New Maricopa County Attorney Appointed To Replace Embattled Adel

PHOENIX, AZ — The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Monday morning to appoint the person who will take over the controversy-laden county attorney's office for the next six months.

The board voted 5-0 to appoint Rachel Mitchell as the interim Maricopa County Attorney.

Mitchell was one of three candidates who applied for the position following the resignation of embattled former county attorney Allister Adel.

The two other candidates were Anni Foster and Gina Godbehere. All of the county supervisors during Monday's meeting praised the passion and qualifications of all the candidates they interviewed for the position and said that the voters will have a tough choice when they pick Adel's permanent replacement to fill the rest of her term in a fall special election. Adel's term expires Jan. 1, 2025.

The board interviewed the three Republican candidates who had garnered enough signatures to make it onto the August primary ballot, telling the Arizona Republic that they were obligated to appoint an attorney from the same party as Adel, who is a Republican.

Mitchell has worked for the county attorney's office for 30 years, and was one of the prominent members of the office who called on Adel to resign earlier this year. Mitchell also previously ran the county attorney's office for a short time before Adel was appointed to replace former Maricopa County William Montgomery after he was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court.

While Maricopa County Board Chairman Bill Gates said that all three candidates were qualified, he felt that Mitchell was ready to hit the ground running and to head the office for the next six months.

"She has 30 years of experience prosecuting the most heinous crimes in our community," Gates said.

Gates added that he wanted a county attorney who will make sure to follow the law, but who won't "throw the book" at everyone, but who has compassion and will use prosecutorial discretion in an appropriate way.