The taxpayer tab for the racial profiling case focusing on former metro Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration patrols is expected to reach $178 million by the summer of 2021.
No one in county government can say specifically when the spending is expected to end. Maricopa County taxpayers have already paid $141 million in legal and compliance costs. Arpaio’s officers were found to have profiled Latinos in traffic patrols targeting immigrants. A judge ordered the costly agency overhaul. Officials on Monday approved an additional $32 million in spending. It marks the most expensive year in the case since it was filed in 2007.
