Google Street View: Oral arguments will be heard Friday in front of Judge John Hannah at the Superior Court East Court Building, 101 W. Jefferson, Phoenix, Courtroom 811. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
By Jon Johnson
PHOENIX – A lawsuit filed by Greenlee County Sheriff Tim Sumner against the Greenlee County Board of Supervisors to see who controls his department’s pursestrings has cost the county roughly $300,000 in court costs to date but may soon see an end.
The case is scheduled to have virtual oral arguments on Sheriff Sumner’s Motion for Summary Judgment. The defendants are the Greenlee County Board of Supervisors, Richard Lunt, David Gomez, and Ron S. Campbell.
In summary, Sheriff Sumner believes he should be in charge of how much money is allocated to his department and the BOS has informed him that is actually under their prevue.
Initially, Sumner demanded an extra $104,599 per month from the BOS starting in July 2022 but did not indicate what the expenses were or why he needed the additional funds.
In April 2023 Sumner increased his “demand” to $413,007 per month, and then rounded it up to $450,000 per month starting in July 2023 and has continued to demand the extra $450,000 per month since. If granted, that would come out to an extra $5.4 million per year, which would double the entire yearly budget for the sheriff’s office.
According to attorneys for the defense, Sumner believes as sheriff he is the “sole and final adjudicator of what expenses are ‘actual and necessary’ under Arizona Revised Statutes 11-444. However, the Board of Supervisors which makes up the budget for the entire county believe they are the ones directed by law to be in charge of budgeting for all county departments, including the Greenlee County Sheriff’s Office.
The hearing will take place in Phoenix in the courtroom of Judge John Hannah Judicial Officer of the Superior Court East Court Building, 101 W. Jefferson, Courtroom 811. However, the court will use a virtual platform called Court Connect so counselors, clients, representatives, and others may participate in the hearing from afar.
Sheriff Sumner is represented by the law firm of Moyes, Sellers & Hendricks, with attorneys Joshua T. Greer, Natalya Ter-Grigoryan, and Nicholas J. Walter working the case, and the BOS is represented by Jones, Skelton & Hochuli P.L.C., with attorneys Georgia A. Staton and Justin M. Ackerman working the case. Funds from the county’s general fund are paying for both sets of attorneys, who both hail from Phoenix.
As of Greenlee County’s last Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 4, the total spent by Greenlee County due to the Sheriff’s lawsuit was $282,288.25.
In the Defendants’ Reply In Short Support of Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, the BOS’ attorneys argue that the only issue is the interpretation of the relevant legal authorities.
The BOS’ attorneys contend that under Arizona Revised Statute 11-444 the Board is the one with the final say of what expenses the Sheriff’s Office has that are “actual and necessary” and not the Sheriff as Greenlee County Sheriff Tim Sumner contends.
The Board also uses Sheriff Sumner’s evidence against him as the sheriff cited in ARS 11-444(B) that the Board “shall . . . set apart from the expense fund of the county a sum sufficient to pay the estimated expenses of the Sheriff.” The attorneys for the board argued in their motion that the language specifically states the Board is the entity that sets apart the expenses, not the sheriff, and that the Board “determines whether estimated expenses from the Sheriff’s office are appropriate because it is charged with the act of budgeting and paying the Sheriff’s estimated expenses.”
Indeed, the defendants assert that Sheriff Sumner brought the lawsuit not because he is underfunded as the Sheriff’s Office is the highest-funded department in Greenlee County, by more than $2 million per year, but they contend Sumner filed the case so he and any other sheriff in Arizona’s other counties “can have unchecked power to spend county taxpayer funds without heeding modern budgetary requirements.”
According to the 2020 Census, Greenlee County has 9,563 residents, making it Arizona’s least populous county. The budget for the Greenlee County Sheriff’s Office for fiscal year 2024 is nearly $5.4 million, which is about 30 percent of Greenlee County’s general fund.
