Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is unsure whether her office can investigate allegations that Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller destroyed public records and misspent public tax dollars.
Last week, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted to ask Mayes to look into the allegations after the county found that Miller made unauthorized expenditures by hiring several staff members without board approval.
“There's many different departments in the county,” Board Vice Chairman Jeff Serdy said. “Some of us are elected and we run offices, and I have approval to have a couple of employees.”
He added, “I can't just hire six more employees and pay them what I want.”
The board is also asking Mayes to look into allegations that Miller’s office destroyed public records after the Phoenix New Times obtained chat logs showing the Pinal County Attorney’s Office used the encrypted chat app Signal to discuss official business and circumvent the state’s Public Records Law.
That law guarantees access to emails and other communications made by elected officials and public employees in the course of their official duties, with limited exceptions. But the New Times reported that Miller’s office had previously denied a public records request, claiming it did not have any Signal chats to turn over.
Joseph Kanefield, the board’s attorney, said the board had no choice but to refer the claims to Mayes for investigation after it became aware of the allegations.
“So the board is obligated to do this, given that these issues have revealed themselves in the manner they did,” said Kanefield, who was chief of staff to former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
In a statement, the Pinal County Attorney’s Office said it will address the claims in legal filings, not via the media.
“Several of the allegations have already been addressed in our filings and demonstrate there is no basis in fact, law or theory,” according to the statement. “We have requested a copy of the referral to Attorney General Mayes so we can respond directly and demonstrate how our actions complied with Arizona law. Due process matters. We will respond after we are properly served, and that response will be made directly to the Attorney General.”
However, Mayes was non-committal when asked this week whether she will take up the referral.
“So we're looking at that,” Mayes said Tuesday. “I would say we'll have more for you on that later.”
Mayes said the situation is complicated in that she is mentioned in Miller’s Signal chats, according to the New Times report.
“So we're looking at whether that sets up a conflict of interest for my office,” Mayes said.
The attorney general said she’s unaware of exactly what Miller said about her.
“I don't pay that close attention to what Brad Miller has to say, but something nasty,” Mayes said. “I don't know — something nasty enough for it to possibly be a conflict.”
The New Times reported that, at one point, Miller wrote, “Tell the AG to go away!” Mayes had previously stated Miller had no authority to investigate Sen. Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix) for legislative Republicans after Ortiz shared a post on social media about ICE activity in her district.
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