Chris Nanos, the sheriff at the center of the search for Nancy Guthrie, is now facing scrutiny from local officials over his recently revealed disciplinary record as well as a perjury allegation over comments made during a deposition.
Tuesday evening, the Pima County Board of Supervisors in Pima County, Arizona voted unanimously to enact a regional era law that requires Sheriff Nanos to answer their questions under oath. The questions will have almost nothing to do with the Guthrie case and everything to do with Nanos’ law enforcement career from 40 years ago.
The law, ARS § 11-253, allows the board to require a county employee — such as a city mayor, for example — to provide sworn testimony about “their assigned duties whatever the position,” said Dr. Matt Haynes, one of five members of the Board of Supervisors. Hollywood Reporter. In this case, the board and its outside board aim to formulate questions that require Nanos to defend his job, not to mention his elected leadership role. Nanos is expected to be asked these questions on April 7, the date of the next general meeting of the Board of Directors.
“In response to the board’s decision, Sheriff Nanos will abide by ARS Section 11-253 to report to the Pima County Board of Supervisors. He has always been transparent and will report once guidance is provided again by the Pima County Sheriff,” a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement shared with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. THR. “As this is a legal matter, the Sheriff is unable to comment further on this matter.”
The Pima County Board of Supervisors does not have the authority to remove the sheriff from office, but it can certainly put a significant amount of public pressure on Nanos to resign. The Pima County Democratic Party could censure, condemn or vote “no confidence” against Nanos. (Both Nanos and Hines are Democrats; Hines backed Nanos’ most recent opposition candidate for sheriff, Heather Lappin, who lost by less than 500 votes.)
Nanos began his law enforcement career in El Paso, Texas. His resume, as posted online by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, indicates that Nanos served in El Paso from 1976 to 1984. But employment records from the El Paso Police Department were recently discovered by local reporters and again by Hines (and provided to THR), states that Nanos resigned from the ministry “in lieu of termination” on August 3, 1982. Document below.
Nanos began his career with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office as a corrections officer in 1984 before rising through the ranks.
A further review of the El Paso Party’s internal affairs files, posted below, shows that Nanos was suspended eight times between July 1979 and June 1982 for a total of 32 days, including a 15-day suspension in March 1982 for “excessive force.” Hines says the suspension in particular came about as a result of Nanos striking a handcuffed man in the head with a flashlight, resulting in the man being placed in the intensive care unit.
Nanos also received a written reprimand on three different occasions, and left work without pay three separate times — two for being late and one for missing a shift. Two of Nanus’ discontinuations were due to “habitual delay.”
Nanos would never have obtained an AZPOST certification, a document that allows a person to transfer his status as a peace officer from a foreign state to Arizona, with a disciplinary record like his from El Paso, Haynes says. Hines and the board believe this disqualifies Nanos from holding any law enforcement job, let alone the top job in Pima County.
When Nanos applied for law enforcement jobs in Arizona, he cited “personal job” and “better paying job” as reasons for leaving the El Paso Police Department.
“At a minimum, this is a lie by omission,” Haynes says, arguing that the truth of the situation is that Nanos will be fired for “insubordination” and “continued incompetence.” Nanos was allowed to resign “in lieu of termination.”
The applications below contain the correct Nanos (from El Paso) employment end date.
Hines also alleges that Nanos committed perjury in his Dec. 11, 2025, deposition, in which he was asked in part whether he had been suspended as a law enforcement officer. As part of a deposition unrelated to his job, when asked if he had “received discipline as a law enforcement officer,” Nanos responded, “Yes.” When asked about “the nature or extent of the discipline I received”, Nanos replied: “In the first place, it would have been as if I was not a good driver.
“I’ve been in a lot of car accidents, so, you know, send a letter for this or a notarized verbal one for that,” Nanos continued.
He was asked: Have you ever received discipline that amounted to suspension? Nanos replied: No.
The exchange can be seen below on “Page 11”, upper right quadrant.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors has pushed the Arizona Attorney General to pursue a perjury charge with the Department of Justice.
Nanos became somewhat of a national figure as a leader (along with the FBI) in the search for Nancy Guthrie, Nancy’s 84-year-old mother. today Show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona in the early morning hours of Sunday, February 1. The investigation has not yet determined the identity of the suspect. Nanos has received mixed reviews, at best, regarding his and his department’s performance thus far.
