Parker Live News from the Parker Strip since 2009.
A current prisoner of La Paz County is costing taxpayers “a fortune”, according to Sheriff John Drum.
Drum, speaking at a Board of Supervisors meeting last Wednesday morning, said that the prisoner in question is pregnant and needing a lot of medical attention.
“She is on AHCCCS, but access to AHCCCS is not falling into play while she’s in custody,” Drum said. “We’re paying big bucks to keep her.”
Drum cited some examples of the costs La Paz County is incurring, including a $60,000 medical helicopter bill and $15,000 in hospital bills. Without going into the details of the case, Drum said he believes the prisoner could be safely released until after she gives birth to her child, and appealed to the County Attorney Tony Rogers to dismiss the case.
The case reportedly involves a 20 year old female, arrested for two counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Parker Live has also been told the prisoner has a mental disability.
Drum told the Board of Supervisors he believes this prisoner does not represent a threat to society, and said the County is losing a lot of money because he cannot authorize her release unless Rogers dismisses the charges.
“I understand [Rogers] went to Judge Vederman … that’s just passing the responsibility … why can’t he dismiss it without prejudice?”
Charges dismissed ‘without prejudice’ means the charges can be re-filed later.
Rogers declined to comment about the case with Parker Live, saying the matter is under investigation and citing the seriousness of the charges.
Rogers is quoted in the Parker Pioneer newspaper as saying that he wants to work with the Sheriff’s office, “as long as it does not go against my duty to protect the citizens of the County.”
The good news is the County Attorney is an elected position and the people can speak by electing a new County Attorney with common sense.
“arrested for two counts of sexual conduct with a minor” I would certainly want to know more before we let her back into society. Money shouldn’t be an issue if a child’s well being is at stake.
The County Attorney would likely say that he is concerned about justice and following the law, and that’s what he was elected to do – just to give the other perspective
“letter of the law and spirit of the law. ” as citizens we expect elected officials to use common sense
i bet if it was a male that commited the same offense the Sheriff would not be so fast to attempt to get him released. Come on guys the law Works both ways. i applaud the County attorney for using resources available such as the Maricopa County Medical Ward.
Put her under house arrest on monitor her..
I know the girl. I honestly don’t think she should be let out. But I know the minor too. He should be in there too. Not just her.
We live in a society where you are presumed innocent. just because someone is charged with a crime does presume guilt. the article stated she has a mental disability which could very well mean that she may have been a victim.
Sounds as if the Sheriff cares more about money than keeping our children safe from child predators.
Whats worse than a child molestor with a mental disability?
OMG! “Drum told the Board of Supervisors he believes this prisoner does not represent a threat to society” since when does a child molestor not pose a risk to society?
Jail or no Jail… She should be responsible for her own medical bills.
I agree with the county attorney in this situation. I don’t know the details of the case however, breaking the law is followed by consequences regardless of how “healthy” an inmate is. Sexual cases should be dealt with seriously! Releasing this inmate is unfair to other inmates being held on lesser charges.. It is frustrating that tax payers are paying a criminals medical bills but until the law changes, this is reality. I don’t understand why acchs doesn’t cover her while she is incarcerated? Our government is so backwards sometimes!
Minor doesn’t necessarily mean child if she’s 20 and the “minor” is 17 then she’s really not a threat is she?
If you think this is a travesty please come to the Board of Supervisors meeting at 10am on Monday the 7th. Not all the fireworks will be on the 4th. Call to the public. Express your feelings.
Lets ask the minor or his/her parents whether she is a threat I’d really like to hear what they have to say about a Sheriff who has the nerve to publicly complain about the cost of a prisoner and uses that as an excuse to let them go!
I agree it is a serious crime…BUT…. What about the crazy cartoon in the Havasu paper that said..”Breaking news. No mass shootings the other day” I am exercising my first amendment each morning at the County Attorneys office between 8-9AM because Rogers WONT file ANYTHING and continues to ignore 2 bodily harm-death threats made to me by a violent mentally ill person. 43 incidents in 14 months WITH an Order of Protection. …but a paper does nothing…..CONFLICT?? YES. Sheriff vs Rogers? A testosterone fueled battle. We are all caught up in it. Nothing has really changed if you look back even as far as 2006….Sad…
Yeah sure…come by and chat some morning between 8-9AM. I can tell ya some great stories!!!
I must admit I am disappointed at which cases county Attorney Rogers chooses to prosecute, or not. For instance, former Town Clerk Terry Frausto (and current Town Council candidate) admitted to altering election documents when investigated by the Sheriff’s Office, which resulted in a fraudulent election (that was ruled to be so by the appellate court when challenged civilly by candidate John Prutch) and although it’s a felony for the custodial officer to alter documents, Rogers refused to take the case to a grand jury. When Quartzsite employees lied under penalty of perjury to obtain a search warrant for my travel trailer and I filed a criminal report for perjury, again it was declined for prosecution despite a mountain of evidence. If the courts themselves are not held to be accountable for perjury then the entire system is broken. Yet I heard that someone was tried for “attempted possession”…really?
in America you are considered innocent until proven guilty. just because you are charged does not mean you are guilty. if you read the article it states the woman has a mental disability. She could very well be a victim. We do not know the facts of the case however we do know the Sheriff has her in custody and feels she is not a threat to society.
