MARICOPA COUNTY — A report from court-appointed monitor Robert Warshaw alleges a pattern of policy and court order violations within the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, stating the agency has regressed in compliance with reforms mandated by the Melendres v. Arpaio lawsuit settlement.

The report alleges that sheriff's office leadership pressured the commander of the Professional Standards Bureau to reopen closed investigations involving two deputies on the Brady list. After the commander resisted this pressure, the report states he was placed on leave, investigated by an outside agency, and temporarily transferred. The monitor concluded that top leadership attempted to interfere in the disciplinary process to protect employees accused of wrongdoing.

"What the Monitoring Team has found here is an attempt to create an internal culture where favor and reprisal are tools of control: to impact outcomes; to instill fear in changemakers; and to grant favors and position to those who bend to misguided directions," Warshaw stated in the report. The Monitoring Team also concluded that the stated reason for Captain Gregory Lugo's transfer was a pretext taken in retaliation for not complying with interference in investigations.

Jerry Sheridan became sheriff in January 2025. In April 2025, Sheridan placed Lugo, who has led the Professional Standards Bureau since February 2021, on leave. The sheriff's office referred a criminal complaint against Lugo to the Arizona Department of Public Safety that same month. The state agency closed its investigation without finding evidence of wrongdoing. A separate investigator hired by the court also found the allegations against Lugo unfounded and cleared him.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office filed a 78-page response to the monitor's inquiry with the court, denying any violations of court orders or department policy. The office labeled the monitor's investigation as "speculative" and argued that referring the matter involving the Professional Standards Bureau commander to an outside agency was necessary to avoid a conflict of interest given the complaint alleged misconduct of a criminal nature.

Sheriff Jerry Sheridan stated that the monitor's investigation had ventured into "areas involving management discretion, personnel administration, and internal policy disagreements that are more appropriately addressed by agency leadership." The sheriff's office also stated in its response that the monitor's discussion of these issues aimed to provide "inflammatory soundbites to aid the plaintiff's opposition to Maricopa County's motion to end oversight."

Constitutional violations by the sheriff's office began in 2007 under Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The Melendres v. Arpaio lawsuit accused the office of using traffic stops to arrest individuals on immigration charges and racially profiling Latinos. In 2016, a court found Arpaio in criminal contempt for continuing immigration arrests despite court orders. That same year, a court found Sheridan in civil contempt for denying knowledge of a court order to halt immigration arrests. U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow appointed Warshaw as the monitor in 2014 and has since issued four court orders with 368 requirements for the department.