FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2014          AACo Bulletin     Advancing Arizona's Counties since 1968

The Arizona Association of Counties and the AACo Foundation invite you to enter the 2014 County Summit Awards competition!

 

These unique awards recognize the innovative and creative spirit of Arizona county governments as they find new and effective ways of providing services to their citizens.

 

Consider entering your county's most innovative programs and/or projects to win one or more of these awards. Winners will be honored at the 2014 AACo Annual Conference December 4-5, 2014 and presented their awards during the Leadership Luncheon on Friday, December 5, 2014.   

 

This week began AACo's 2014 County Visits and the first stop was Navajo County on Tuesday. Each year staff travels to all 15 counties to find out what the counties need from their state association and to share a performance review of AACo for the previous fiscal year. 

 

Here is a schedule of upcomming visits over the next few weeks:

September 29 - Cochise County

September 30 - Santa Cruz County

October 6 - Coconino County

October 7 - Yavapai County

October 14 - Apache County

October 15 - Greenlee County

October 16 - Graham County

 

The Navajo County Board of Supervisors appointed the wife of the late Sen. Chester Crandell, Alice Crandell, to serve the remainder of his term in the Senate for Legislative District 6. The newly-appointed Sen. Crandell was sworn in this week and her term expires in January 2015. 

 

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced it's unlikely to seek charges against Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler, for tampering with campaign signs. A spokesman for MCAO noted that charges are unlikely because the conduct committed by Rep. Robson doesn't fit the elements of the offense in statute.

 

 

Next Tuesday, September 30, 2014, there will be two interim committee meetings at the Senate:

• The Joint Legislative Budget Committee will meet at 1:30 in Senate Room 109. Click here for the agenda and here to watch the meeting online.
• The Joint Committee on Capital Review will meet at 3:00 (or on adjournment of JLBC) in Senate Room 109. Click here for the agenda and here to watch the meeting online.

The Arizona Association of Counties will host its Annual Conference in Phoenix December 4-5, 2014 at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend this annual event that furnishes Arizona's county leaders with professional development opportunities, networking with officials from across the state and the ability to help chart the course of the Association by voting for officers for 2015 and determining the 2015 County Government Platform.

 

Watch your inbox for more information and plan to attend. Registration opens on October 6, 2014.  

A.R.S. � 41-2401 established the Criminal Justice Enhancement Fund (CJEF), which consists of a 47% fine on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts. These monies are paid for criminal offenses and civil penalties. As written in statute, 9.35% of funds collected are allocated through the Department of Law (Attorney General) to county attorneys "for the purpose of enhancing prosecutorial efforts". Additionally, 11.7% of funds are directed to county sheriffs to "enhance county jail facilities and operations".

 

In August 2014, $420,400 in CJEF monies was distributed to counties. This amount is approximately $21,000 more than the amount distributed in August 2013. As shown in Table 1, counties received anywhere from $15,300 to $129,600. Year to date, FY 2015 county distributions are $817,000, or $(49,100) less than this time in FY 2014. 

 

Table 1. Total CJEF Distribution to Counties