Expanding its reach: The Pima County Attorney’s Office signed an agreement last week with the City of Tucson’s Regional Municipalities Veterans Treatment Court, allowing veterans with misdemeanor charges in county courts to benefit from the highly successful Tucson City Court program, the Green Valley News’ Kim Smith reports. The agreement will allow participants access to the services provided through the long-running city court program, including mental health, substance use, housing and employment assistance. (August 23, 2023)

A budget battle is brewing between the county supervisors and the Pima County Attorney’s Office. County Attorney Laura Conover wants the supervisors to return $2.4 million to her office’s budget that the supervisors cut last year. In a memo to the supervisors ahead of their meeting tomorrow, Conover said her office has “significant concerns related to the management of its budgetary authority from entities outside of its control.” Her office has numerous vacant positions, which she said at the March 19 supervisors’ meeting is due in part to the lag between offering jobs to law school students in February and those graduates getting their law licenses in November. Conover said she’s concerned about offering jobs to people without knowing whether her office will get the $2.4 million back in the upcoming budget. (April 1) (Tucson Agenda)

Second chances: Pima County Attorney Laura Conover participated in a panel discussion last week, encouraging companies to hire people who were previously incarcerated, the Tucson Sentinel’s Paul Ingram writes. Conover joined retired federal magistrate judge Charles Pyle, co-founder of Second Chance Tucson; Moniqua Lane, owner of the Downtown Clifton Hotel; and Nathan Dixon, owner of Heroes Carpet Cleaning.

“It’s common sense,” Conover said. “From a policy perspective, if we know that some 40,000 people will come back home to us out of the Arizona Department of Corrections then if we care about public safety, we want them to thrive.” (April 24)