Jerry Sheridan is running for Maricopa County Sheriff and cites his experience running the jails there as a significant reason why he is the most qualified. Sheridan previously served as chief deputy under acclaimed former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The veteran law man joins former Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead, who entered the race last week – pitting the two heavyweights against each other.
In an interview with The Arizona Sun Times, Sheridan said he intends to make election integrity a priority. “The sheriff can investigate fraud, and oversee the security of elections,” he said. He said he attends seminars to educate himself about the issue in order to “know how to spot it.” One aspect that concerns him, he said, is that Democrats appear to be placing voters on the rolls immediately before elections and then removing them afterward.
Sheridan pointed to the radical leftist group “Chicanos por la Causa,” who he said has access to the voter rolls.
The Sun Times reported in December 2023 about leftist groups being granted access. Other leftist groups with similar access include Mi Familia Vota, Equality Arizona, Inspire 2 Vote, One Arizona, Rock the Vote, and The Civics Center. Additionally, three other organizations that nominally sound nonpartisan but lean to the left were the Arizona Student’s Association, the Phoenix Indian Center, and the Arizona Center for Disability Law.
Sheridan (pictured above) watched the documentary “State of Denial,” which was released in December, and said it was “very disturbing.” The film featured interviews with We the People AZ Alliance and Kari Lake’s attorneys discussing the illegal activity in Maricopa County’s 2022 election.
Jerry Sheridan grew up in a law enforcement family in Queens, where both his dad and two uncles served as officers with the New York Police Department. He intended to enter college immediately after finishing high school, but his family moved to Arizona, and he admired his father and uncle so much that it wasn’t difficult deciding to go directly into law enforcement instead.
His decades-long career in law enforcement began in 1978, after graduating from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Reserve Deputy Academy. The law enforcement rookie was hired as a detention officer and then a Maricopa County deputy in the sheriff’s office (MCSO) while attending the Phoenix Police Academy, his website biography notes.
Sheridan spent 16 years in a patrol car, was promoted to captain, and ran patrol districts. Then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio appointed him as chief over patrols, and a couple of years later, he was appointed to run the jails. Sheridan said most people are unaware that 75 percent of the office is in the jails.
Voters approved a $1 billion hike to improve the jails at the beginning of his jail chief tenure, so he spent 12 years as chief of detention designing the 4th Avenue Jail, the Lower Buckeye Jail, hiring officers, and building a new training center and range.
Sheridan said the director of the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare told him in 2010 when he came to discuss the results of the agency’s report that it was the best run jail in the country. MCSO is the fourth largest sheriff’s agency in the country. Sheridan said career criminals who have been in many jails across the country that “it was the safest and cleanest jail they had ever been in.”
At the same time, Sheridan finished getting his degree in Public Safety Administration and obtained a Master of Arts in Organizational Management, and graduated from the reputed FBI National Academy. He taught administration of justice at the college level for 22 years.
Towards the end of his tenure, Arpaio asked him to serve as his chief deputy, where Sheridan assisted with the monitoring and consent decree imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow in 2013. The DOJ during the Obama administration claimed that MCSO engaged in racial profiling in how deputies pulled over illegal immigrants, and Snow sided with them, prosecuting Arpaio and three of his deputies. Former President Donald Trump later pardoned Arpaio.
While Sheridan said he had little involvement related to the consent decree – since his position was solely over the jails prior to the litigation – he does not agree with what he saw as “overreach” by Judge Snow.
A civil defense attorney who was familiar with the case told Sheridan there was a similar situation involving the Arizona Department of Corrections in the 1990s, and the judge in that case was ultimately reversed. In Lewis v. Casey, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the district court “identified only two instances of actual injury,” which “do not support the systemwide injunction ordered by the District Court.” That case involved inmates complaining about a lack of adequate access to law libraries.
The consent decree requires taxpayers to pay for federal monitoring of MCSO. The DOJ has successfully kept the 10 year-old order in place.
If elected, Sheridan said one of his first priorities will be bringing leadership to restore morale and staff.
The last employment report found only 2,700 employees, even though MCSO is fully staffed with around 4,000 employees. The number of deputies on patrol is down 50 percent, and there are 750 vacancies in the jails. The 911 hotline is understaffed. There should be six to seven employees available to answer calls, but there are usually only three or four, and sometimes only two. Sheridan said the posse, a well-known group of volunteers under Arpaio’s tenure, withered from 1,400 down to 40, and they are severely limited as to what they can assist with.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone claims the attrition is due to factors like fewer younger people interested in law enforcement careers, but Sheridan disagrees. He points to neighboring Pinal County. While deputies get paid less than MCSO deputies, there is a waiting list to work there. Sheridan said that is because Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is “a leader that stays firm, stands behind his people.”
“Police officers don’t want to work for weak leaders,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan said current and former employees who quit in frustration tell him how bad the circumstances have become. While attending an event at a former posse member’s house, which included other former posse members, several employees who had retired or quit told him if he became sheriff, they would return.
Over three years ago, on New Year’s Eve, Sheridan said a Tempe police officer called 911, threatening to kill himself. Due to the lack of available deputies, the suicidal man was placed on hold for over two hours. Sheridan said he thought that it was horrible not to have anyone available to help.
“If I’d been the sheriff, I would have driven over and handled it himself,” he said.
Another deciding factor that convinced Sheridan to run was a phone call he received in October. He told The Sun Times it was from a 17-18 year MCSO lieutenant who was “fearless and well-respected, everything a perfect deputy sheriff should be.” He was “smart and cared about his people,” Sheridan said.
The deputy told him everything Sheridan had already been hearing from others about MCSO since Penzone took over; “there was no more joking around in the hallways, people don’t talk to each other, and everything is under an Internal Affairs investigation.”
The long time law enforcement officer said the deputy, overcome with emotion, pleaded with him, “You need to run, we need you back here.”
When Sheridan first ran in 2020, Arpaio initially endorsed him. Eight months after Sheridan began campaigning, however, Arpaio changed his mind and entered the race. Sheridan narrowly defeated him, but went on to lose to Penzone. Progressive billionaire George Soros spent $2 million on the 2016 race to assist Penzone with defeating Arpaio.
Eight candidates have filed Statements of Interest in the race. In addition to Sheridan and Milstead, the other five are Republicans Frank “Mike” Crawford, Joel Paul Franklin Ellis, and Joe Melone, and Democrats Tyler Andrew Kamp, Jeffrey Scott Kirkham, and Russ Skinner.
Skinner replaced Penzone after Penzone resigned in January. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors was legally required to appoint a Democrat to replace Penzone. Skinner changed his voter registration from Republican to Democrat a day after Penzone resigned.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
