Arizona Supervisors Call for Sheriff Nanos to Step Down Over Alleged Lies About Texas Police Record

TUCSON, Ariz. — Two members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors called on Sheriff Chris Nanos to step down over allegations that he lied about his record as a Texas police officer before joining the department in the 1980s.

Nanos heads the investigation into the suspected abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie. The unsolved kidnapping has drawn national attention to Pima County, where Nanos is three months into the search while facing lawsuits from current and former department members and exchanging criticism with the FBI.

"This is accountability for a guy who has evaded accountability for decades and is himself a public safety threat," said Dr. Matt Heinz, a member of the five-person Pima County Board of Supervisors.

Heinz, a Democrat, and the board's only Republican, Supervisor Steve Christy, told Fox News Digital they plan to seek vacating Nanos' office at a meeting next week. The move follows claims that Nanos lied about suspensions and other discipline he received in the 1970s and 1980s with the El Paso Police Department.

They would need more support to succeed. "If the board doesn’t want to move ahead with vacating the office, I’m pretty sure that they will want to do something meaningful like a resolution expressing lack of confidence and the referral for prosecution," Heinz said.

It does not take a majority to refer perjury allegations to the state attorney general, he said, though a unanimous vote would carry more weight.

If charges lead to conviction, Nanos would have to step down, Heinz said. The board has limited authority over the elected sheriff but can act under an 1873 Arizona law because Nanos missed a deadline to answer questions under oath, the supervisors said.

"He's already failed that request. The timeline for him to provide that is over," Christy told Fox News Digital. "So there's no going back. It's too late for that. So we're into the next phase of if he doesn't resign, then we will move toward, or at least two of us on the board will move toward, vacating his office."

Christy said both sides are using outside counsel rather than the county attorney's office, adding to taxpayer costs.

"My position is that unless in the next few days before the board meeting next week, if he doesn't resign or if he doesn't retire in an honorable fashion, which is available to him, then I will move and I will support any effort by the Board of Supervisors to vacate the office," Christy said.

The perjury claims arose in a deposition from a lawsuit by the county deputies union president. Nanos said under oath he had never been suspended as a law enforcement officer.

El Paso records contradict that, showing multiple suspensions and resignation in lieu of termination, according to public records obtained by the Arizona Republic and posted on the county board's website.

Nanos' attorney said the sheriff resigned as a corporal in 1982 after a dispute over vehicle towing. A supervisor proposed a three-day suspension for insubordination, but the chief upheld it. Nanos resigned instead of accepting discipline, the attorney said.

Records show resignation in lieu of termination, not discipline, Heinz said. Nanos faced suspensions and discipline for tardiness, order violations, off-duty conduct and negligently firing a gun.

Nanos sent a notarized statement to the board swearing to his attorney's account under penalty of perjury, though after the deadline. Heinz said the board will likely accept it.

"He lied under oath to the board about his separation from El Paso PD," Heinz said Wednesday. "And we will consider referring his perjury to the [attorney general] for prosecution."

Nanos' office did not respond to comment requests.

Guthrie vanished more than 13 weeks ago from her Tucson Catalina Foothills home. A neighborhood parking ban remains, and updates are scarce. A hair sample from her home went from the sheriff's Florida lab to the FBI.

That fueled tension with the FBI, which wanted Quantico testing from the start. Nanos refused. Tensions eased but reignited Tuesday when FBI Director Kash Patel criticized Nanos.

"What we, the FBI, do is say, ‘Hey, we're here to help. What do you need?’ And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation," Patel told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Nanos said the FBI was involved from the start. "The laboratory utilized by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Laboratory in Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outset," he said Tuesday. An FBI task force member, a county detective serving as liaison, was at the scene.

Federal sources said it took days for the FBI to join. Heinz also urged Nanos to cede the investigation to the FBI, saying most jurisdictions do so quickly to shift costs.

A reward over $1.2 million seeks tips. The family urges calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.