Maricopa County Sheriff Audit: A Taxpayer's Guide

Your Money, Their Golf Cart

Maricopa County Sheriff audit findings landed like a brick through a window. You paid for cable TV. You paid for a golf cart. You paid for body cameras nobody needed. And you were told it was all about stopping racial profiling.

Let me translate what Arizona Luminaria and ProPublica just uncovered. The sheriff's office billed more than $200 million to a court-ordered settlement meant to root out racial profiling. Auditors found nearly 72% of that spending was misattributed or flat-out misappropriated.

Only $63 million was properly charged. Let that sink in.

The Quick Facts

• Auditors examined $226 million in sheriff's office spending over 10 years.
• Nearly 72% was misattributed or misappropriated, per the audit.
• Only $63 million was appropriately charged to the settlement.
• Maricopa County has approved $353 million in settlement-related spending since 2013.
• The sheriff's office billed an additional $72 million in just the past two years.

The Numbers That Will Make You Spit Out Your Coffee

$7,670 in cable TV subscriptions. An $11,800 golf cart to shuttle employees. $1.5 million renovating office space in a swanky Phoenix high-rise. $1.7 million for Tasers the court never ordered. $1.3 million for 42 patrol vehicles assigned to positions that had nothing to do with the case. $3,259 in car washes. $4,070 to test whether to buy a horse. In the desert. $1,261 for travel to research buying a boat. For deputies who work in the desert.

These are not line items from a comedy sketch. These are real charges billed to a fund meant to stop law enforcement from racially profiling Latino drivers.

How We Got Here

A federal judge in 2013 found the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office under then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio had violated the constitutional rights of Latino drivers. The court required sweeping reforms. Document every traffic stop. Investigate deputy misconduct. Appoint an independent monitor.

Since Sheriff Jerry Sheridan took office last year, he and Republican county supervisors have called for ending the settlement. Their argument? Reforms are too expensive. The case, Melendres v. Arpaio, has supposedly been a success.

But then the auditors hired by the court monitor dropped their report. And that expense argument collapsed.

The Blockbuster Quote

"This mischaracterization misleads the public on the cost of reform efforts and calls into question MCSO's credibility, transparency, and truthfulness of its reporting."

That is from the two-member auditing team, led by someone with decades of public finance experience. They are not activists. They are numbers people. And their numbers paint an ugly picture.

Where Did Your Money Actually Go?

The Maricopa County Sheriff audit found 209 positions were charged to the settlement at the start of fiscal year 2025. Only 55 could be reasonably tied to the court's orders. Eighty-four were flat-out inappropriately attributed. Another 70 were only partially related and should have been prorated.

Taxpayers are still on the hook. But the audit warned that accounting practices remain unchanged, and about $144 million in personnel costs from 2014 to 2024 was misattributed, so it's clear they're not fixing anything.

The department bought 950 body cameras from Axon at a cost of $8.6 million. The court required cameras for between 434 and 513 employees. About $2.9 million of that spending exceeded requirements. Tasers were bundled with the cameras and billed to the settlement. The court never ordered Tasers.

The Golf Cart Defense

County supervisors pushed back. Their response to the judge? Here it is, verbatim.

"Hispanic residents of Maricopa County concerned with racial profiling are unaffected by how the County and MCSO allocate costs. Nor does any member of the Class experience a constitutional violation because MCSO purchased a golf cart."

That framing misses something. The supervisors cited costs to demand an end to oversight. But those costs, the audit shows, were wildly inflated. You cannot claim the roof is too expensive when you keep buying chandeliers.

The Sheriff's Response

Sheridan dismissed the findings. At a February town hall, he criticized the audit and said the court required hiring 25 sergeants at roughly $3 million a year. But auditors found the department had shifted those sergeant costs from the general fund to the settlement starting in 2016.

Attorneys for the county asked the judge for a chance to challenge the audit but then dropped it, citing the "unnecessary" cost of examining their own department's spending. But it's unnecessary.

Who Is Watching the Watchmen?

The audit concluded the county Board of Supervisors provided no "meaningful" oversight. Arizona Luminaria and ProPublica reviewed nearly a decade of public budget hearings and found supervisors rarely questioned expenses as costs ballooned.

Supervisor Steve Gallardo, the lone Democrat on the five-member board, opposes ending oversight. He wants benchmarks for full compliance. The sheriff's office is above 90% compliant with two major orders but has not been cleared on racial disparities in traffic stops or a backlog of 433 uninvestigated misconduct claims.

U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow said he was reluctant to let the county "use cost orders both as a sword and a shield and make statements to the public which may, in fact, be completely inaccurate."

The Practical Verdict

You have a right to ask what your money bought. The Maricopa County Sheriff audit answers that question, and the answer is deeply uncomfortable. An $11,800 golf cart and $7,670 in cable TV were not reforms. They were a shopping spree billed to your account.

The motion to end court oversight is still pending. The sheriff's office has not responded to questions about the spending. The auditors, William Ansbrow and Eric Melancon, are barred from speaking publicly.

Zach Mohr didn't mince words. But as a public finance expert at the University of Kansas who reviewed the audit for the news organizations, he said the board's only solution if they disagree is to get another audit.

They have not commissioned one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Maricopa County Sheriff audit?

It is an independent review of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's financial and operational practices to ensure taxpayer funds are used properly.

Who conducts the audit?

The audit is typically performed by the Maricopa County Auditor's Office or an external firm hired by the county.

Why is this audit important for taxpayers?

It ensures transparency and accountability in how the Sheriff's Office spends public money, helping prevent waste or misuse.

What areas does the audit cover?

It examines budget allocations, spending on equipment and personnel, and compliance with county policies.

How can taxpayers access the audit results?

The final report is usually published on the Maricopa County website and presented at public board meetings.