Drum is just doing to bidding of his friend dan field, who controls the county. Dan’s wife Kathy is the public defender. So Dan’s friend Drum arrests, and Dan’s wife gets them off. The Fields and Drum all hate Tony Rogers because he beat them in the election, he prosecutes cases and he is not a ‘good ole boy’. Drum siding with Kathy fileld to release the molestor!! What would Sheriff Joe say to Sheriff Drum? Tent City for you!!
She’s 20, mentally about 14 and the boy is a teenager about the same mental level.
Most Quartzsite residents know who they are, it’s a small town after all.
There’s really no crime here, just stupid teens making stupid choices.
The government love to use these horrible sounding terms like “child molestation” but the real crime is punishing these young people for their mistakes. Drum is right and not afraid to speak the truth. Rodgers is afraid he’ll be accused of releasing a “child molester back on the street” even though he knows nothing could be further from the truth.
$$$$ trust the sheriff!!
Release her her into the broke county!!
Re-fill charges after birth!
I know both of them and what we have is a mentally disabled girl who is at the level of a 14 year old. She had sex with a typical horney teenage boy.
There is no crime here except on technicality. This is ridiculous and Drum is right to want a stop put to it. In some states it would be dismissed under Romeo and Juliet laws.
It’s a waste of police time, court time and tax dollars.
Rodgers is just afraid of being accused of “soft on sex crime”
and “letting a sex offender off”.
There’s no crime here. You Puritans want to put her in stocks or burn her at the stake? Grow up.
Like someone stated above is this was a male with outrageous medical issues this wouldn’t even be an option. The tax payers always pay for medical bills of inmates and it’s not something that will stop here.
I wasn’t aware that Tony Rogers actually files charges on anyone. Oh wait, only if you aren’t a high ranking law enforcement official or a Council person. That’s right. Average citizens are fair game. Law enforcement are out there doing their jobs and he turns around and declines cases left and right due to “lack of evidence” and the “unlikelihood if conviction.” The County Attorney’s office needs to be a non-elected position so that they cannot be swayed by the court of public opinion. Nobody cite the “press release” Rogers released last weekend on the custodial interference case. Feely good bs. I have to hand it to Drum though, at least La Paz County SO pays for medically clearing arrestees before putting them in jail. Another law enforcement agency in Parker doesn’t. No budget for it but, they found money for a detective slot though, didn’t they….
Paula Hunter, we need to chat I think.
Yep. Got much more stuff. Please come to BOS mtg. I will also b in my usual sentry at 8am.
Unfortunately I don’t work in Parker anymore (for now) but, I will see what I can do. 🙂
Tony Rogers is good at his job and I trust him to do what is right and necessary.
Sharon Butters do u work with him? Is it OK to allow a violent mentally ill person to threaten bodily harm to a person who has a current protection order? How would you feel if the sheriff came to your home to “legally warn” you of the danger. Same type of threat made to a County Supervisor about us. He felt it serious enough to report to sheriff. Sheriff has done their job. CA has done nothing but lied and refused to do job to (in Rogers words) protect the citizens.
..if she has a KNOWN mental disability then no matter what anyone thinks, you will NEVER get a conviction ! tax payers will just incur a HUGE bill ! and be open to HUGE liabilities !! do you people remember Yakima ?
who took advantage of whom ?
Richard Abbey has it exactly right… !!
First as a parent, thank you Mr. Rogers for protecting our children. Sheriff Drum should either step down or do his job! It is interesting how he NOW wants to save the tax payer money. Where was he when he was on the Board of Supervisors. It was his ego and good ole boy mentality as Henson has already stated that put this County in that mess with Yakima that we are still paying for! But back on the main subject, who told Parker Live this young woman has a mental disability? I think that is a irresponsible statement unless you can provide a credible source of the information. Regardless of all that it sounds to me like this is nothing more than the ego of Drum shouting out again. I hope that Mr. Rogers stands behind his actions. What will the Sheriff do next, let out all the druggies, after all, they are only a danger to themselves right? How about letting out all the people that get arrested for DUI? After all, when they sober up they will not be a danger anymore, right? If you are going to protect any of us, protect our children! And Mr. Abbey, are you teaching your children it’s nothing more than a mistake if they take advantage of an underage child when they turn 20! Shame on you too! Obviously none of us commenting have all if any of the facts. I hope that the Sheriff puts his ego away and does the job he was ELECTED to do. Protect the people of La Paz County, or maybe its time for a RECALL. Thank you Mr. Rogers for doing your job!
$60,000 Medical Helicopter Ride, $15,000 Hospital Stay, Free Room & Board at La Paz County Taxpayer Expense…Priceless.
$9.2 million Yakima at La Paz County Taxpayer Expense, under the watch of then Supervisor Drum…Unbelievable. I think one should ask it the expenses have already occurred or not for this person in jail…we know they have for Yakima, every time you pay the tax.
If she is mentally unstable…who is the real victim here?
Sounds like Rogers is doing his job and some people who have to much time on there hands are mad because he wont get involved in their petty nonsense! Good job Mr. Rogers don’t let rich cry babies sway your better judgement!