The Pima County Board of Supervisors today appointed Pima County Chief Deputy Chris Nanos as the new Pima County Sheriff, effective August 1, 2015. Sheriff Dupnik’s resignation was accepted by the Board and he will serve until the end of July. Dupnik was first appointed to his job in Feb. 1980 and had been elected every four years since then, for 35 years.
The motion to appoint Nanos was made by District 2 Supervisor Ramon Valadez, seconded by District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll.
District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias mentioned that there was no process in this appointment (such as a public forum by the League of Women Voters) which reflects on the transparency of this process. (Other candidates interested in the position can run for the election of this office in November 2016.) Elias made an alternate motion to start such a process by accepting applicants by July 30, 2015. District 1 Supervisor Ally Miller seconded his motion. The appointment decision would be made at the August 11, 2015 (the next board meeting).
Motion by Elias failed 3-2. Original motion to appoint Chief Deputy Nanos then passed 4-1, with Supervisor Miller voting no.
Retiring Sheriff Clarence Dupnik made a few comments after this vote. He said he was proud of his accomplishments over his 35 years, hiring “quality people”, to create an “outstanding team of cops”. Dupnik had been vocally in support of Nanos’ appointment as his successor, ever since he announced his resignation in January 2015: https://blogforarizona.net/pima-county-sheriff-clarence-dupnik-announces-retirement/
Recent interview w/ the Chief Deputy on the Buckmaster radio show: http://www.buckmastershow.com/2015/06/26/buckmaster-show-62615-change-in-leadership-coming-to-pima-county-sheriffs-department/