Pinal County attorney clashes with board over partnership agreement with ICE

PHOENIX – Pinal County’s top prosecutor is at odds with its Board of Supervisors over his deal to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Board of Supervisors determined last week that the Pinal County Attorney’s Office’s 287(g) agreement with ICE is void.

The BOS consulted with outside legal counsel and determined it has sole power to approve contracts between the county and the federal government. Furthermore, the board said the attorney’s office can’t enter a 287(g) agreement because it does not have the authority to make arrests.

County Attorney Brad Miller disagrees with the assessment.

“We are the top law enforcement officer in the county,” Miller told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Monday.

Pinal County attorney says ICE thinks agreement is valid

Miller said he followed up with ICE officials after the board made its decision.

“They clarified that it is between us and ICE,” he said. “And since the Board of Supervisors is not a party and doesn’t have any jurisdiction with respect to how law enforcement actually occurs in the county, then we are fully within our rights and we are going to continue with that agreement.”

Miller said his office has a “very minimal role” in the task force formed through the 287(g) agreement.

“We deal with intel sharing, we deal with recon, we deal with assistance,” he said. “And then, of course, since we’ve actually been in the community and we know our communities, we know our neighborhoods, we can potentially share that information with ICE so that we don’t end up in a situation like you see in Minnesota.”

The intel sharing is especially important because it improves safety for county law enforcement officers, he explained.

“If a person is pulled over and we don’t know their status and we don’t have any information about them, we can go into a federal database and find out more information about this particular person for officer safety purposes,” he said.

What happens next in Pinal County dispute?

BOS attorneys sent Miller’s office a cease-and-desist letter, but the county attorney said the board doesn’t seem interested in speaking to him about the matter. He acknowledged that the situation could wind up in court.

“We were hoping to come to some sort of amicable resolution prior to it coming to a very public feud,” he said. “We still hope that we can speak to the Board of Supervisors and discuss this particular matter, but at this point, I don’t see that happening.”

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