Andrew Peyton Thomas (born 1966) is an American politician serving as the county attorney for Maricopa County in Arizona.
Background
Thomas was born in Long Beach, California in 1966 and spent most of his childhood in Missouri's Ozarks. He received a B.A. in political science from the University of Missouri in 1988 and a J.D. from Harvard University in 1991.
Thomas is married to Ann Estrada Thomas, with whom he has four children.
Early career
Thomas moved to Arizona to join a law firm in Phoenix, where he practiced civil litigation, and left in 1994 to serve as Assistant Attorney General for Arizona, followed by posts as deputy counsel and criminal justice policy advisor to governor Fife Symington III. Thomas later became chief attorney at the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Thomas joined the Maricopa County Attorney's Office as a Deputy County Attorney in 2003, and ran successfully for Maricopa County Attorney in 2004. He took office in January 2005. He also ran unsuccessfully in 2002 for Arizona Attorney General, which he lost to Terry Goddard.
Maricopa County Attorney
Policies
As County Attorney, Andrew Thomas focused his agenda and policies towards the rights of crime victims, in addition to adopting tough policies on violent crime, child exploitation, identity theft and repeat offenders. During his term, Thomas also made considerable effort on prosecuting human smugglers and illegal immigrants. Thomas also helped draft and campaigned for Proposition 100, which sought to end the right to bail for illegal immigrants accused of serious felonies, and Proposition 301, which toughened sanctions for abuse of methamphetamines. In 2006, the voters of Arizona approved both measures.
Under Thomas, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office expanded their community outreach programs by sponsoring informational Internet sites, including publishing DUI offenders' photographs and news roundups pertaining to regional crime and illegal immigration.
Matt Bandy prosecution
In 2006, Thomas' office was in the national spotlight for the prosecution of Matt Bandy, a minor charged with distributing child pornography. Bandy, who initially faced 90 years in prison without parole, claimed the images on his computer were downloaded by a virus or Trojan horse. Bandy eventually accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to 3 felony counts of showing a Playboy magazine to three of his 16 year old school classmates. The case was featured on ABC News' 20/20.
2008 County Attorney election
Thomas faced Democrat Tim Nelson in his 2008 re-election campaign. Nelson criticized Thomas' spending of federal RICO funds, while Thomas made an issue of Nelson's acceptance of approximately $25,000 in donations from criminal defense attorneys. Thomas' opponents also challenged his decision to spend $27 million on outside attorneys, including Thomas' former employer, Dennis Wilenchik.
Arizona State Bar investigation
In 2008, the State Bar of Arizona launched an investigation of Thomas. In response, Thomas filed a Petition for Special Action with the Arizona Supreme Court in an effort to halt the investigation. The Arizona State Bar filed a response noting that "a lawyer who happens to be an elected public officer. . . cannot simply opt out of the lawyer-regulatory system claiming the privilege of his elected office." Thomas' private attorneys filed a reply on July 2, 2008. . Thomas has also posted a call to reform the Arizona Bar on the Maricopa County Attorney web site. On August 15, 2008, the Arizona Supreme Court denied his Petition for Special Action and ruled that the State Bar could proceed with the ethics investigations against Thomas.
Crime prevention handbook
In 2008, Thomas drew fire when his office released a crime prevention handbook. Members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have criticized the book even though they provided the funds to Thomas' office for the purpose of "Crime Prevention", which featured his name on the cover and a portrait of himself on the first page, as a self-promotion piece. This booklet was also criticized for its representation of extravagance, amidst government efforts to cut spending to eliminate a budget shortfall.
Further criticism came when it was discovered that Thomas' office used over $2 million of public funds, over the course of three years, on television advertisements and high-profile public service announces that featured his name and his likeness. Most of the public service announcements were aimed at parents and teens and the prevention of drug use. Currently, Drug Free AZ is run and operated under the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
References
- ^ a b "Andrew Thomas, Faculty Associate". Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Faculty profile . Arizona State University . http://www.law.asu.edu/Apps/Faculty/Faculty.aspx?individual_id=50877 . Retrieved 2009-01-19 .
- ^ "ANDREW P. THOMAS, Maricopa County Attorney" (in English). Maricopa County Attorney's Office. 2006 . http://www.mcaodocuments.com/general_pdf/at-bio.pdf . Retrieved 2009-01-19 .
- ^ "StopDUIAZ.com". Maricopa County Attorney's Office . http://stopduiaz.com/ . Retrieved 2009-01-19 .
- ^ "Arizona Crime News Roundup". Maricopa County Attorney's Office . http://www.aznewsroundup.com/ . Retrieved 2009-01-19 .
- ^ "Illegal Immigration Journal". Maricopa County Attorney's Office . http://illegalimmigrationjournal.com/ . Retrieved 2009-01-19 .
- ^ "]". ] . 2007-01-12.
- ^ Fenske, Sarah (2008-09-10). "Tim Nelson Takes on Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' RICO Spending". Phoenix New Times . http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2008/07/tim_nelson_takes_on_maricopa_c.php . Retrieved 2009-01-12 .
- ^ Wingett, Yvonne (2008-07-30). "Incumbent attorney blasts rival on donations". Arizona Republic . http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/09/10/20080910elex-thomas0910.html . Retrieved 2009-01-12 .
- ^ "Head to Head: County Attorney's race". Arizona Republic (Gannett Company). 2008-09-11 . http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2008/09/11/20080911elex-ctyattyheadtohead.html . Retrieved 2009-01-25 . ...
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