{"id":1199,"date":"2022-03-22T12:52:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T12:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/maricopa-county-attorney-allister-adel-resigns-amid-questions-of-sobriety-absences-the-arizona-republic\/"},"modified":"2022-03-22T12:52:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T12:52:02","slug":"maricopa-county-attorney-allister-adel-resigns-amid-questions-of-sobriety-absences-the-arizona-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/22\/maricopa-county-attorney-allister-adel-resigns-amid-questions-of-sobriety-absences-the-arizona-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel resigns amid questions of sobriety, absences – The Arizona Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"

After weeks of beating back questions about her sobriety and absences from office, County Attorney Allister Adel announced Monday that she is resigning.
Adel offered no immediate explanation for her resignation, saying only she would leave office at 5 p.m. Friday.
It remains unclear who would\u00a0assume control of the nation’s third-largest prosecutorial office.
Her announcement caught the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors by surprise. The board was meeting with private attorneys about what, if anything, it could do about Adel’s situation\u00a0when it learned she was quitting.
In an emergency meeting Monday, the board\u00a0voted unanimously to accept Adel’s resignation while offering little insight\u00a0into who will steer the office going forward.
Adel, a Republican, had been elected to serve until January 2025, with the position scheduled to be up for contention in 2024. Now, it will be on the ballot this year.
The board agreed to appoint an interim county attorney to serve until a new county attorney is elected. But deadlines are tight.
Candidates hoping to qualify for\u00a0the August primary\u00a0have just two weeks to file paperwork and gather signatures.
Board Chairman Bill Gates did not address the timing in a statement thanking Adel for her service.
“She brought to the office fresh ideas and important reforms, including increased focus on diversion in criminal cases,” Gates said.\u00a0\u201cI believe Allister’s resignation represents what is best for her, her family, the County’s Attorney Office, and the criminal justice system.\u201d
In her own statement, Adel made no mention of the controversies that have marked her tenure. Instead, she thanked supporters for electing her as the first woman to hold the office.
“I am proud of the many accomplishments of the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office during my tenure, including policies that seek justice in a fair and equitable manner, hold violent offenders accountable, protect the rights of crime victims,\u00a0and keep families safe,” she said in a statement.
Brnovich asks for report:<\/strong>Arizona’s attorney general demands explanation on 180 botched cases<\/a>
Concerns about Adel’s leadership first were raised by The Arizona Republic<\/a> in a Feb. 2 article that detailed reports she made a drunken after-hours call to a member of her staff and failed to weigh in on key legal issues facing the county.
Adel’s conduct has since prompted an investigation by the State Bar of Arizona, a rebuke by the governor,\u00a0a demand for accountability by the Arizona attorney general and repeated calls for her resignation.
Five top prosecutors in Adel’s\u00a0office called in February for her to step down<\/a>, saying her behavior was jeopardizing cases and eroding confidence in the office.
The division chiefs\u00a0said Adel displayed “obvious signs of impairment” while conducting county business and had been out of the office for weeks at a time after seeking treatment\u00a0in late August\u00a0for anxiety, alcohol abuse and an eating disorder.
The division chiefs reached Monday declined comment.
The Republic reported on March 14\u00a0that Adel’s office had to drop 180 misdemeanor cases after it forgot to file charges for more than a year. Adel blamed her staff.\u00a0
Gov. Doug Ducey said Adel needed to take accountability, stop blaming her team and turn her office around.\u00a0The Arizona attorney general on Friday asked Adel to prepare a report on how the prosecution of those cases fell through the cracks.
Ducey said Monday Adel made\u00a0“a difficult, brave and very personal decision” to leave office.
“The men and women in the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office have a tough and important job,” Ducey said in a statement. “They stand on the front lines of law enforcement in our state\u2019s largest county. We stand with them and will continue to support them during this period of transition.\u201d
Whoever the board chooses to serve as interim county attorney is required\u00a0to be a\u00a0member of Adel’s party, a Republican. But Adel’s decision to resign in late March has made the political process chaotic for those who want to be\u00a0her elected successor.
If she had waited to step down until April 4, the Board of Supervisors could have appointed a replacement to serve until the 2024 election cycle.
By leaving office March 31, Adel will compel\u00a0county voters to vote for a\u00a0county attorney in 2022\u00a0and then again in 2024.
Board members on Monday\u00a0called for an election to fill the upcoming vacancy.\u00a0 Candidates will square off in an Aug. 2 primary, with the winners moving on to the Nov. 8 general election.
By accepting Adel’s resignation, the board cleared the way for candidates hoping to replace Adel to begin circulating election petitions Monday afternoon.
