Activists to call on Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign

From: AzCentral

A group of activists is planning to call for the resignation of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and ask the U.S. Attorney's Office to place the Sheriff's Office into receivership.

County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, a longtime critic of Arpaio's management and immigration policies, expects to be joined by several dozen protesters at a news conference Wednesday calling for the actions following the Board of Supervisors' regularly scheduled formal meeting at 9 a.m.

Arpaio's critics cite the misspending of $99.5 million by his agency over eight years, and a recent internal investigation that found mismanagement by his top commanders, as reasons to seek the sheriff's ouster.

The activists will also "encourage" federal prosecutors to move forward with an abuse-of-power case against Arpaio, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and others, and ask U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke to place the Sheriff's Office - the county's largest agency - into receivership.

Receivership is a legal process by which court-appointed outside management is brought in to run an organization or agency.

Arpaio declined to respond directly to the actions, but a spokesman said he indicated he would continue to work with the board.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined comment.

Since December 2009, a federal grand jury has been meeting periodically to review information developed by the U.S. Department of Justice during its probe of county law enforcement. That investigation is ongoing.

"We're asking for the resignation of Arpaio and we will be pressing the federal government to . . . move the Sheriff's Office to receivership," Wilcox said. "The management of the finances of MCSO has been horrendous, and the recent report from Pinal County shows there's been abuse of power."