The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has filed a motion seeking to end federal oversight of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), citing significant changes within the agency and financial costs to taxpayers. The motion, known as a “Rule 60” motion, was submitted by outside counsel for the Board and asks a federal court to lift injunctions tied to the Arpaio v. Melendres lawsuit.
According to the filing, county officials argue that the original goals of the Melendres lawsuit have been met. The document states there is no evidence of ongoing civil rights violations or new allegations related to targeted immigration enforcement. It also claims that MCSO has reached full compliance with required policy changes and now maintains systems intended to protect Latino drivers’ civil rights.
Chairman Thomas Galvin, District 2, commented on these developments: “This reformed Sheriff’s Office is a completely different agency than it was nearly 15 years ago. The voters held the responsible parties accountable and voted them out. Since then, MCSO disbanded immigration-related units, implemented new policies and anti-bias trainings, and is a law enforcement agency we can be proud of. Further federal oversight is unnecessary and only serves to divert taxpayer dollars away from true public safety needs.”
The county contends that continued federal monitoring is no longer equitable or justified since many current court orders are unrelated to the initial lawsuit’s concerns. Officials note that more than $300 million has been spent complying with four separate Melendres court orders; over $30 million of this total went toward fees for a court-appointed monitor.
Maricopa County further argues in its motion that ongoing oversight undermines local accountability: “Continued federal oversight upsets the democratic process and America’s federalist structure by making local officials accountable to a federal court—based on the conduct of a former Sheriff who has been out of office for fourteen years.”
Rule 60(b)(5) allows relief from judgments if they have been satisfied or if continuing them would not be equitable.
In other recent data concerning Maricopa County, student achievement rates remain an area of concern according to state education reports. For example, in grades 3 through 8 during the 2022-23 school year, 62.9% failed mathematics assessments while 57.2% did not pass English exams (https://www.azed.gov/). High schoolers saw similar trends with 65% failing math sections and 57% failing English on standardized tests in that same period (https://www.azed.gov/). More recently in the 2023-24 academic year, about one-third of high school students passed their ACT mathematics section (33.9%) while just over one-third (36%) of younger students succeeded on AASA math assessments (https://www.azed.gov/).
