Many thanks to our volunteer video editor, Chris DeYoung, a computer and data expert who works with the LD20 Data Team.
Laura Conover spoke at the Labor Day meeting of Demcrats of Greater Tucson on September 5, 2022. She was elected as the Pima County Attorney in 2020. As the third woman to hold the Office, second defense attorney, and first victims’ rights attorney.
She has made the news recently:
• Former Tucson officer charged after fatally shooting a man in a wheelchair
• Pima County attorney reverses course, won’t drop charges in Pioneer Hotel fire case
• Laura Conover: What we’re doing about fentanyl overdoses
• Pima County Atty: ‘No new evidence of innocence’ in Louis Taylor case
The office has 292 employees and a $39 million budget. In 2021 the County Attorney prosecuted 5,092 felony cases and 742 juvenile cases, successfully converted 246 people into diversion programs, prosecuted 133 homicide cases, and served 2,552 victims in crisis. (See www.pcao.pima.gov for details.)
Reform, transparency, and accountability are Laura’s core objectives. She endeavors to reform cash bail, end all use of capital punishment, divert substance use disorder and mental illness cases to treatment, and protect people with vulnerable immigration statuses. She is fortifying units in Conviction & Sentencing Integrity and Fraud & Consumer Protection to safeguard against unethical and exploitative behaviors. She is building the first adult restorative justice program in the state.