They must file a\u00a0statement of organization and have until April 4 to gather thousands of required signatures.
Republicans need about 4,500 valid signatures, Democrats 4,200 and Libertarians 2,500 in order to qualify, county officials said.
Supervisor Steve Gallardo said Monday the board was\u00a0meeting with lawyers in executive session about Adel when the news broke.
“We were in e-session while all of this was happening,” he said. “We were hearing rumors and we didn’t think it would come to fruition, but then it did.
Gallardo said the available window makes it nearly impossible for candidates to qualify to run.
Gallardo credited Adel with making the right decision.
“I applaud her and appreciate her decision to step down and seek help,” he said. “She sure needs help.”
Former County Attorney Rick Romley said the issue of who will lead the office needs to be careful and deliberate \u2014 less about politics and more about justice.
“It’s a tricky situation,” he said.
Romley, who mentored and supported Adel when she sought the job, has recently called for her to step down. He said\u00a0she has lost the trust and confidence of her employees, law enforcement and the public.
Whoever is appointed to replace Adel is going to have to work hard to restore faith in the office, he said.
“The next county attorney will have to rebuild, and it is not going to be an easy process,” he said.
“Trust has to be built in three ways: The new county attorney will have to internally reach out to the staff,\u00a0reach out to the community, and reach out to law enforcement to reassure them the county attorney is a capable partner.”
Romley said he hopes Adel gets the help and support she needs.
“I wish her the very best,” he said. “I hope she takes care of the personal challenges she has ahead.”
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, who urged Adel to take a leave of absence last year, said her decision to leave is significant.
“Although we are human and make mistakes, we must be committed to accountability of our duties,” Penzone said. “These issues of concern adversely affected victims and deteriorated public trust.”
The County Attorney’s Office handles all adult\u00a0and juvenile felony cases and\u00a0misdemeanors filed in justice court.\u00a0It\u00a0represents all county agencies in civil matters. The county attorney makes decisions about who to charge with crimes, when to authorize wiretaps and whether to seek the death penalty against someone.
Penzone said the County Attorney’s Office must work diligently\u00a0to restore trust and confidence in the criminal justice system.
“I wish County Attorney Adel health and happiness in her feature endeavors,” he said.
Adel for weeks has resisted calls to step down, describing questions about her behavior as distractions.\u00a0
She has repeatedly said she is capable of running the office while seeking treatment for her addictions.
The Board of Supervisors appointed Adel to lead the\u00a0agency in 2019\u00a0and she was elected in 2020.
Adel\u00a0underwent emergency surgery for a brain bleed on Nov. 3, 2020, election night.<\/a> She was hospitalized at two medical centers for more than a month. She spent the beginning of 2021 recovering.
Adel went into rehab on Aug. 29 and was out of the office for 13 days before Penzone forced her to publicly acknowledge\u00a0she was getting treatment.<\/a>
Nineteen days after checking into rehab, Adel\u00a0checked out<\/a>\u00a0and returned to work.
She made contradictory statements\u00a0<\/a>about how much time she has spent in rehab and the number of times she has relapsed or had “slip-ups.”\u00a0Adel also gave\u00a0 different accounts about a reported drunken after-hours phone call\u00a0to a member of her leadership team.
Adel in February had Communications Director Jennifer Liewer escorted out of the office<\/a>\u00a0after she gave her three-week notice and writing that the office should not be put in the position of defending Adel’s “sobriety and leadership.”
Adel did not mention her addiction in the statement Monday. She also did not indicate what will come next for her.
“I want to thank the employees of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office,” she said. “I value and respect the work and dedication you give to this office. Few people genuinely realize, or appreciate, how hard this work is or how committed you are to serving the greater good, but I do.”
Her statement Monday came about a month after she told her five top prosecutors they were lucky to have jobs and could “stick it out or resign.”<\/a>
“I am confident that the important mission of the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office will continue,” Adel said. “My dedication and service to my community does not end here.”
Republic reporter Joshua Bowling contributed to this article.<\/em>
Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Rreach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com<\/a> or 602-444-8694. Follow him on Twitter @robertanglen<\/a><\/em>
Help us fight for you and support local journalism.<\/strong>Subscribe to azcentral.com today.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After weeks of beating back questions about her sobriety and absences from office, County Attorney Allister Adel announced Monday that she is resigning.Adel offered no immediate explanation for her resignation, saying only she would leave office at 5 p.m. Friday.It remains unclear who would\u00a0assume control of the nation’s third-largest prosecutorial office.Her announcement caught the Maricopa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}