Rachel Mitchell appointed interim County Attorney

Maricopa County Attorney Rachell Mitchell was recently appointed by the county Board of Supervisors to take over for Alister Adel, who resigned amid much controversy involving her job performance. Rachel Mitchell joined us in studio, earlier today.

“I think the Board of Supervisors has seen what has happened with the County Attorney’s office and how it has lost public faith over the last two years,” Rachel Mitchell said. “I think what they were looking for was someone who could  step in immediately and run the office and just hit the ground running to restore the faith with the community and with law enforcement victims”

According to Mitchell, the office Adel left was in disarray, facing a charging backlog, a slowed-down review of officer-involved shootings, a shortage of personnel and other critical issues.

As someone who was already working in the office prior, Mitchell said she believes she is well-equipped to bring stability.

“One of the benefits, and one of the things that the board of supervisors considered, is that I’m a known person in that office. I’ve been at really every leadership level in that office and I have a good supervisory ability. I think that brought a sense of calm,” Mitchell said.

Supervisor Bill Gates of the Maricopa Board of supervisors stated he was looking to appoint an attorney who would “follow the law, but not throw the book at every candidate,” a role Mitchell said she believes she fills.

“There are people in our community who are very dangerous and they need to suffer harsh consequences and they need to be held accountable. On the other hand there are people who have problems that need to be addressed and need to be lifted up, not crushed down,” Mitchell said. “One of the things in my background is looking at research to talk about risk of people, and reoffence levels, and knowing the difference between various people.”