Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is putting his money where his mouth is on the Colorado City's Marshal's Office.
During the Legislative session, he pushed for a bill that would have disbanded the department, saying the town marshals were more beholden to Warren Jeffs than the law. Most people who live in the border-straddling community of Colorado City, Ariz. and Hildale, Utah are members of the sect.
That bill narrowly failed, but today Horne announced a $420,000 grant to pay for overtime for Mohave County Sheriff's deputies to patrol the community for 16 hours a day, staggered so "wrongdoers can feel the presence of the sheriff's office 24 hours a day."
In a release, Horne said he intends the federal money, which comes from forfeitures in drug cases, to be a "bridge" to next year, when he hopes to pass the bill disbanding the department. Here's the full AP story on the grant and a background story on the disband attempt.
An attorneys for Colorado City disputed Horne's description of the marshals, but welcomed the additional police presence.
What do you think? Is this a big step for fairness? Does it not go far enough? Is Horne right about the marshals? How might the new patrols be received in the community?
