Sheriff found in contempt in same case that ensnared Arpaio

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone was found to be in contempt for noncompliance with a court-ordered overhaul of his agency’s much criticized internal affairs operation, which has a backlog of 2,100 investigations, each taking an average of more than 600 days to complete. A court-appointed official who oversees the sheriff’s office and has criticized Penzone for failing to fill new internal affairs staff positions that were already budgeted by the county has said the slowness in completing the investigations was unacceptable for both members of the public who make complaints and officers awaiting the findings. In his latest order, Snow barred the sheriff’s office from reducing staffing levels in internal affairs while the backlog remains in effect and threatened fines if the agency fails to fill seven vacant positions for sworn officers or civilian investigators in internal affairs within 60 days. But the judge said if any of the posts are left vacant, the sheriff’s office will face a fine three times the amount of an internal affairs sergeant’s annual salary for each vacancy.