PHOENIX — Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone announced Monday he's not running for a third term in office and will resign in January.
Penzone said he won't run for re-election in 2024 and will be looking for other opportunities to serve the public in other ways beyond the sheriff's office.
"The job itself is a privilege. I'm very thankful I've had this opportunity," Penzone said.
Penzone, a Democrat, defeated Republican Joe Arpaio in the 2016 race for sheriff by a wide margin and was re-elected in 2020.
Upon taking office, Penzone promised to reverse the culture of Arpaio's headline-grabbing tactics and restore trust between MCSO and the community.
During Monday's press conference, Penzone joked about how his administration got rid of the "pink underwear" in the county jails that were well publicized during Arpaio's tenure.
Penzone inherited the consequences that resulted after MCSO was found in 2013 to have racially profiled Latinos during Arpaio’s immigration patrols. That verdict led to two court overhauls that stripped some of the agency's autonomy over its internal affairs investigations.
Last November, a judge found Penzone to be in contempt for noncompliance with a court-ordered overhaul in the racial profiling case. Penzone disagreed with the court's findings.
Penzone said Monday that the federal court oversight has become "overstayed" and is too focused on punishing organizations, suggesting that the ongoing monitoring was drawing away resources from within the sheriff's office.
"When I have more people investigating internal affairs and compliance issues than I do crimes in the community, something's wrong," the sheriff said Monday.
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