff's office who is responsible for transporting in custody inmates to court each day. For well over a year, many inmates have not been transported to court, often causing delays for phoenix criminal defense attorneys, judges, witnesses, victims and others. The sheriff's office claims that they are understaffed and financially unable to assign enough deputies to the prisoner transportation detail. Of course, the sheriff is now claiming that the contempt finding is politically motivated by court officials who disagree with his illegal immigration policies.

Other critics are upset that the courts and the sheriffs office are wasting their time and money litigating these issues in court rather than investigating and processing criminal cases such as drug offenses, DUI, domestic violence and theft.