**Pinal County Board of Supervisors Holds Executive Session Over Federal Immigration Agreement**
FLORENCE — The Pinal County Board of Supervisors, including Maricopa’s Rich Vitiello, convened in a closed executive session this morning to discuss the legality of a federal immigration enforcement agreement signed by the Pinal County Attorney’s Office without prior board approval. The board took no public action and released few details following the session.
The confidential discussion centered on a Memorandum of Agreement signed on August 28 by Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller. This agreement establishes a partnership between his office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the federal 287(g) Task Force Model program, which authorizes local personnel to act as an extension of ICE.
Under the terms of the agreement, investigators with the county attorney’s office are permitted to inquire about individuals’ immigration status, detain individuals under immigration holds, and transport detainees to ICE-approved facilities. However, these activities must be conducted under ICE supervision.
While ten Arizona state agencies have already joined the 287(g) program, Pinal County is the first prosecutor’s office in the state to enter into such an agreement. Nationwide, only four other prosecutor’s offices—three in Pennsylvania and one in Oklahoma—have signed similar agreements, according to ICE data.
Most Arizona agencies originally signed up for the 287(g) program in 2020, but both Pinal and Yuma County Sheriff’s Offices joined more recently, on the same day this year.
ICE highlights numerous cases in Arizona where immigration detainers were placed on inmates convicted of serious violent crimes, including murder, kidnapping, child molestation, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Federal officials stress that cooperative agreements like this allow local agencies to identify immigration status before an inmate’s release, aiming to prevent potentially dangerous individuals from being freed without ICE notification.
Today’s executive session aimed to obtain legal advice regarding whether the county attorney had the authority to execute the agreement without the board’s prior approval. Due to a conflict of interest acknowledged by the county attorney’s office, Pinal County also retained outside conflict counsel for this matter.
Supervisor Rich Vitiello (R-Maricopa) declined to comment on the specifics discussed during the executive session. When asked about the substance and how the issue first arose, Vitiello responded, “I can’t say,” emphasizing that confidentiality is the purpose of executive sessions.
Although the agreement itself does not specify a requirement for board of supervisors’ approval, Arizona counties customarily require such approval for contracts that bind county resources or delegate authority.
No vote or further direction was taken in open session following the executive meeting. Vitiello indicated the issue is “most likely” to return for public consideration, predicting it may come back “probably sometime in the new year.”
“What I can put on the record right now is Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,” Vitiello added.
InMaricopa also reached out to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office to inquire if supervisory board approval was required when that agency signed a similar agreement on June 9, 2020. This story will be updated once that information is available.
The board adjourned Tuesday without scheduling this item for a future agenda.
https://www.inmaricopa.com/j7bb2/