Pima County Board Refers Sheriff Chris Nanos to State AG Over Perjury Allegations

Pima County supervisors failed to oust Sheriff Chris Nanos on Tuesday night but voted 4-0 to refer perjury allegations to the state attorney general. The move follows claims Nanos lied under oath about his past police record while leading the high-profile Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation in Arizona.

The stability of a region’s public safety infrastructure depends entirely on the perceived integrity of its leadership. When the individual tasked with solving a high-stakes disappearance is himself the subject of a criminal referral for perjury, the problem transcends a simple political skirmish. It becomes a systemic failure of trust that ripples through the entire Pima County legal ecosystem.

Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting was less a deliberation and more a collision. Republican Supervisor Steve Christy attempted to trigger an immediate vacancy of the sheriff’s office, a move designed to strip Nanos of his power instantly. The motion failed—not because of a vote, but because it found no second.

However, the political pressure didn’t evaporate. it simply shifted toward the judicial system. Democrat Rex Scott successfully moved to refer allegations of perjury against Nanos to the state attorney general’s office. The board approved this by a 4-0 vote, with Christy abstaining.

“My chief concern with what’s been going on within the sheriff’s department is that our elected sheriff has taken no discernible efforts to repair relationships and trust within our largest department,” Scott stated.

The erosion of trust is not limited to the board. The Pima County Deputy’s Organization has issued a unanimous vote of no confidence in Nanos’ leadership. When the rank-and-file officers lose faith in their chief, the operational efficiency of the entire county’s law enforcement apparatus is compromised. For those caught in the middle of such administrative chaos, securing the guidance of experienced [Civil Rights Lawyers] often becomes the only way to ensure that due process is maintained despite the volatility at the top.

The El Paso Discrepancy: A Career Under Scrutiny

At the heart of this turmoil is a deposition in a lawsuit where Sheriff Nanos testified under oath that he had never been suspended as a law enforcement officer. This statement was the catalyst for the current crisis.

Public records from El Paso, Texas—first brought to light by the Arizona Republic—tell a different story. The documents indicate that during his tenure as a police officer in the 1970s and 1980s, Nanos was suspended multiple times. More critically, records suggest he resigned in lieu of termination.

The distinction between “resigning” and “being terminated” is a narrow but vital legal line. Nanos’ defense, delivered via a notarized statement and his legal counsel, argues that his testimony referred exclusively to his career in Arizona, where he was never suspended. He maintains that his departure from the El Paso Police Department in 1982 was a resignation following a dispute with a supervisor, rather than an act of perjury.

Supervisor Matt Heinz has dismissed this characterization, arguing that the record is clear: Nanos resigned to avoid being fired. Heinz has been vocal in his criticism, calling the sheriff a “public safety threat” and asserting that this is a matter of accountability for a man who has allegedly evaded it for decades.

This legal deadlock has forced both the board and the sheriff to hire outside legal counsel. By bypassing the county attorney’s office, the conflict is now draining additional taxpayer funds to pay for competing legal teams. In environments where government spending is scrutinized, this inefficiency often leads local municipalities to seek [Government Accountability Consultants] to audit the fiscal impact of prolonged administrative disputes.

100 Days of Silence: The Nancy Guthrie Investigation

While the battle over Nanos’ past rages, a more urgent crisis remains unsolved. The investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie—the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie—has now surpassed the 100-day mark with few public breakthroughs.

The case has transformed from a local missing person’s report into a national flashpoint. The tension has extended to the federal level, sparking a public clash between Nanos and FBI Director Kash Patel. The core of the dispute centers on whether federal agents were intentionally sidelined during the early stages of the probe.

The stakes are staggering. More than $1.2 million in reward money is currently being offered for information that could lead to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery. Despite this, Supervisor Heinz has called the sheriff’s refusal to hand the case over to federal authorities “ridiculous,” noting that almost any other jurisdiction would have deferred to the FBI by this stage.

When local law enforcement becomes bogged down in political warfare, families of victims often find themselves in a vacuum of information. This is why many in similar high-profile crises turn to vetted [Private Investigators] to provide the supplemental intelligence and urgency that a compromised local agency may lack.

The Legal Path to Removal

Removing an elected sheriff is a complex legal maneuver. Because Nanos was chosen by the voters, the Board of Supervisors cannot simply fire him. However, they are exploring a rarely used Arizona law from the 1800s that provides a narrow path to vacate the office.

The more immediate threat to Nanos’ tenure is the criminal referral. If the state attorney general pursues perjury charges and secures a conviction, the law would mandate his removal from office. This creates a precarious waiting game where the leadership of Pima County’s primary law enforcement agency is effectively in limbo.

The situation reflects a broader regional instability. From the metropolitan Tucson area to the outlying jurisdictions of Marana and Oro Valley, the effectiveness of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is the primary line of defense for the community. A leadership vacuum or a distracted sheriff doesn’t just affect a political office; it affects response times, investigative rigor, and public safety.

As the state attorney general’s office reviews the evidence of Nanos’ past in Texas, the community is left wondering if the man leading the search for Nancy Guthrie is more concerned with his own survival than the recovery of a missing woman. The intersection of personal history and public duty has created a crisis that may only be resolved in a courtroom. For those navigating the fallout of this administrative collapse, finding verified, independent professionals via the World Today News Directory is the only way to ensure their interests are protected while the county’s leadership remains in turmoil.