An Arizona Sheriff’s Office Misused $163M Related to Racial Profiling Case — ProPublica

ProPublica — 2026-05-21 04:00:00 — www.propublica.org

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Faces Scrutiny Over Misallocated Funds

More than $7,000 in cable TV subscriptions. An $11,000 golf cart. $1.5 million in renovations to office space in a swanky Phoenix high-rise. And another $1.7 million for Tasers. These expenses are part of over $200 million billed to a class-action settlement aimed at addressing racial profiling within the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

A federal judge in 2013 found that the department, under then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, had violated the constitutional rights of Latino drivers. The court mandated sweeping reforms, including the documentation of all traffic stops to identify patterns of racial bias, hiring additional investigators to probe deputy misconduct, and appointing a monitor to oversee the settlement.

Cost of Compliance Questioned

Since Sheriff Jerry Sheridan took office last year, he and Republican members of the county’s Board of Supervisors have cited the costs of complying with these orders to advocate for an end to the settlement known as Melendres v. Arpaio. This comes despite ongoing reviews indicating that traffic stops continue to show racial disparities affecting Latino residents. The situation has raised concerns among Latino leaders and community members, especially as the second Trump administration has increased local law enforcement’s involvement in mass deportation efforts.

Maricopa County, which houses over half of Arizona’s population, has approved $353 million in spending related to the settlement since 2013. However, an audit of the sheriff’s office spending, ordered by the court and reviewed by Arizona Luminaria and ProPublica, revealed that millions of dollars were allocated to expenses unrelated to the settlement. The audit focused on $226 million charged to the settlement over a decade and found that nearly 72% of the spending was misattributed or misappropriated. Only $63 million was deemed appropriately charged to the settlement.

Audit Findings Raise Concerns

The auditing team, led by experienced public finance professionals, stated that overstating the costs of reforms undermines the court’s credibility. “This mischaracterization misleads the public on the cost of reform efforts and calls into question MCSO’s credibility, transparency, and truthfulness of its reporting,” they noted.

Among the questionable expenses detailed in the audit were over $310,000 for travel and professional development, including $1,261 for travel in 2020 to research buying a boat and $4,070 to train and test whether to buy a horse for the mounted unit.

Oversight Lacking

The audit concluded that the county Board of Supervisors, responsible for approving the sheriff’s annual budgets, provided no “meaningful” oversight of its spending and lacked a process to verify if funds were being used appropriately. As costs ballooned, the Board rarely questioned the expenses, according to the review.

In response to the audit, the supervisors claimed that the reforms had exceeded the original racial profiling complaints. They stated, “Hispanic residents of Maricopa County concerned with racial profiling are unaffected by how the County and MCSO allocate costs.” This assertion raises further questions about accountability and transparency.

Legal Maneuvering and Future Oversight

Attorneys for the county have filed a motion to end court oversight, which is currently pending. Republican supervisors Thomas Galvin and Kate Brophy McGee argued that examining county finances to minimize the cost of compliance is an insult to taxpayers and beyond the federal court’s jurisdiction. They maintain that their budgeting practices comply with federal and state law.

Despite the sheriff’s office claiming over 90% compliance with the court orders, U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow has yet to clear the department in two key areas: racial disparities in traffic stops and a backlog of uninvestigated misconduct claims against deputies.

Conclusion

The findings from the audit of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office raise significant concerns about financial mismanagement and the ongoing impact of racial profiling within the department. As the county seeks to end judicial oversight, the implications for accountability and reform remain critical. The situation underscores the importance of transparency in law enforcement spending, particularly when addressing issues of racial bias and community trust.

Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/maricopa-county-sheriff-audit